On December 30th, Stephen M. Kohn, a founding partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP, and Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center, appeared on the Tax Rep Network Podcast with host Eric Green. Their discussion titled “Whistleblowers, Tax Justice & The Fight For Reform” focused on the urgent need for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower program reforms to improve efficiency and strengthen support for whistleblowing as a law enforcement tool.
The Tax Rep Network Podcast is part of the Tax Rep Network, a practice-growth training and coaching program for tax attorneys. Green is a founder of Green & Sklarz, LLP, a Connecticut firm that specializes in taxpayer representation.
During the conversation, Kohn advocated reforms to the IRS Whistleblower Program to increase IRS efficiency and to rectify the anti-whistleblower government culture. Currently, IRS whistleblower cases take an average of eleven years to be resolved, dissuading both whistleblowers and attorneys from exposing tax fraud.
“You have on this one side this invaluable resource that has worked, when it’s been done correctly, better than anyone ever imagined,” Kohn said, “and then you have this pre-existing anti-whistleblower culture. That conflict remains and has not been resolved.”
The proposed solution to the shortcomings of current IRS whistleblower mechanisms is the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act, currently being considered in the House of Representatives. The bill would end double taxation of attorney fees in IRS whistleblower cases, exempt whistleblower awards from budget sequestration, allow de novo judicial review of award denials, and, most importantly, accelerate case processing by requiring the IRS to pay interest if a whistleblower award is unnecessarily delayed. The bill has broad bipartisan support, including from the leaders of the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Tax and the Senate Whistleblower Caucus. Kohn said that making the bill a law is a matter of priority, not of opposition, and called on listeners to contact their representatives to encourage action on the bill.
Both attorneys expressed optimism that the bill will pass and make significant positive changes to whistleblower tax law. Green said the bill is a “no-brainer” and is “going to be a huge help.” Kohn said, “There is no opposition…No one is against it. It is a question of priorities. It is a question of getting their attention…That is why we are optimistic that we can win.”
The National Whistleblower Center is currently coordinating an initiative urging Congress to prioritize passing the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act.
