IRS Revelations: What You Didn't Know They Know About You
Does privacy exist anymore?
We are all familiar with the “big bad wolf” the IRS, also known as the Internal Revenue Service, which is the United States federal government’s revenue service responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing tax laws. What you might not know is the extent to which the federal government’s watch dog is watching you and your finances. The IRS claims it will does “snoop” on people, however, if you are evading taxes and your tax return signals a red flag 🚩, it is free game.
So what are they a watch dog of?
Reported Financial Records
Non-Reported Financial Records
Social Media Posts
Private Emails
While the 1st two out of the list may seem obvious, and the last 2 may come as more of a surprise, I was surprised to find out how deep in the bag of knowing how much money we make the IRS actually is.
Here is my breakdown of the shocking ways they can find out how much money you made and how honest you have been about reporting your financial information:
Reported Financial Records
~ The IRS tends to generally have an idea of what you your tax return for the next year will be before you even fill. Why is that you ask? By law, your employer has to submit tax information to the IRS as well, so when the IRS receives your return, they can match it with the documents your employer has already filed and see if there are any discrepancies between the numbers.
Non-Reported Financial Records
~ When audited by the IRS, they can request additional financial records not already provided and if you refuse by the deadline, the IRS has the authority to summon the records they need directly with your banking institution. You of course have the legal right to contest the summons if not for a legitimate purpose or the information they have acquired is irrelevant to the current audit, however, you may risk loosing that battle, if they have all the evidence against you.
Social Media Posts
~ Posts made on platforms like Facebook and/or X, can be accessed by the IRS. I am not sure if there are other social media platforms that they can also access (If you do know others, please leave a comment below for myself and others who may be interested), but if they find a post on those platforms that shows you bragging about a certain number of earnings and those numbers do not match up with your return, that can be used as evidence against you. This evidence can be used by the IRS to should that you misled them or committed some type of tax fraud.
NOTE: Once you post anything on social media or the web… it can always be found.
Private Emails
~ The IRS has legal authority to open private emails without people’s knowledge and sometimes even without a warrant, so never assume your emails are private just because they are not published publicly. Network security specialist Bruce Schneier stated, “The Justice Department is holding that any data about you that is elsewhere - email on Gmail, Facebook posts, documents stored in Dropbox, etc. - can be gotten without a warrant.” We already know that the IRS which operates under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Treasury, and the FBI, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, sometimes work closely together on cases related to money laundering or fraud that also implicates tax violations. So if the IRS really needed something from your email to make they case, they technically have the authority and power to do so. So BEWARE 👀.
Take note, the best approach moving forward now that you know this, is to always file truthfully and accurately, so you never have to have an encounter with the IRS, avoid posting contradictory information online, and keep track of legitimate deductions in case of an audit.
I will say my discovery of these truths, completely stripped the idea of “Privacy” in the 21st century from me. Obviously with the proliferation of the internet, AI and other advanced technologies and software, there are more capabilities as to the type of information and data companies, organizations, and individuals can garner about someone, but this new finding has definitely taken things to a new level for me personally. [Movie Spoiler Alert] This revelation was worse than finding out in one of the last scenes of the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” that the “Great and magnificent OZ",” was just a tiny man pulling the strings behind a curtain.
I wanted to share this newfound information with you all because the essence of what I am getting at is, nothing is private anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting tax evasion or any version of hiding how much you make, but the real point here is nothing that is personal information is “personal” anymore. If the government, social media, and tech companies all have our personal information, or access to it one way or the other, then nothing is truly personal, if anything it is public. This idea does make me sad in a sense because I feel humans are loosing more and more autonomy over what is “theirs,” and this idea that nothing that we acquire is truly ours, like the “You will own nothing,” World Economic Forum video that came out back in 2020.
I conclude on this positive note however, while we may no longer have autonomy over our personal information, our financial information, our bodies in some places (Arizona), and so on, we DO still have autonomy over our MINDS, what we think, and what we give our attention to. While the government may have their own agenda or uses for our information, we should still feel empowered about who we are as individuals, what we stand for, and what we believe. In my eyes, that can never be taken away from us, that is of our OWN creation. So whether you are a millionaire evading taxes or someone still living paycheck to paycheck, none of it really matters anyways. What matters is the relationships you have in your life, and cultivating a life of abundance and joy, which no government, agency, or entity can take from you.
About the Author
Solange Camacho drives forward and supports clean energy initiatives in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through her work and time living in the Caribbean, she has gained a closer relationship and understanding of the nexus between electrical power and the natural environment. She believes her altruism to make the planet more habitable for future generations, will inspire others to also make this a reality for their local communities and the world at large.
With a focus on wellness and environmental sustainability, her work highlights the complexities and nuances associated with improving our inner self to better shape our outer reality, and ultimately propel us to course-correct and heal the planet from the self-destructive behavior humanity has demonstrated over the last century.
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