Tax agents scour social networks for evaders
People have started opening up their social network profiles in search of fame or their next job. However, people with outstanding tax bills may want to keep their job and home information mum online.
State revenue agents are increasingly using the Internet to hunt down information about tax evaders. The agents use job profiles, boasting and relocation information to track people down.
One Minnesota man announced he was moving back to his home state and gave details about the real estate company that hired him. That gave the tax collector just the information necessary to recover thousands of dollars owed to the state.
A deejay advertised on his page for a party that he was working. The agents used that information to recover $2,000 in back taxes from the man.
California might be so cash-strapped as to pay some refunds with IOUs, but it has resources tracking down debtors online. A state collector used message boards to find a sail rigger’s new store location to collect funds.
What’s interesting in these cases is which social network these agents prefer for tracking down information. Since many users have private Facebook profiles, states are turning to MySpace to find tax evaders.
The agents aren’t allowed to use a fake name to friend their targets and so they look for openly available information. This could be a MySpace profile, personal Web page or potentially even a LinkedIn profile listing the person’s current job.
These new methods provide so much more information than the bank, employment and motor vehicle records that collectors used to use. And the Internet is much easier than asking around at the local barber shop in town.
This is just one more way that living our lives on the Internet can make us more vulnerable. From house robbers lurking on Twitter to the taxman scouring MySpace, it pays to keep some things private.
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