#StartupIdeas

[OtherMichael]

I have found a secret tunnel that runs underneath the phone companies and emerges in paradise

Paradise. I think the word you’re after is merchandise. Also, @klossner, right. But don’t bother. On the one hand, deducting your $100, assuming you itemize deductions at all, multiply by your marginal tax rate and you’re putting what, $25 in your pocket? You know you can just make stuff up, right? The IRS is so badly understaffed they can only pursue the most obvious frauds, like those fuel tax credits. If your Schedule C shows $718 for utilities, you won’t get a letter.

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Use big data and RNNs and all that to look in public data for patterns and tells that might indicate fraudulent tax filings.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/whistleblower-informant-award

The IRS Whistleblower Office pays money to people who blow the whistle on persons who fail to pay the tax that they owe. If the IRS uses information provided by the whistleblower, it can award the whistleblower up to 30 percent of the additional tax, penalty and other amounts it collects.