Your Tax Information May Be (Legally) Sold

Contributed by mm | March 17, 2006 8:03 PM PST

Tax information is certainly more valuable than credit report. Try the SWIPE toolkit and see how pieces of your information are worth:

Address: $0.50
Past Address: $9.95
Marriage/Divorce Record: $7.95
Bankruptcy Record: $26.50
Business Ownership: $9.95
Published Phone Nymber: $0.25
Unpublished Phone Number: $17.50
Cell Phone Number: $10.00
Social Security Number: $8.00

From CNN Money:

Thanks to proposed changes to the IRS' privacy regulation of tax preparers, everyone from H&R Block to your local tax-prep shop may be allowed to sell their clients' tax return information to any third party, including marketers and data brokers.

Mind you, they would need to get your consent, according to the proposed regulations.

But why on earth would you ever give it? The firm may try to sell you on the idea that by letting them "share" your sensitive financial information, you will benefit by getting pitched products and services that you really want.

That would be some serious tripe. How many times have you ever gotten a solicitation in the mail and said, 'Oh that's exactly what I need. Sign me up.'

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