Crack out the Binoculars, Chicago: Mayor Daley Will Pay You to Spy on Your Neighbor
Times are tough in Chicago. You can only tax the citizenry so much – and Chicago already shares the distinction of being one of the most taxed cities in America.
The solution? Enforcement. No big surprise there.
But enforcement costs money. What if you could get your enforcement for free? What if… you could convince taxpayers to rat each other out? Brilliant. And so, Chicago Mayor Daley has introduced a “Tax Whistleblower Program” for 2010.
The program would reward taxpayers who turn in those with unpaid business taxes. Taxpayers who successfully bring in money to the city would receive a percentage as blood money bounty.
A good way to destroy the competition, perhaps? The Revenue Department is counting on it. Ed Walsh, a Revenue spokesperson says: “It would probably be … a business knowing that a competitor is not remitting a tax. An employee [of the tax-dodging business] could know that, too. Typically, you need to provide some type of incentive.”
Nice.
This way, all businesses in Chicago could live in fear of their competition – and their neighbors. But a little fear is healthy, right?
Who knows if other cities will follow suit? I’m setting up my telescope, just in case…
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“Times are tough in Chicago *** The solution? Enforcement”
How about auditing the waste and corruption that the city is notorious for?
Can you expect any less from the hometown of President Obama?
Can you expect
Gee! I thought the I.R.S. did the same thing.
Ron,
The IRS does have a whistleblower program. I think there are 2 key differences, though… One is that the IRS is looking for significant fraud (I think over $2 mill but I can’t remember the specifics) which I think changes the picture quite a bit. Two is that Chicago is very clearly hoping to pit businesses against each other – I find that disturbing.