Online Shaming
Online shaming used to be just for sex offenders but now some states are putting tax evaders online as well.
From Wired Magazine:
Some privacy advocates are, of course, concerned but I don't really see a problem with this. According to the article, you can't get your name posted to the internet until you've ignored several notices to pay your back taxes and a lien has been filed against you.
From Wired Magazine:
A growing number of states are hoping to humiliate delinquent taxpayers by putting their names online. Used in at least 13 states and sporting zingy names like CyberShame and DelinqNet, the websites are giving state tax collectors a surprisingly useful tool for gathering old taxes.
"We're trying to shame people," said Danny Brazell of the South Carolina Department of Revenue, which attributes $5.5 million in newly collected taxes to its website, Debtor's Corner, started in 2001.
"To have your neighbors be able to see your debt, that would be embarrassing of course, and that's the whole idea."
Some of the state websites are getting thousands of hits a day. It's a bit of legal snooping designed to "out" tax evaders.
In Georgia, the latest state to try online shaming, the debtor's list includes two celebrities. The estate of the late rapper Tupac Shakur owes $85,260, and the estate of the late TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes owes about $550,000.
Some privacy advocates are, of course, concerned but I don't really see a problem with this. According to the article, you can't get your name posted to the internet until you've ignored several notices to pay your back taxes and a lien has been filed against you.
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