Under the 2019 Taxpayer First Act, the IRS was authorized to exchange information with whistleblowers and their attorneys if doing so would aid the IRS’ investigation. In addition, the IRS must now notify tax whistleblowers of key developments in their cases. In particular, the IRS must now inform whistleblowers within 60 days if:
- The IRS has referred a case for audit or examination about which the whistleblower provided information.
- A taxpayer the whistleblower identified has made a tax payment related to the whistleblower’s information.
The IRS is now authorized to give written responses to requests for information from whistleblowers or their attorneys on the status of their whistleblower claim on a yearly basis.