ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Whistleblowers and State Tax Fraud
California Missing Out
It’s high time California allowed whistleblowers to bring false claim suits for unpaid State taxes or provided for whistleblower awards for tax fraud tips. As matters currently stand, California tax laws violations are excluded from the California False Claims Act. Calif. Govt Code § 1251(f) and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration does not provide rewards for tips on tax fraud. That’s a big mistake for our State and all of us who live here. We are losing out on a very powerful tool for State tax law enforcement, and it’s costing State taxpayers money. States that have opened up false claims actions for unpaid tax cases have recouped big money and seen a direct impact on corporate tax compliance. One recent out of State case, discussed below, reveals just how big recoveries can be when whistleblowers initiate false claims cases for State tax violations.[1]
In the recent case, New York recovered $330 million in settlement of unpaid State sales tax from the cell phone carrier Sprint. A whistleblower initiated the recovery by alleging in a State false claims suit that the carrier knowingly failed for nearly a decade to collect and remit more than $100 million in state and local taxes on its flat-rate wireless plans sold to State residents. The record-breaking settlement reflects that the state statute provides for treble damages for Sprint’s knowing violation of the law. The whistleblower will receive $ 62.7 million in the settlement.
The California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent whistleblowers in federal and CFCA cases. We know how effective whistleblower cases can be in bringing corporate misconduct to light. If you have credible information for a false claims or other whistleblower case in California, call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. We handle whistleblower cases before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding tax avoidance schemes and before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in securities and investment fraud cases. If you are fired because you brought any fraud to light, you can fight back. You may be entitled to sue your employer and seek double back pay (with interest), reinstatement, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and reimbursement for certain costs in connection with the litigation. Our California whistleblower attorneys can represent you in any action for retaliation as well as represent you in your underlying whistleblower suit.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one has information regarding State or federal false claims, offshore tax avoidance schemes against the IRS, or securities fraud in violation of SEC and CFTC regulations, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other California whistleblower and false claims attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
