K&M Presents Testimony on Whistleblower Program
The IRS Building in Washington, D.C.
Linda Stengle of Kenney & McCafferty, P.C. presented testimony before the IRS on May 11, 2011, on its proposed definition of “collected proceeds.” The definition, if approved, would form the basis of calculating whistleblower awards.
The IRS had four people on a panel to hear the comments. They were Tom Kane, Senior Legal Counsel; Stephen Whitlock, Director of the Whistleblower Office; Alexandra Minkovich, Attorney-Advisor; and Kirsten Witter, Chief of the Service’s Ethics and General Government Law Branch. The panel asked questions of a few presenters, including Stengle. Tom Kane stated that NOLs should be considered to be ordinary deductions and were not relevant to an award calculation. Kane also said there should be no 2 year waiting period imposed in cases involving a closing agreement and that further guidance would be issued with regard to whether whistleblowers can obtain a portion of criminal fines.
Stengle pointed out irregularities in the public comment process ordinarily required when the IRS changes a major regulation. Specifically, the IRS issued its Whistleblower Manual in June 2010 without public comment and narrowed the definition of “collected proceeds.” Senator Grassley, the author of the statute mandating IRS whistleblower awards, criticized the Manual and said that several sections worked to deter whistleblowers from reporting large scale tax underpayment. Stengle echoed Grassley’s request that the manual be held in abeyance while substantive sections undergo public comment.
Four other attorneys presented testimony on the topic. Among other comments, Richard Rubin observed that the proposed rule addressed the inclusion of specific categories of recovery into the definition, but no actual definition for “collected proceeds” exists anywhere in the regulations.
All those who presented stated that the proposed definition for collected proceeds needed to be broadened. The panel members gave no indication of when the IRS plans to publish the final version of the definition.
Tags: corporate fraud, government fraud, IRS, IRS reward, IRS whistleblower program, tax evasion, Tax Fraud, tax underpayment, tax whistleblower, whistleblower award, whistleblower reward
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 at 9:41 am and is filed under Abusive Tax Shelters, Corporate Tax Fraud, Employment Tax Fraud, Estate Tax Fraud, IRS Whistleblower Office, Money Laundering Tax Fraud, Offshore Accouts Fraud, Tax Fraud, Uncategorized, Whistleblower Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
