ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Submitting An Application To The IRS
Process For Evaluating Whistleblower Claims
How Whistleblower Rewards Are Paid
Persons with credible information of large tax fraud begin a whistleblower case by submitting an application to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) describing the fraud, how you learned about it, and what information you have regarding the fraud. One primary form of tax avoidance is offshore schemes that shelter income from U.S. taxation. These schemes may violate other federal laws, including banking law. See, e.g., Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Act (FBAR) (31 U.S.C. § 5314); Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) (26 U.S.C. § 1471 et seq.). Evans Law Firm, Inc. represents individuals with credible information of offshore tax avoidance schemes or other tax fraud and can help you submit information of the fraud and all related violations of the law to the government and present your evidence with a goal toward a reward if the IRS recovers. If you have credible information of tax fraud in Orange County or elsewhere in California, call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
IRS Claims Evaluation Process
- An analyst in the Whistleblower Office will consider the information provided by the whistleblower. The IRS has to decide that the case is worth pursuing.
- If the submitted information leads to judicial or administrative action – an audit or investigation resulting in the collection of proceeds – the whistleblower may be eligible for a reward (described below).
- In the case of a large corporate taxpayer whose returns are audited each year, an administrative action can mean the creation of a new issue under the Audit Plan or a change in the way information about an issue is collected or analyzed, which would not otherwise have occurred without the information provided by the whistleblower.
- In other cases, an administrative action can mean placing a taxpayer under audit who was not already under audit.
- The process, from submission of complete information to the Service until the proceeds are collected, may take several years.
Rewards
- Once the investigation or audit is concluded, the IRS Whistleblower Office will make the final determination whether an award will be paid and the amount of the award.
- Award will be paid in proportion to the value of the information furnished voluntarily with respect to proceeds collected, including penalties, interest, additions to tax and additional amounts.
- Payments of awards will not be made until after the taxes, penalties, interest, additions to tax and additional amounts that are finally determined to be owed to the Service have been collected.
- The amount of the award will be at least 15 percent but not more than 30 percent of collected proceeds in cases in which the Service determines that the information submitted substantially contributed to the Service’s detection and recovery of tax. I.R.C. § 7623(b).
- If an action is based principally on allegations resulting from judicial or administrative proceeding, government reports, hearing, audit, or investigation, or the news media, an award of lesser amount, subject to the discretion of the Whistleblower Office, may be provided. The award will not be more than 10 percent of collected proceeds as described above. This reduction in award percentage does not apply if the whistleblower was the initial source of the information.
Contact Us
Ingrid M. Evans represents individuals in Orange County and throughout California with credible, original information of any kind of tax fraud, including offshore tax avoidance measures, and use of foreign corporations and accounts to avoid taxation or the like. Ingrid can be reached at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267). Ingrid also handles whistleblower actions under the Financial Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA/FIAFEA), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, False Claims Act cases, the FINRA Whistleblower Office and the California False Claims Act.
