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| Subject: Thieving Lithuania uses Google Maps to hunt down honest tax dodgers Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:34 am | |
| As soon as Google Maps Street View was rolled out in Lithuania earlier this year, tax authorities were ready.
Sitting in the comfort of their own offices, inspectors used the free internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of the Baltic country's big cities, uncovering dozens of alleged tax violations involving housing construction and property sales.
Tax authorities across the world are turning to high-resolution maps, online databases, and social media in a bid to catch out cheats.
They identified 100 homeowners and 30 construction companies as suspected tax dodgers thanks to Street View, finding homes where they shouldn't be and other suspicious activity, said Darius Buta, spokesman for the State Tax Inspectorate.
"Our inspectors track these buildings on the internet, and if a violation seems obvious, they visit the sites. This saves lots of time and resources," Buta said.
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/lithuania-uses-google-maps-to-find-tax-dodgers-20130411-2hmo8.html |
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