IRS Reports Indicate Tenfold Increase in Tax-Related Whistleblower Awards

The Director of the IRS Whistleblower Office recently released the annual report for the agency’s whistleblower program, which included an announcement that the IRS collected $1.441 billion in penalties, interest and taxes from individuals and organizations that had been attempting to cheat the IRS. These collections came thanks to information provided by whistleblowers.

For their role in revealing this information, whistleblowers received $312 million in total IRS awards in 2018, up from the $33.9 million made off awards in 2017. Tax whistleblowers received average awards of 21.7 percent of the sanction value in these cases.

A look at the numbers

These significant surges in numbers in the IRS whistleblower program over the last year indicate that the agency has really started to prioritize the importance of the whistleblower program, and that the IRS is, more than ever, embracing the value of the information its whistleblowers offer. There were 31 major awards made by the program in the last year, and 186 smaller awards, both of which are record highs.

Not only is this great news for whistleblowers, who now have more reason than ever to come forward with information they have about tax fraud and evasion, but it’s also bad news for would-be tax cheats who might have undeclared accounts or income or who have been trying to hide themselves under corporate ax shelters.

If you have information you believe could be of use to the IRS with regard to tax fraud or evasion, reach out to an experienced attorney at Kardell Law Group right away.