State's new technology gathers information to find tax cheats

Boston Globe ^ | 040218 | agitator

[agitator]

If you get the urge to fudge a bit on your taxes this year because you think, "Who's going to notice?" think again. The state Revenue Department is watching. The agency has launched a technology offensive with the goal of pulling together stray bits of information about every Massachusetts taxpayer, searching for clues that would indicate who isn't paying the taxes they owe.

[agitator]

[2banana]

Pay cash, pick up big purchases yourself and declare you are a resident of Florida with just a "vacation" home in Massachusetts...

[oceanview]

people in NY have tried that Florida thing. They actually track your utility usage in your NY home to see if you are there more then 6 months of the year.

[SpinyNorman]

I wonder if they will go after the Kennedys for falsely claiming that the late Rose Kennedy was a resident of Florida (after living in MA nonstop for the last 10 years of her life) to avoid paying the MA inheritance tax?

Will the mortgage deduction of Kerry's $6.5 million loan erase his tax obligation to the state?

[50sDad]

Why do I think of Tom Cruise and the "Department of Pre-Crime"?

[trebb]

Gee, won't that chase away all the Gay newlyweds? They will feel discriminated against if they think Big Brother is doing something that will cost them.

[philetus]

Knowing the technology cost them way more than they will reap from it,because they bought from someones third cousin removed and paid three hundred times more than it should have cost, so everybody concerned could get a kickback.

[Kerberos]

"The world is shrinking. There's fewer and fewer places to hide."

That's scary.

[Redbob]

""We're in the embryonic stages of where this is going to go,"

A potent argument for at least one type of "abortion"...

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Bump/ping

[taxcontrol]

You can beat that by going off grid using PV. For most homes that means about $25,000 investment but considering MA taxes........