Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides a financial incentive for whistleblowers who come forward to report people who are in violation of U.S. tax laws.  Financial rewards are based on a percentage of the money that the IRS is able to collect as a result of the information that the whistleblower provides.

There is a specific process that must be followed if you wish to receive financial rewards for reporting tax law violators, so you should consult with a whistleblower attorney at Evans Law Firm to make sure that you follow the right process and protect your right to receive your reward.

How Does the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program Work?

The Internal Revenue Service whistleblower program encourages the submission of “specific and credible information” that could result in the IRS becoming able to collect taxes, penalties and interest from non-compliant tax payers who have not paid the entire amount of taxes that are due under U.S. law.  One of the major areas of IRS enforcement against tax cheats is offshore tax avoidance schemes, and evidence of any offshore avoidance schemes quickly gains IRS attention.

If you believe that you have specific and credible evidence about offshore tax avoidance schemes or other schemes or frauds for tax avoidance, you first submit the available information you have on an IRS Form 211.  Form 211 is complicated and asks for details.  You should consult with counsel in preparation of the Form 211; if it is incomplete, your application will be rejected.  If, on the other hand, the IRS is able to collect unpaid taxes, fees, interest and penalties on the basis of the information that you provide, you will be eligible for a reward based on the percentage of what the IRS collected.

The specific award that you receive will depend upon how much the IRS collected as well as based on the income of any individual taxpayers whose information that you supplied to the IRS.  If the total amount in dispute exceeds $2 million in taxes, penalties, interests, and other disputed amounts, you could receive between 15 percent and 30 percent of the money which was collected by the IRS due to the information that you provided. If you provided information on an individual with income below $200,000 and/or if the $2 million threshold for the disputed amount is not met, you could receive up to 15 percent of the amount that the IRS collected. 

There could be a lot of money at stake when you have evidence of tax evasion or an offshore tax avoidance scheme, so you want to ensure that you know the rules for the whistleblower program and understand how the informant claims program operates to provide you with a reward.  You should work with an experienced whistleblower attorney at Evans Law Firm to find out what your options are for reporting suspected tax law violations to the IRS and for claiming your rewards.

Evans Law Firm has helped many clients to determine if their information is appropriate to submit to the IRS. We can also help to complete the submission process properly and to take steps to maximize the rewards that could potentially be available for providing information on tax evasion.

In certain circumstances, when the whistleblower disagrees with the outcome of a claim submitted, it is possible for the whistleblower to appeal to the tax court. Our legal team can also provide assistance in these situations. To learn more about the assistance we can offer, give our firm a call at  415-441-8669 as soon as you suspect someone is in violation of IRS rules or has created an offshore scheme for the avoidance of U.S. taxes.