The ABA Tax Section, Fall 2018 Meeting
October 5, 2018, 4:00PM – 5:30PM
As federal enforcement agencies are increasingly asked to do more with less, the US government has implemented advanced technology applications to enforce financial crimes which have increased in sophistication. In 2011, the IRS created the Office of Compliance Analytics as its answer to investigate and combat modern tax crimes. Using advanced artificial intelligence, the Office of Compliance Analytics relies on the use of big data and predictive algorithms to be more strategic in its approach in bringing cases. After decades of storage, the IRS has significant amounts of data to be analyzed with predictive algorithms. In addition, the IRS has started to combine its own data with taxpayer data mined from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to help identify potential noncompliant taxpayers and combat tax fraud. This panel will discuss the fundamentals of the IRS’s big data analytics program, potential taxpayer privacy concerns, and what tax practitioners should be aware of when they represent clients in the future.
Moderator: Travis Thompson, Sideman & Bancroft LLP, San Francisco, CA
Panelists:
- Eric Hylton, Deputy Chief, Criminal Investigation, IRS, Washington, DC
- Carina Federico, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC
- Michelle Schwerin, Capes Sokol, St. Louis, MO
- Professor Kimberly Houser, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
