If you run your own business or you are self-employed, you may be tempted to report only part of your income to the tax authorities. Or you might consider suppressing information about your activities.

If you are audited by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) you should consider this. The CRA auditor has access to the Internet. What will show up if the auditor enters your name or your business name in Google or one of the other search engines? Will the auditor discover information about activities that you have failed to report?

A CRA auditor now routinely uses publicly available search engines, Google for example, to  discover information about companies and individuals that are being audited. In one recent case, the CRA disallowed a Voluntary Disclosure application because the taxpayer submitted an incomplete disclosure. He failed to provide information about his involvement in certain business activities that showed up during a Web search.

So remember. Everyone is watching you on the Web including Big Brother!