IRS mining mortgage and UBS data to find tax cheats

UBS (UBS) data won't be the only data used to find tax cheats. Thanks to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), called "Mortgage Interest Data Could Be Used to Pursue More Nonfilers and Underreporters," the IRS plans to start looking at how it can use Form 1098 mortgage interest statements to catch tax dodgers.

TIGTA auditors found that many people pay significant levels of mortgage interest, yet they are not filing tax returns or filing returns indicating that their income is not sufficient to cover their mortgage obligations and basic living expenses. The report recommended that the IRS explore the possibility of making greater use of data from mortgage interest statements to pursue tax evaders.