The ‘clunkers’ are American, The taxman reads Faceboook

Good day for Toyota; Bad day for Twittering tax dodgers

GOOD DAY FOR: Toyota, after the Japanese carmaker’s Corolla topped the list of vehicles bought through the U.S. “cash for clunkers” program. The top vehicle traded in was the Ford Explorer. In all, 8 of the top 10 new vehicles purchased were Asian brands—Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Nissan—while all 10 of the trade-ins were American brands: Ford, Jeep, Dodge, and Chevrolet. Nearly 700,000 automobiles were sold through the program, at a taxpayer cost of $2.88 million. (The New York Times)

BAD DAY FOR: Twittering tax dodgers, as state tax agencies are mining Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites to track down delinquent taxpayers. There are limits to how deep the tax collectors can dig. “Agents are not allowed to ‘friend’ someone using false information,” notes Nebraska tax official Steven Schroeder. The IRS declined to say whether it trawls social networking sites to find or audit taxpayers. (The Wall Street Journal)