The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fails to compensate whistleblowers in a timely manner. These delays, which the IRS admits are average over 10-years, cause untold hardship to whistleblowers, many of whom have lost their jobs and careers, and their only hope for economic survival is the compensation promised under law.
On behalf of the National Whistleblower Center, please support reform and strengthen the IRS Whistleblower Program by supporting the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act of 2023.
Please send this prewritten email template to your Congressional officials DEMANDING that they pass the IRS Whistleblower Improvement Act, which would solve this issue in addition to other problems.
Check out more info here.
Since it was established in 2006, the IRS Whistleblower Program has become an integral part of the IRS’s enforcement efforts. The program, which offers monetary awards and anti-retaliation protections to individuals who report large-scale tax fraud, has allowed the U.S. to recover over $6.6 billion from wealthy tax cheats and corporations non-compliant with tax law.
In recent years, however, the program has been plagued by a number of issues and its efficacy is waning. Most notably, the program suffers from massive delays and whistleblowers are not able to remain anonymous before Tax Court.
The bipartisan IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act addresses these issues and others through six common sense reforms:
1. Clarifies a de novo standard of review for Tax Court appeals
2. Incentivizes timely award disbursal
3. Establishes a presumption of anonymity for whistleblowers
4. Ends the sequestration of whistleblower awards
5. Improves the program’s annual report to Congress
6. Modifies the treatment of attorney’s fees to be in line with other whistleblower programs.
In addition to bipartisan support, the bill is supported by whistleblower advocacy groups such as National Whistleblower Center.
A strong IRS Whistleblower Program is key to closing down the tax gap and holding tax cheats accountable. The IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act goes a long way in making this possible.
Recognized by the National Whistleblower Center (NWC), Tracie Burke is Louisiana author of motiontoquash.org. She can be reached at tracie@motiontoquash.org. Motion to Quash LLC successfully promoted legislation that supports the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act. Please Support journalism in the public interest by contributing today. Click here to donate Motion to Quash ISSN 2644-1594 is the copyrighted property of Motion to Quash LLC 2019. NWC’s mission is to support whistleblowers in their efforts to expose and help prosecute corruption and other wrongdoing around the world.
