Federal Tax Posts
Can posting on social media be evidence in a tax dispute? In one case, the U.S. Tax Court said yes. The court allowed the IRS to present a woman’s blog posts as evidence. The taxpayer and her husband allegedly underpaid tax for multiple years. After the husband died, the wife sought “innocent spouse” relief, which the IRS denied. The blog posts were relevant because they revealed knowledge of the taxpayer’s assets, lifestyle, business and her relationship with her spouse. For example, they included pictures of her and her husband on vacation. The court ruled that even though the posts weren’t part of the administrative record, they were “newly discovered evidence.” (160 TC No. 4)
