“IRS Whistleblower Office Could Survive Trump Purge” Reports Law360, Quoting Neil Getnick
On January 28, Law360 quoted Managing Partner Neil Getnick in an article on the IRS Whistleblower Office. Titled IRS Whistleblower Office Could Survive Trump Purge, the article addresses why the IRS Whistleblower Office may continue to receive federal funding “since its recent efforts to efficiently reward and protect those who report illicit tax activity could align with the [current] administration’s goals.”
The IRS Whistleblower Office was established by the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 and “was tasked with implementing the statute’s formal framework to protect and reward informants.” Under the IRS Whistleblower Program, individuals who provide information about tax frauds that meet certain minimum thresholds are entitled to a percentage of the money IRS collects as a result of the whistleblower’s information.
In recent years, the IRS Whistleblower Office has gained additional resources, which has enabled it to increase its staffing. Coupled with a reform program initiated by the Director of the Whistleblower Office, that has resulted in improvements to the program. Those improvements have had a tangible impact, including the Office’s $263 million recovery from an individual taxpayer. Getnick Law represented the lead whistleblower in that case; and the three whistleblowers who reported the wrongdoing received the largest award possible: 30% of the recovery. In commenting on how the IRS Whistleblower Office’s improvements aided the case, Neil Getnick stated: “One big improvement to the IRS whistleblower program under Hinman was the creation of a public-private partnership with attorneys and other whistleblower stakeholders. . . . The office’s reforms were crucial to quickly concluding the case and rewarding that tipster and two others on time.”
In addressing whether the IRS Whistleblower Office will continue to have bipartisan support, Neil predicted that it was “likely,” stating that no one “favors waste, fraud or abuse.”
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