The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently highlighted its partnership with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Program (HMRC) on their whistleblower rewards programs. The IRS guided the UK tax agency in the development of its whistleblower program and will continue to work with HMRC to combat large-scale global tax fraud.
HMRC’s Strengthened Reward Scheme was launched in November 2025 to incentivize and promote civil reporting of tax evasion and fraud in the UK and beyond. It is modeled after successful US-style rewards programs that emphasize large rewards and confidentiality protections for whistleblowers.
From 2007 to 2020, the IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program led to the collection of over $5.9 billion and gave out over $1 billion in awards. The program revealed how incentives for whistleblowers can have a powerful detection and deterrence effect on financial crime. HMRC’s Strengthened Reward Scheme seeks to emulate this success with the help of the IRS.
In the IRS news release, IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano said, “ By working together, the two tax authorities encourage robust tax enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic and will have a far-reaching global impact in the fight against international financial fraud.”
This partnership between HMRC and the IRS aims to reward whistleblowers who vitally contribute to the government by assisting agencies in identifying fraudsters who threaten global economic security and dismiss tax compliance.
Both agencies encourage individuals to speak out against financial violations or gather more information by utilizing the IRS Whistleblower Office or IRS.gov/SubmitATip, and in the UK the Reporting Serious Tax Avoidance or Evasion.
