Rats! City to Pay for Informing on Tax Cheats (Chicago)

Whey did I trust the inquirer, mostly because I’m a trusting person and I wasn’t giving out any information other than and address and/or a phone number (it’s been a while). Why? Because I’m an honest person and believe others should be, too. They took out the loan, they weren’t in any sort of hardship, so they should be paying back the money as they agreed.

1) Since you're so honest, I bet that you immediately picked up the phone and told your "friend" that you had informed on him, right?

2) You are not entitled to be so "trusting" when it comes to betraying someone else's interests - and I doubt that you'd be pleased to learn that someone else - a neighbor, perhaps - had "volunteered" so-called "harmless" information (maybe your license plate number, or where you work, or if you're on vacation - you know: stuff that is generally known) about you to some stranger who had "dropped by" and claimed to have a legitimate reason for asking.

Regards,

1) You are right, I did not “immediately” inform them. It was some time after the fact that I let them know that I “ratted them out”. And we are no less the friends for it.

2) If “someone else’s interest” are unlawful am I to agree to be a party to this because they have been my friend?

2) If “someone else’s interest” are unlawful am I to agree to be a party to this because they have been my friend?

Not wishing to be traceable is not unlawful. Not publicizing one's forwarding address and not broadcasting one's phone number are lawful. Your friend was thus doing nothing unlawful by being passively "unreachable."

Not choosing to volunteer information to all comers (other than officers of the law) is lawful.

Your are not "agreeing to be a party" to something by remaining silent.

In contrast, volunteering potentially sensitive data (and yes: that includes such banal information as phone numbers or addresses) to persons purporting to have a vested interest, but unable or unwilling to present suitable authorization, is dangerous.

I'm glad that you're "no less friends" for it, but I doubt that your friend would have minded if you had said nothing to the alleged agent, and instead simply notified your friend that he was being sought, thus allowing him to handle it for himself.

Regards,

so this is basically for a different business to rat on the owner of a business for not paying taxes..I can see it now..

The owner of the ABC Widget Company doesn’t like the fact that the XYZ Widget Company has built a better mouse trap. So, he calls in the tax collectors with no knowledge that anything illegal is actually happening putting his competitor at a disadvantage since he now has to deal with legal fees, false charges etc..

Same thing can happen with a disgruntled employee making life miserable for a boss he/she doesn’t get along with..

Wonderful..

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