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Article: STATE'S NEW TECHNOLOGY GATHERS INFORMATION TO FIND TAX CHEATS BY LINKING TO DATABASES, INDIVIDUALS CAN BE PROFILED
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- February 15, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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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.
State officials dismiss the notion they are playing Big Brother,
but the potential is rather Orwellian. In theory, said Revenue
Department Commissioner Alan LeBovidge, the state may eventually be
able to track down so much information about a resident's finances
that the state, rather than the individual, could complete ...