The National Whistleblower Center issued the following Action Alert today:
Action Alert: Urge Treasury Department to Withdraw Proposed Rule
The Department of Treasury is poised to approve a final rule that will have a devastating impact on the IRS Whistleblower Program. The Treasury Department, along with the IRS office of general counsel, have concocted a rule to exclude whistleblowers from coverage if the violation of law they report is criminally prosecuted. Tax fraud whistleblowers will only receive rewards for information that results in civil or administrative penalties. If a whistleblower has solid evidence of a major fraud that triggers a criminal prosecution, he or she will get nothing. The proposed regulation undermines Congress’s intent that whistleblowers who report tax fraud be protected and rewarded.
This proposed rule, which we have learned is on the verge of final approval, could not have come at a worse time. The IRS and the Justice Department are effectively using the threat of whistleblower disclosures to force international banks to plead guilty to tax fraud violations for illegally harboring non-disclosed offshore accounts. If the proposed rule is approved, the threat that international bankers will become whistleblowers will become toothless.
The NWC executive director and the key tax policy advisor have written a major article, which was published in Tax Notes, that explains the illegal nature of the Treasury Department’s proposed rule. Please demand that those responsible for giving final approval for the rule, read the NWC arguments and withdraw the proposal to exclude criminal tax law penalties from the IRS whistleblower program.
Links: The Legality Of The IRS’ Proposed Whistleblower Rule: Flunking The Loving Test
Demand that those responsible for giving final approval for the proposede rule, read the NWC arguments and withdraw the proposal to exclude criminal tax law penalties from the IRS whistleblower program.
Please join with the NWC and take action on this critical issue and pass this alert onto a friend, co-worker or family member!