etymology - We might have to do some "fiddling"

I like the word fiddle, and I quite like the musical instrument too.

If you're fiddling with a device, it means you're trying to repair it. It might be tricky because of all the tiny bits and pieces involved, and it will probably require time, patience and a little luck before the object is in perfect working order.

Mothers who see their children making nervous, time-wasting movements will tell them to “stop fiddling” with their hair, pens, or nowadays, mobiles.

Then there's fiddlesticks, a minced oath if ever there was one, perfect for when you find yourself in polite or unfamiliar company. A fiddlestick on the other hand, is only another name for a violin bow.

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1. But when did “fiddling taxes/expenses” mean to cheat or swindle?

From India Today

but the fact remains that given the peculiar structure of the tax system it is virtually impossible to keep one's head above water, let alone swim, without a considerable amount of fiddling on the side.

From the British Guardian

When an MP or someone in a position of authority is found fiddling their expenses there is usually a public outcry and calls for resignation. But according to a new survey, dodgy claims are a part of every day working life in the UK.

Most of those who admitted to a bit of fiddling here and there said it was a bit like an unofficial perk, while many saw it as a convenient way of boosting their salary.

and again from the Guardian

My brother-in-law is a really good bloke—at least, I thought he was until he boasted that he's fiddling his income tax. He's really generous when it comes to Christmas and birthdays, but then he can afford to be. Now I'm wondering if I'm the mug. Should I copy him or shop him?

There is also the noun: tax fiddle

2. Is ‘fiddling the taxes/the books’ related to playing the musical instrument, fixing an object or with fidgeting?

3. Do Americans fiddle their taxes? What's the American English slang for not paying taxes?

Answer

It is sense 4 of the verb fiddle per the OED. It has been around since at least 1630 and Daniel Defoe was using it in 1703.

Interestingly the nounal use is said by the OED to be of US origin, and dates from more recently.

Verb

4. trans. and intr. To cheat, swindle; to ‘wangle’, intrigue; (see also quot. 1850). Also with into, out of. Now only slang.

1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore v. ii. 117 There was one more that fiddled my fine Pedlers.

1703 D. Defoe Villainy of Stockjobbers Misc. 268 There People can..Fiddle them out of their Money.

1738 Ld. Chesterfield in Common Sense 14 Oct. Somebody else would have been fiddled into it again.

1850 Lloyd's Weekly 3 Feb. (Farmer), I understand fiddling—that means, buying a thing for a mere trifle and selling it for double or for more.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 424/2 The way the globe man does is to go among the old women and fiddle (humbug) them.

1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 130/2 We are generally fiddled most tremendous.

a1889 St. Louis Chron. in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1889) I. 360/1 Bob is the man who fiddled himself into Congress.

1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xv. 169 They fiddled into this job.

1955 Times 12 Aug. 5/4 William Alfred Powell, in evidence, said he approached Heard about getting a letter ‘fiddled out’ for him.

1958 S. Spender Fool & Princess 172 His own power for ‘fiddling’ through... His capacity for making deals.

Noun

f. A swindle. orig. U.S.

1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 160 Fiddle... In America, a swindle or an imposture.

1947 People 22 June 4/2 Says Bevin: ‘I want peace..and we shan't get it unless we deal with one another as friends. I will be a party to no fiddles.’

1958 G. Mitchell Spotted Hemlock xi. 117 Tony and I can do something about it on our own. Not a fiddle, I don't mean.

1959 Spectator 4 Sept. 297/2, I know you'll think this is one of my fiddles. At my last parish we raffled a horse and trap,..a clothes horse and a mousetrap.