Eligibility
Available to employees, contractors, or agents who provide information regarding tax underpayment or violations to the IRS or other authorized government bodies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible for the Tax Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Relief?
Available to employees, contractors, or agents who provide information regarding tax underpayment or violations to the IRS or other authorized government bodies.
How does the Tax Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Relief work?
Employees who suffer retaliation for reporting tax fraud are entitled to 200% of back pay, 100% of lost benefits, and reimbursement for litigation costs and attorney fees.
What law authorizes the Tax Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Relief?
The Tax Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Relief is authorized under IRC §7623(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (Title 26, United States Code).
Statutory Text — IRC §7623
Source: Internal Revenue Code, Title 26, United States Code
§ 7623. Expenses of detection of underpayments and fraud, etc.(a) In generalThe Secretary, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, is authorized to pay such sums as he deems necessary for—(1) detecting underpayments of tax, or
(2) detecting and bringing to trial and punishment persons guilty of violating the internal revenue laws or conniving at the same,
in cases where such expenses are not otherwise provided for by law. Any amount payable under the preceding sentence shall be paid from the proceeds of amounts collected by reason of the information provided, and any amount so collected shall be available for such payments.
(b) Awards to whistleblowers(1) In generalIf the Secretary proceeds with any administrative or judicial action described in subsection (a) based on information brought to the Secretary’s attention by an individual, such individual shall, subject to paragraph (2), receive as an award at least 15 percent but not more than 30 percent of the proceeds collected as a result of the action (including any related actions) or from any settlement in response to such action (determined without regard to whether such proceeds are available to the Secretary). The determination of the amount of such award by the Whistleblower Office shall depend upon the extent to which the individual substantially contributed to such action.
(2) Award in case of less substantial contribution(A) In generalIn the event the action described in paragraph (1) is one which the Whistleblower Office determines to be based principally on disclosures of specific allegations (other than information provided by the individual described in paragraph (1)) resulting from a judicial or administrative hearing, from a governmental report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, the Whistleblower Office may award such sums as it considers appropriate, but in no case more than 10 percent of the proceeds collected as a result of the action (including any related actions) or from any settlement in response to such action (determined without regard to whether such proceeds are available to the Secretary), taking into account the significance of the individual’s information and the role of such individual and any legal representative of such individual in contributing to such action.
(B) Nonapplication of paragraph where individual is original source of informationSubparagraph (A) shall not apply if the information resulting in the initiation of the action described in paragraph (1) was originally provided by the individual described in paragraph (1).
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