IRS Has a New Plan to Investigate Tax Dodgers. Here’s How You Could Be Impacted.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is trying something different. The government currently has a proposal listed on the Federal Business Opportunities website looking for a social media tool that allows IRS agents to find Americans who have dodged their tax liabilities.
Here’s what the proposal says (emphasis mine):
Businesses and individuals increasingly use social media to advertise, promote, and sell products and services. For example, taxpayers can create “online stores” on social networking sites free of cost. Much of this information is unrestricted, allowing the public, businesses and various governmental agencies to discover taxpayers’ locations and income sources.
But the IRS currently has no formal tool to access this public information, compile social media feeds, or search multiple social media sites. The IRS’s hope is that a vendor-supplied tool would help expedite IRS case resolution for existing compliance cases, providing a more efficient way of identifying resources and assisting with the collection of known tax deficiencies, leading to increased collection of revenue involving unfiled tax returns and other tax liabilities.
The IRS emphasizes that this tool, if the agency decides to pursue the use of it, would be done to assist with previously identified tax compliance cases. The IRS respects taxpayer rights, and such a tool would not be used to search the internet or social media sites for purposes of identifying or initiating new tax audits. The IRS believes responsibly using publicly accessible information on the internet or social media sites can assist with previously identified tax cases. In addition, the IRS believes the tool can help it resolve troublesome instances related to tax-related identity theft, helping quickly identify honest taxpayers who have been victimized by identity thieves.
(Read more from “IRS Has a New Plan to Investigate Tax Dodgers. Here’s How You Could Be Impacted.” HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
