IRS & Tax Whistleblowers

Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto’s record in obtaining rewards for tax whistleblowers is unparalleled. As of 2012, our firm is responsible for over 1/3 of all IRS whistleblower rewards, totaling $381 million.

Our attorneys have unmatched expertise in the rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program and have continuously advocated for a robust program which benefits whistleblowers and American taxpayers.

Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has represented more than a dozen whistleblowers who have received multimillion awards through the IRS Whistleblower Program. Through the program, qualified individuals who voluntarily provide original information about large-scale tax fraud are entitled to monetary awards of 15-30% of the proceeds collected as a result of their whistleblowing.

In addition to advocating for the largest awards possible for our clients, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto is committed to protecting the confidentiality of tax whistleblowers. All of our tax whistleblower clients who wanted to proceed as confidential whistleblowers have remained confidential – even those who have collected multi-million dollar rewards.

Since the Tax Relief and Health Care Act established the modern IRS Whistleblower Program in 2006, the pro bono team at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has engaged in consistent advocacy to ensure that the program works to the best of its abilities. As part of its pro bono efforts, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has filed rulemaking petitions, testified at rulemaking hearings, filed amicus curiae briefs in precedent-setting tax whistleblower cases, and helped push for legislation to improve the efficacy of the IRS Whistleblower Program.

Learn about our pro bono efforts in improving the IRS Whistleblower Program.

The IRS Whistleblower Program offers monetary awards and anti-retaliation protections to individuals disclosing tax evasion and fraud. Since 2007, the program has awarded whistleblowers over $1 billion based on the collection of over $6 billion in back taxes, interest, penalties, and criminal fines and sanctions. Types of Fraud Covered by the IRS Whistleblower Program:

• Offshore Tax Havens — when a company knowingly moves money to a bank in another country to avoid reporting taxable income in the U.S.;
• Shell Accounts — setting up multiple bank accounts and circulating money across these accounts to evade or avoid taxes;
• False Reporting — reporting false information on tax returns, such as underreporting revenues or taxable income;
• Pyramiding — withholding employee taxes and intentionally not remitting taxes to the IRS, then filing bankruptcy and starting another company;
• Failure to Pay or Report Payroll Taxes — failing to file employment tax returns or pay employment taxes on wages.

Learn more about the IRS Whistleblower Program.

Any individual with original information about tax fraud or large-scale tax evasion may blow the whistle to the IRS. Individuals do not need to be U.S. citizens or to be located in the U.S. to qualify.

The first step in blowing the whistle to the IRS is to hire an experienced tax whistleblower attorney. With the assistance of an attorney, a whistleblower may then file an IRS Form 211, an Application for Award for Original Information, with specific and credible information on tax fraud.

Read our how-to guide on blowing the whistle to the IRS.