The IRS and a dozen states are using personal and business data mining software to “sniff out scofflaws,” says Howard Gleckman at BusinessWeek.com.
“As tax season nears its mid-April deadline, 
revenue agencies are reaching for a software tool kit that has long been popular … in back offices of big retailers. A combination of advanced data mining programs and vast repositories called data warehouses is allowing the taxman in about a dozen states to gather and analyze unprecedented heaps of information about individuals and businesses, especially small businesses.
“These sates, and to a lesser extent the IRS, increasingly rely on such software to help capture a chunk of the more than $350 billion in annual taxes that are owed but never paid.
“For now, most state data mining programs simply gather information from other government agencies, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection and state motor vehicle and employment offices. Some states also tap commercial sources, such as infoUSA. They screen the data to see whether taxpayer’s income and spending patterns match what is reported on returns.”
