Newsletter
Big Brother Really is Watching You – On Your Social Pages and Google
Date: 09/15/2009By Dan Prescher
September 15, 2009 -- Don’t worry about no one reading your Facebook page or looking you up on Google.
U.S. tax authorities are very interested in where you are and what you’re doing on the Internet.
Authorities in Minnesota found and collected several thousand dollars from a tax evader after he told his MySpace friends that he was coming home to work for a local company and gave the company’s name.
Meanwhile, agents in Nebraska collected $30,000 in back taxes from a resident after a Google search turned up his listing as local marketing representative.
Other states are using internet information for audits and negotiations. In Minnesota, agents checked the web site of a tanning business claiming to be strapped for cash. They discovered the business’s web site boasted that it supplied all the tans for participants in a big bodybuilding contest.
Taxes back home are a big concern for expats living abroad. U.S. citizens owe tax on any income no matter where in the world they earn it. But there are a number of legal ways that living outside the U.S. can help your tax situation depending on which country you choose.