IRS & Tax

On Wednesday, the IRS announced a plan for a comprehensive review of its whistleblower program, working with both “internal and external shareholders” to produce a program that can evaluate whistleblower claims and make quicker payouts to whistleblowers. As a part...

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) issued a report that criticizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for dragging its feet in processing whistleblower claims. The report follows up on TIGTA's 2009 report and found, "deficiencies in the IRS’s...

Whistleblower disclosures have helped the federal government make some of its biggest recoveries from fraudsters. In the Obama administration alone, the government recovered over $21 billion thanks to whistleblowers using the “qui tam” procedure under the False Claims Act (FCA)....

On January 23, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a final regulation that reflects a 1996 law making payments for emotional distress damages taxable as income. The new regulation, cited as 26 CFR 1.104-1(c), makes clear that settlements and...

By a 3-2 vote on a major case, the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB) has limited the application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower protection outside the boundaries of the United States. The case is Villanueva v. Core...

In a landmark ruling in favor of corporate whistleblowers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit gave the green light to Michael DeGuelle's RICO claim of retaliation. The court's opinion gives life to a provision in the 2002...

The IRS tax court issued a very important decision yesterday in Whistleblower 14106-10W vs. Commissioner of Internal Revenue regarding confidential and anonymous whistleblower claims through the IRS. The court’s first-ever decision on this matter upholds whistleblowers’ right to file anonymous...

The NWC is proud to announce the release of the second edition of The Whistleblower’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What’s Right and Protecting Yourself. This second edition includes a new 20–page checklist on the procedures for obtaining Dodd-Frank...

Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the Civil Rights Tax Relief Act in 2009. This bill would provide that compensatory damages awarded in whistleblower and other cases would be excluded from the definition of “income” for income...

Yesterday, Senator Grassley (R-IA) released a letter sent to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas Shulman concerning the progress of the IRS Whistleblower Office. Senator Grassley thanked the IRS for “making good faith efforts to embrace whistleblowers instead of reverting...