Whistleblower program ?

[ViewSonicBOOM]

Florida located.

I know of a company who got out of paying a lot of money in Taxes however when I called the IRS, they just said they can't talk someone else's taxes and hung up.

Their website said they have someone of a Whistleblower program, is this something best negotiated though a specialized attorney?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Why would you think for a second that the IRS would talk to you at all about another entity's taxes?

Give us some more details any we may be able to help you but nobody is going to be able to help you based on what you have written.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Florida located.

I know of a company who got out of paying a lot of money in Taxes however when I called the IRS, they just said they can't talk someone else's taxes and hung up.

Their website said they have someone of a Whistleblower program, is this something best negotiated though a specialized attorney?

If you asked the IRS for information about the the company the IRS must decline to give it to you. Under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 6103 the IRS cannot disclose tax return information to anyone but the taxpayer itself except for a few specific disclosures that the law allows (disclosures to other federal agencies, disclosures required by a federal court order, disclosures to Congress, etc).

You may always provide information to the IRS concerning suspected tax fraud however. The IRS has forms for doing that, and using those forms is the best way to provide that information. The IRS page on reporting suspected tax fraud describes the different types of fraud and which form to use to report it.

If you are seeking a reward for reporting the information, you use Form 211. In most instances you don't need an tax attorney to help you with this. Only in certain unusual situations might you benefit from having a tax attorney handle this for you to help ensure you get a reward for the information you provided, and even then that would only be worthwhile if the tax fraud involved was quite large and the taxpayer involved can afford to pay the taxes owed because the reward is based on what the IRS ultimately can collect using the information you provided.

Note that in any event the IRS will not inform you of the details of what is done with your information and what action is taken against the taxpayer involved.

One final comment. I used to work for the IRS as an officer and then later as an attorney as well. I saw a lot of people who reported suspected tax fraud, and most of those reports were pretty much useless. While the person reporting it was no doubt convinced of the fraud, the report the person provided typically lacked useful details and evidence that would clearly indicate possible fraud, and without something concrete to work with the IRS isn't going to do anything. For example, I'd see reports like "I'm sure my ex Mr. Jones is working under the table and not reporting the income." That kind of vague report is not very helpful and the IRS wouldn't do much with that. The more specific you can be and the more evidence of it that you can provide, the better.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Because the IRS said on their website " The IRS Whistleblower Office pays money to people who blow the whistle on persons who fail to pay the tax that they owe. If the IRS uses information provided by the whistleblower, it can award the whistleblower up to 30 percent of the additional tax, penalty and other amounts it collects." I have such information about a company and I would be willing to give it up over 30% of the unpaid amount. That is the reason why.

And to pursue that, you submit a Form 211 to the IRS. Don't call the IRS and try to give it information over the phone if you want to pursue a whistleblower reward. Doing that will not preserve your claim to a reward. Note that to get the reward you must provide specific details about the fraud (not just some general statement that the company is dodging tax) that the IRS does not already have and that leads to the IRS collecting additional tax. The more detail you can provide, the better.

 

[ViewSonicBOOM]

If you asked the IRS for information about the the company the IRS must decline to give it to you. Under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 6103 the IRS cannot disclose tax return information to anyone but the taxpayer itself except for a few specific disclosures that the law allows (disclosures to other federal agencies, disclosures required by a federal court order, disclosures to Congress, etc).

The information I was asking for was about a Federal lax lien against the company which I think is considered public record. I know they file with the state recorder or some other state government official which is posted on the website.

You may always provide information to the IRS concerning suspected tax fraud however. The IRS has forms for doing that, and using those forms is the best way to provide that information. The IRS page on reporting suspected tax fraud describes the different types of fraud and which form to use to report it.[/FONT]

If you are seeking a reward for reporting the information, you use Form 211. In most instances you don't need an tax attorney to help you with this. Only in certain unusual situations might you benefit from having a tax attorney handle this for you to help ensure you get a reward for the information you provided, and even then that would only be worthwhile if the tax fraud involved was quite large and the taxpayer involved can afford to pay the taxes owed because the reward is based on what the IRS ultimately can collect using the information you provided.

Note that in any event the IRS will not inform you of the details of what is done with your information and what action is taken against the taxpayer involved.

One final comment. I used to work for the IRS as an officer and then later as an attorney as well. I saw a lot of people who reported suspected tax fraud, and most of those reports were pretty much useless. While the person reporting it was no doubt convinced of the fraud, the report the person provided typically lacked useful details and evidence that would clearly indicate possible fraud, and without something concrete to work with the IRS isn't going to do anything. For example, I'd see reports like "I'm sure my ex Mr. Jones is working under the table and not reporting the income." That kind of vague report is not very helpful and the IRS wouldn't do much with that. The more specific you can be and the more evidence of it that you can provide, the better.

I am seeking the reward 30%-50%, whatever the highest amount possible. The information I have is inside information not known to the general public and have taking a great deal of time,effort and expense to obtain. Also, the IRS collecting their money will likely mean the company will not have money to pay what they owe me and possible cause them to go bankrupt. So the reward would have to compensate me for the money which I am rightfully owed by this company.

The question is how can I be be sure the IRS will pay if they end up going after the company. The money owed to the IRS is substantial and far exceeds the money the company owes me. What is to keep them from using my information to go after the company, independently confirm my information during discovery process, audit,etc.. then claiming they would have done that anyway without my report?

Is just filing Form 211 enough to protect my interest or should this be negotiated with a lawyer who its an IRS specialist.

 

[ViewSonicBOOM]

Why would you think for a second that the IRS would talk to you at all about another entity's taxes?

Give us some more details any we may be able to help you but nobody is going to be able to help you based on what you have written.

Because the IRS said on their website " The IRS Whistleblower Office pays money to people who blow the whistle on persons who fail to pay the tax that they owe. If the IRS uses information provided by the whistleblower, it can award the whistleblower up to 30 percent of the additional tax, penalty and other amounts it collects." I have such information about a company and I would be willing to give it up over 30% of the unpaid amount. That is the reason why.

 

[ViewSonicBOOM]

And to pursue that, you submit a Form 211 to the IRS. Don't call the IRS and try to give it information over the phone if you want to pursue a whistleblower reward. Doing that will not preserve your claim to a reward. Note that to get the reward you must provide specific details about the fraud (not just some general statement that the company is dodging tax) that the IRS does not already have and that leads to the IRS collecting additional tax. The more detail you can provide, the better.

The information I have is not known to the general public and there is a very high $ amount.

What is the highest reward I can get? Giving them the information would likely destroy my own chances of collecting on a law lawsuit against them and leave the company maybe bankrupt.

 

[HRZ]

FIle the form 211 and anything else requested with as much information as you can provide ...one of my pals, is another retired IRS attorney ...and pretty much said the good well informative leads stand far better chances of being followed up ...like it makes sense ...no follow up = no reward potential.

IF you hold some sort of a confidential role within the firm or some fidicuary position re confidential information you might want to get legal counsel specializing in such whistleblower suits ...it's sometimes not as easy as just turning in the " facts ..

Hey, if you hold 2 nuclear option buttons but refuse to play either one..then you hold no buttons ? But even if you prevail on both buttons ..it IRS may be better at collecting ..and that reward up to 30 % is in stronger hands. you may have a time choice...but if IRS discovers the problem first there is no reward for being second

 

[Taxing Matters]

The information I have is not known to the general public and there is a very high $ amount.

What is the highest reward I can get?

The highest amount you can get is 30% of the amount the government collects as a result of the information you provide. There is no cap on the total amount you can get. In other words, there is no rule that says that rewards cannot be more than $X. Note that even if the IRS finds the information useful and pursues this, it may well be a year or even several years before you see any reward money from it. Tax investigations and litigation can take a very long time.

Giving them the information would likely destroy my own chances of collecting on a law lawsuit against them and leave the company maybe bankrupt.

Why would it prevent you from succeeding in your own lawsuit? Is it simply a concern that the IRS would take everything the business has and leave nothing for you??

 

[Zigner]

Florida located.

I know of a company who got out of paying a lot of money in Taxes however ...

Are you saying they evaded paying taxes, or are you saying they avoided paying taxes? Evasion is illegal, avoidance is not.