The Internal Revenue Service has awarded an anonymous whistleblower $38 million for information leading to the recovery of between $127 million and $254 million in corporate taxes, according to the whistleblower's attorney.
The payment is believed to be the second-largest whistleblower award under a program created by Congress that took effect in 2007.
See our previous posts concerning IRS Whistle Blower Awards:
- IRS awash in whistleblowers after $104M payout!
- Attention All Whistle Blowers, The IRS Needs $$$!
- Tax Cheats May Claim IRS Whistleblower Rewards?
- Bradley Birkenfeld awarded $104 million (13% ) as UBS tax case whistleblower
The whistleblower's attorney, Scott Knott of Ferraro Law Firm in Washington, declined to name the whistleblower or the firm involved, although he said the corporation is among the top 500 public firms in the country. He released a redacted copy of the IRS's award notice verifying that the whistleblower received $38,037,899.
In July, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said publicly that the IRS was trying to determine claims in 10 whistleblower cases that were nearly complete.
Mr. Knott praised the IRS for its handling of the claim. "Both the existence and the name of the whistleblower remained completely confidential throughout this process, proving the IRS can reward corporate whistleblowers" without revealing their identity, he said.
Experts say this means the whistleblower likely was employed through much or all of the four years it took the IRS to process the claim.
Mr. Knott declined to discuss the issue involved in the claim, but did say it was more akin to aggressive corporate tax planning than outright fraud. He added that the claim was originally filed in early 2008, which means it was more quickly resolved than many cases.
Most tax-whistleblower cases take between 5 - 7 years to be resolved, in part because whistleblowers aren't paid until after the IRS is paid and the taxpayer's time to appeal has expired.
If you want to be a Wistle Blower or are Victum of a Wistle Blower, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).
If you want to be a Wistle Blower or are Victum of a Wistle Blower, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).
Read more at: Tax Times blog