An insight into the IRS whistleblower program and whistleblower awards

There are several strategies of dealing with tax evasion in the United States. While the traditional strategies implemented by tax authorities help fight fiscal scams and swindles through audits and fines, there are unconventional ways to stop that, and one of them is the whistleblower program. Although, one can find a rich stack of literature on economy and tax evasion, penalties and auditing processes, tax agencies still heavily rely on whistleblower programs. The whistleblower program allows insiders who witness tax fraud to report those who attempt to evade tax. Although there is a risk of being retaliated against, the whistleblower program of IRS has strict laws against retaliation by the employer towards the whistleblower.

Every year, the federal government relinquishes a significant amount of sum in the lost revenues, and the common citizens suffer the welfare loss through cut-down in public services, because a group of people chose to evade their tax returns. It is hence, imperative that everybody should understand the factors of tax evasion and the instrumental tactics that are designed to restrain it. Tax agencies, now-a-days, largely rely on whistleblowers as they pay the informants for conducting tax investigations. Whistleblower programs were introduced after contemplating many benefits of them. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched the Whistleblower Office back in 2006, which is supposed to reward the informants for reporting taxpayers who practice underreporting their tax liabilities.

Who can get award for blowing a whistle on taxpayers who underreport their tax liabilities?

The IRS' Whistleblower Office might pay awards to those who provide only credible and precise information to the IRS and if the information leads to collection of large penalties, interests, or taxes from the noncompliant taxpayer.

What are the rules for availing a whistleblower award?

The IRS Whistleblower Office provides two types of awards - if the penalties, interest and taxes in dispute exceed $2 million of dollars, the IRS Whistleblower Office will pay 15%-30% of the recovered fund. If it's a case about a particular individual, his or her yearly gross income should be over $200,000. In case the whistleblower happens to contradict with the results of the claims, he or she can go to the Tax Court. The Whistleblower Office also has an award program to help other whistleblowers - typically those who never get to reach the dollar thresholds, i.e. $2 million of dollars in dispute concerning the individual taxpayers with annual income that's less than $2 million. This program has less awards, with the highest being 15% of recovered money up to $10 million of dollars. Besides, these are discretionary awards and the whistleblower can't argue the results of the claim in Tax Court. Hence, if you are considering submitting an information and looking for an award for reporting on the taxpayer in dispute, consult with a tax whistleblower attorney before, because whistleblower laws and regulations are really very complex and you might use their professional experience.

The Internal Revenue Service's Whistleblower Office authorizes the final award decision on behalf of IRS as well as Department of Treasury. They also provide upgraded frameworks for maximizing whistleblower submissions.

Brown, LLC is an experienced and renowned law firm that deals with IRS whistleblower claims . Our tax whistleblower attorneys have worked with thousands of clients and helped recover millions for the government. Therefore, if you think you have credible allegations that an individual or business entity is involved in tax fraud, you might be entitled to a substantial reward and must consult an attorney, because learning about your rights beforehand will lead you to the right path only. To conclude, good IRS whistleblower cases importantly include whistleblowers having insider information and adequate documentation to support their claims. You can always talk to our attorney to make sure you have all extensive documentation to support your allegations.

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Created on May 4th 2021 12:50. Viewed 572 times.

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