Re: Bush's IRS Wants to Make Your Tax Returns Public

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lars Poulsen <lars () beagle-ears com>
Date: February 19, 2008 12:02:21 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Bush's IRS Wants to Make Your Tax Returns Public

David Farber wrote:
> And there are absolutely no restrictions about what recipients do  
> with the returns.* The rule lets recipients post the full return to  
> the Internet if they want...

Nobody should be surprised at this. Frankly, I have been suspicious
ever since I saw "free online tax-preparation" offered on the net.
It is obvious that if an address of a homeowner is worth $5 to
marketers, then a complete form 1040 is worth at least $50.
I have avoided such offers and carefully read the privacy
assurances from TurboTax's online filing division, following
up with phone calls to be sure they did not claim any ownership
in the data passing through their datacenter.

On the other hand, I have a very slight good feeling about the
idea of making ALL tax filings public on the Internet. I have
been told that in Sweden, the tax rolls are public information,
and it is traditional (at least for journalists) to visit
city hall to check up on the neighbors and elected officials
and make sure that their declared income is commensurate with
their lifestyle. But ALL enthusiasm for such publication
evaporates instantly if anyone can get to keep THEIR data
private or if someone gets to make money on it.

This is one rule that we need to file our comments on.

/ Lars Poulsen


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