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Drones Reveal Widespread Tax Evasion In Argentina
Tailhook (98486) writes "The Argentine government has used drones to reveal 200 homes and 100 pools in an upper class area about ten miles south of Buenos Aires that had not been detailed on tax returns. Tax officials said the drones took pictures of luxury houses standing on lots registered as empty. The evasions found by the drones amounted to missing tax payments of more than $2 million and owners of the properties have been warned they now face large fines."
Only they were using aerial, then later satellite photos. We scanned the aerials, orthorectified them then registered them in a coordinate system for the city's GIS. They'd overlay a lot map and go plot by plot looking for pools, decks, and additions that weren't in the property tax database. These were mostly wealthy towns in Connecticut where this stuff added up to real money.
Now of course you can do that with Google Maps, if you don't mind waiting 1-3 years to catch people.
Just because you do *exactly the same thing* with a slightly different tool doesn't make it new. Back from those days one of the senior managers used to come into my office and say, "I just read about this patent where --" and I'd cut him off right there.
"This isn't going to be another one of those things where they take something people have been doing for ages with LORAN and substitute GPS, is it?" I ask.
"Well..."
"I don't want to hear about it. Whatever it is the patent is sure not to stand up to scrutiny, but I still don't want them holding treble damages over our head."
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It'll certainly make things a little easier on the non-tax cheats who have to pay more to cover these assholes.
FYI, this came up many years ago in the US. Defendants challenged the admissibility of evidence from aerial observations. The courts pretty much held that since the police are allowed to fly helicopters and airplanes over your house, anything that they observe while doing so is admissible under the 4th Amendment.
The basic rule for criminal evidence is that the cops can make observations from anyplace they're allowed to be. If they're standing on a sidewalk and see a marijuana plant in your front window, that's probable cause. Same if they walk up to your front door. They can look around any non-fenced areas on your property too. They can't stand in the bushes and peek through your windows, unless they have some other business being there (hint: do not have a burglar alarm if you're growing weed anywhere someone can see it through a window).
So if the cops can see your mj plants (or pool) from the air or some unfenced part of your yard, you're toast.
The rules for adminsitrative searches (e.g. code enforcement or tax enforcement) are much more lenient than criminal searches. Administrative searches often don't require a warrant, or if they do the warrants are much easier to obtain.
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Argentinian here, the AFIP (our local IRS) has been doing this for a long time, but using satellite or aerial photographs. The drones were used this time because the area in question was small. A lot of country clubs (as they are called here) are emerging with wealthy people moving into them, building expensive houses, while the land is still declared as vacant. In a related matter, we still lack a law regulating drones down here.
The township has a certain set of fixed costs which it has to meet every year.
Taxes are set so as to raise that amount, apportioned as decided by the lawmakers and voters.
People who fail to pay on unreported improvements aren't adhering to the agreed-upon social contract, placing a larger requirement for payments/burden on those who are.
If you don't like the taxes in an area, move, or participate in your local government to get things changed.
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
That's a drone i would love to see flying.
In Argentina we have drones watching general population private property for tax declarations.
We got camera domes on most corners, but nobody is monitoring them, and certainly not even police cars to dispatch to those locations.
We got a vice president who evaded taxes, declare nonexistant addresses, but nobody cares.
We had a commerce secretary -a real character, funny guy- he intimidated people -mafia like-, got taped and nothing happened.
We got a gunpoint robber, got caught on GoPro by the victim, he's not in jail, he's on the TV, he's a rockstar now.
We got some official car (senator) drivers that got caught trafficking cocaine....rofl, nothing happened.
We even got a NGO for human rights with more than 5000 bouncing checks, but it's not so NGO since it's heavly sponsored by the government, and those bouncing checks - for some reason - never got into the credit rating system (magic!)
We got a spike on meth precursors for 2 or 3 years, (10x efedrin imports from 6 tons to 60 tons) and the permits for that trace back to phone lines to the presidential building! yay! way to go Argentina, nothing happened besides 3 witnesses got killed -executed- and...yay! nothing happened!
We got no radars guarding our borders, the only smuggling small planes we know about, are those that crash land from time to time.
So, there's nothing new in a drone/plane/satellite catching tax evasion. I want the corruption spotting drone. That would make "news for nerds" or "stuff that matters".