- Sep 16, 2003
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Tax agents are heading to social websites to track down evaders.
Tax evaders looking to dodge hefty bills from Uncle Sam may want to think twice about posting personal information on the Internet, especially socialwebsites where some of the information is out in the open. According to the Wall StreetJournal, state revenue agents are mining websites such as Facebook and MySpace for information leading to tax evaders.
The WSJ describes several scenarios used by the government: one deejay in Nebraska said on his MySpace page that he was working at a big public party, and nowmust shell out $2,000. A tax evader from Minnesota announced on his MySpace page that he would be returning to the state as a real-estate broker-- evenprovided the employer's name--and was caught by authorities and forced to pay thousands.
Typically searches for tax evaders begin with examinations of bank, employment, tax, and motor-vehicle records, the WSJ reports. When the evader isn'tfound using that method, tax collectors head online and search for the culprits on Google. If the search isn't productive, they head to Facebook, MySpaceand other social networks and chat rooms.
Not to worry: not all state tax departments are trolling social websites... at least, not yet. Many state tax authorities actually block social sites onworkplace computers to keep employees off Facebook and MySpace during working hours. Jim Eads, director of the Federation of Tax Administrators, said that mayeventually change.
What is there to say?
Tax evaders looking to dodge hefty bills from Uncle Sam may want to think twice about posting personal information on the Internet, especially socialwebsites where some of the information is out in the open. According to the Wall StreetJournal, state revenue agents are mining websites such as Facebook and MySpace for information leading to tax evaders.
The WSJ describes several scenarios used by the government: one deejay in Nebraska said on his MySpace page that he was working at a big public party, and nowmust shell out $2,000. A tax evader from Minnesota announced on his MySpace page that he would be returning to the state as a real-estate broker-- evenprovided the employer's name--and was caught by authorities and forced to pay thousands.
Typically searches for tax evaders begin with examinations of bank, employment, tax, and motor-vehicle records, the WSJ reports. When the evader isn'tfound using that method, tax collectors head online and search for the culprits on Google. If the search isn't productive, they head to Facebook, MySpaceand other social networks and chat rooms.
Not to worry: not all state tax departments are trolling social websites... at least, not yet. Many state tax authorities actually block social sites onworkplace computers to keep employees off Facebook and MySpace during working hours. Jim Eads, director of the Federation of Tax Administrators, said that mayeventually change.
What is there to say?
