States mining data to boost tax revenue

NJ.COM ^ | 2/4/2003 | Kathy Kristof

[dirtboy]

Los Angeles officials scoured 324,000 electronic files in the process of hunting down Don Mann, an admitted business- tax violator.

But in Mann's case, their prize looks pretty paltry. If Mann's accountant is correct, all that searching will lead the Van Nuys, Calif., resident to cough up about $100 in delinquent business Mann, a freelance movie consultant, concedes he didn't pay the tax, saying he didn't know about it. City officials acknowledge that is likely given the obscure nature of the levy.

[dirtboy]

ping

[Cicero]

On the other hand, if they fired all the state bureaucrats who are busy scouring these 324,000 electronic files, they could afford to lower taxes and still save a bit of money.

[dirtboy]

On the other hand, if they fired all the state bureaucrats who are busy scouring these 324,000 electronic files, they could afford to lower taxes and still save a bit of money.

Funny how governments can go to great lengths to figure out that someone owes them $300, but they couldn't find multiple incidents of a Chevy Caprice in the DC Sniper database. Guess that shows where their priorities lay.

[Dog Gone]

Not good.

I'm afraid our grandchildren may claim that we lived in the good old days before the government tracked every monetary transaction we make.

[TheBattman]

This makes a whole lot of sense....

Pay government employee dimwits an hourly rate to track down a minor tax debt....

Hmmm...hundreds or even thousands of dollars in man-hours plus effort to track down and collect a $100 tax bill....

Yep, government efficiency at it's finest...and in California too..imagine that.