Whistleblower Lawyer Blog

When Congress authorized the new IRS Whistleblower Program in December 2006, it required annual reporting to Congress about how the new whistleblower provisions have been used, what results were obtained, and what recommendations to improve the program should be considered.

The Secretary of the Treasury has recently issued the first such Report, which summarizes the first 12 months of the new IRS Whistleblower Office.

For those who follow the IRS Whistleblower Program, the Report provides a look into the substantial progress made in a short time by this very small group within the IRS. These developments have been followed on this whistleblower lawyer blog since the infancy of the IRS Whistleblower Office.

Much-anticipated data about recoveries and rewards paid under the IRS Whistleblower Program is included in the Report. In FY 2007, the IRS paid $13 million in rewards to "informants" (whistleblowers), but those rewards were based on the lower percentages that applied before the IRS Whistleblower statute was amended effective December 20, 2006, to double the size of rewards available to 15-30% of the government's recovery. Rewards for IRS Whistleblower claims submitted after December 20, 2006 should be much greater, especially since the new Program has generated a wave of submissions.

The IRS's priorities for the Whistleblower Program in FY 2008 include revising old policies and procedures concerning whistleblower rewards, developing the criteria to be used in making reward decisions, soliciting feedback to help guide the new Program, and testing and then deploying a new case management system. (Some of the same information will be discussed in an upcoming article on "best practices" in pursuing IRS Whistleblower claims that I was requested to write for the TAF Quarterly Review, based on my interview of IRS Whistleblower Office Director Stephen Whitlock in early September.)

We congratulate the very capable staff of the IRS Whistleblower Office for all of their progress to date. For those interested in reading the full Report, the body of the Report is reprinted below:

Continue reading "1st Annual Report on New IRS Whistleblower Program Issued by Secretary of the Treasury" »

For the second time since the new IRS Whistleblower office was created in early 2007, IRS Whistleblower Office Director Stephen A. Whitlock addressed questions from whistleblower attorneys at the Taxpayers Against Fraud annual conference yesterday in Washington. Joining him as panelists were U.S. Tax Court Special Trial Judge Lewis R. Carluzzo; Professor Dennis J. Ventry, Jr. of American University's Washington College of Law; Erika Kelton of Phillips & Cohen LLP; and as moderator Paul D. Scott of the Law Offices of Paul D. Scott.

Afterward, I had the pleasure of meeting one-to-one and interviewing IRS Whistleblower Office Director Whitlock for an article on "best practices" for lawyers who pursue IRS Whistleblower claims, which will appear in Taxpayers Against Fraud's publication, the TAF Quarterly Review.

As this whistleblower lawyer blog has followed closely, much progress with the new IRS Whistleblower Program has occurred since Director Whitlock first appeared at the TAF Annual Conference a year ago to explain the new program.

In December 2007, the IRS issued its long-anticipated interim "guidance" for pursuing IRS Whistleblower claims.

An explosion of new claims followed that announcement, as the total claims quickly grew tenfold from 80 to 800 (not counting claims screened out by the Whistleblower Office). The leanly-staffed Whistleblower Office has grown to only fifteen, many of whom were in attendance yesterday.

Meanwhile, in June 2008 the United States Tax Court--which will hear any appeals of whistleblower rewards--has proposed amendments to its Rules of Practice and Procedure regarding whistleblower award actions, which can be found at http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/press/060208.pdf. Thus, it was very productive to bring together Tax Court Judge Carluzzo, whistleblower attorneys, and Director Whitlock to discuss their own perspectives on issues arising in the pursuit of IRS Whistleblower claims.

We congratulate the Whistleblower Office staff members for the progress of the program, and applaud their professionalism in working with the hundreds of claims that are being submitted.

We also thank TAF Executive Director Jeb White for staging a first-class conference for the country's qui tam and IRS Whistleblower attorneys.