Grassley, Wyden Seek to Strengthen IRS Whistleblower Program

Grassley, Wyden Seek to Strengthen IRS Whistleblower Program

The IRS whistleblower program has successfully recovered over $7 billion for taxpayers

U.S. House overwhelmingly approved similar legislation in April

BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA - U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is partnering with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to advance commonsense reforms to the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Whistleblower Awards Program. Grassley and Wyden are the co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus. Grassley is a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; Wyden serves as the Finance Committee's current Ranking Member.

The IRS' whistleblower program has enabled the agency to collect more than $7 billion from wealthy individuals and businesses caught avoiding taxes. The program has retrieved additional billions through the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, which was created as a direct result of actionable information brought to the IRS by whistleblowers.

"The IRS Whistleblower Awards Program demonstrates the power of whistleblowers. These patriotic men and women are critical to preventing tax dodgers and fraudsters from cheating the American tax system," Grassley said. "Our bipartisan legislation strengthens protections and support for whistleblowers so this program can keep improving compliance and fairness in our tax system."

"Whistleblowers play an essential role in helping root out tax cheating schemes that rip off the American people for huge amounts of money. The numbers show that the IRS whistleblower program works, so the Senate ought to look for every opportunity to improve it," Wyden said. "It takes real courage to blow the whistle and help put an end to illegal tax cheating schemes, and our bill will go a long way to protecting Americans who bravely speak out."

The IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act includes six measures to strengthen the program, promoting fairness and protecting whistleblowers who come forward with key information:

• Provides for De Novo review in appeals heard by the U.S. Tax Court, allowing for new evidence to be admitted to the record.
• Exempts whistleblower awards from budget sequestration, ensuring those who risk coming forward and who generate significant revenue to the Treasury receive the full award they deserve.
• Creates a presumption of anonymity for whistleblowers to proceed in Tax Court, protecting a whistleblower's identity.
• Requires the IRS to issue a whistleblower award in a timely manner or pay interest on awards.
• Brings the tax treatment of attorney's fees into line with other whistleblower programs.
• Improves the program's annual report to Congress to help tax writers identify areas most in need of attention.

The legislation is backed by the National Whistleblower Center and Taxpayers Against Fraud.

"The IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act is urgently needed to stop major tax frauds. The current eleven-year waiting period for whistleblower cases constitutes repeal by delay and is completely unacceptable. This bill is a massive step towards revitalizing the IRS whistleblower program and increasing the number of high-quality tips on tax fraud the IRS receives," said Stephen Kohn, Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center Board of Directors.

"This legislation represents a critical and timely effort to address longstanding structural deficiencies in the IRS whistleblower program that have significantly undermined its effectiveness as a tax enforcement tool…The [Grassley-Wyden] bill allows the U.S. government to honor its promise in the same way that it would honor its obligations under any contract," said Jacklyn DeMar, President and CEO of Taxpayers Against Fraud.

The full text of the bill is available HERE, and a summary of the bill is available HERE.

-30-

• Print
• Email
• Like
• Tweet