The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on March 25 advanced legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) that would reform the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Awards Program.
“Today’s vote is a win for the American taxpayer and the American worker,” Rep. Kelly said. “Our common-sense, bipartisan legislation ensures the integrity of our nation’s tax laws. Exposing wrongdoing by tax cheats and fraudsters guarantees our voluntary tax system is fair for all Americans.”
The IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act, H.R. 7959, which Rep. Kelly sponsored on March 17 alongside lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), passed the committee by unanimous consent and now heads to the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.
If enacted, H.R. 7959 would provide for De Novo review in appeals heard by the U.S. Tax Court, allowing for new evidence to be admitted to the record; establish a presumption of anonymity for whistleblowers before the court; and provide that interest be paid to awardees if the whistleblower award has not been paid within one year of the IRS collecting all proceeds.
Additionally, the measure would bring the tax treatment of attorney’s fees into line with other whistleblower programs and improve the program’s annual report to Congress to help tax writers identify areas in most need of attention, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Kelly’s staff.
“A strong whistleblower program helps the IRS recoup taxpayer dollars that were lost to tax fraud or tax evasion,” said Rep. Thompson. “The IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act will help the IRS crackdown on tax cheats.”
To date, the IRS says its program has enabled the agency to collect more than $7.5 billion from individuals and businesses caught dodging taxes, and it 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.
H.R. 7959 is supported by the National Whistleblower Center.