IRS Whistleblower Program: Under Attack. Again.
**UPDATE**
On March 13, 2013, the United States Tax Court issued an order calling for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Joseph Insigna ever received a determination from the IRS. Order, Joseph Insigna v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service, No. 4609-12W (March 13, 2013). In his petition to the Court, Insigna argues that, although he has not received a final determination letter from the IRS, his whistleblower claims “have, as a practical matter, been denied, and that he has therefore received a de facto rejection.”
In response, the IRS argues that Tax Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the matter because it has not, in fact, issued a determination on Insigna’s claim.
While both sides seem keen on arguing over whether Tax Court has jurisdiction over a claim in a situation when the IRS unreasonably delays in failing to issue a determination letter, the Order makes clear that the Court does not intend to reach that question unless it must. Instead, the Court will first focus on whether Insigna did, in fact, receive a determination — even a de facto determination .
Pursuant to the whistleblower statute, Tax Court has jurisdiction only if there has been “any determination regarding an award.” Id. To that end, the Court noted that the statute “does not explicitly require a ‘notice’ of a determination, nor a written determination, nor even any communication of a determination.”
The purpose, then, of the evidentiary hearing is to determine whether a de facto determination has, in fact, been made. To reach that conclusion, the Court will seek to determine “whether the IRS has completed its consideration of petitioner’s claim; what, if anything, the IRS is still doing with regard to petitioner’s claim; and whether the IRS expects to do anything in the future with regard to petitioner’s claim.” Id. Notably, the Court states that “[i]f there has been a cessation of administrative action, then a reviewable determination may have been effectively made thereby.” Id.
A former bank executive recently filed suit against the Internal Revenue Service claiming that the IRS owes him a reward for blowing the whistle.
Joseph A. Insinga filed a claim for an award with the IRS Whistleblower Office in 2007, one year after Congress passed a law establishing the Whistleblower Office. Under the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, tax whistleblowers may receive an award ranging from 15% to 30% of the total taxes, penalties, and interest collected by the IRS, with the actual percentage awarded based on an informant’s contribution to the case.
Insinga claims that the IRS collected proceeds from the allegedly fraudulent taxpayers based on information that he provided, but he has yet to receive a response from the IRS regarding an award. As a result, Insinga filed a claim in the United States Tax Court, claiming the IRS owes him a portion of the proceeds it collected based on his information.
According to his petition, for at least two years, the IRS led him to believe that an award was forthcoming yet, following purported payments by the targeted taxpayers in November 2011, the IRS changed its tune, informing Insigna that his claims “were on life support.” Moreover, the IRS claimed that there were “other sources” of the information Insigna provided nearly four years earlier. The IRS subsequently informed Insigna that a final decision would be issued soon. According to Insigna, that statement was made in November 2011. Following nearly four more months of silence, Insigna filed his petition in or around February 2012.
The news of Insinga’s claim does not come at an opportune time for the IRS, which earlier last week was the subject of a scathing article on Forbes.com, critical of its failure to reward whistleblowers for valuable information. According to the author, Erika Kelton, an attorney at Phillips & Cohen who represents whistleblowers before the IRS, the problem with the IRS whistleblower program is not the “quality of the whistleblower information that the IRS is receiving” but rather “the IRS itself and institutional resistance to whistleblowers within the IRS.”
In FY 2010 alone, the IRS collected $464.6 million from taxpayers under its whistleblower program, so it is clear that the information is out there. The problem is that the IRS hands out too few awards, and takes too long to pay them.
It has recently been suggested that the IRS establish a website to monitor the status of its whistleblower claims. Even if personal data was redacted in accordance with IRS regulations, the website would at least reassure whistleblowers that their claims are being processed.
Whistleblowers should be viewed not as a burden, but rather as a weapon in the fight against fraud. After all, the False Claims Act recovered over $4 billion in federal funds in FY 2011. Given that the annual gap between what is owed in taxes and what is paid is approximately $385 billion (and growing), the IRS would be well served to use the tools Congress provided when it established the whistleblower program and follow in the footsteps of the False Claims Act in an effort to eliminate tax fraud and the $385 billion gap.
If you have knowledge of Tax Fraud and would like to discuss the possibility of a whistleblower award under the IRS Whistleblower Program, please contact our whistleblower attorneys today. Kenney & McCafferty will consult with you about your case, without obligation. All communications with Kenney & McCafferty attorneys regarding your case are confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege.
Tags: False Claims Act, IRS, IRS reward, IRS whistleblower, IRS whistleblower program, Tax Fraud, whistleblower award
This entry was posted on Friday, April 12th, 2013 at 3:28 pm and is filed under IRS Whistleblower Office, Tax Fraud. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
