IRS Whistleblower
About IRS Whistleblower
The IRS Whistleblower Program pays informants who report tax evasion. The program traces its roots to the Civil War era. The modern program, enhanced by the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, pays whistleblowers 15 to 30 percent of collected proceeds when the amount in dispute exceeds 2 million. The most famous IRS whistleblower case involved Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker who revealed how UBS helped US clients evade taxes through Swiss accounts. Birkenfeld received 104 million, the largest IRS whistleblower award ever. The program has been criticized for slow processing. As of 2023, the IRS had a backlog of over 40,000 whistleblower claims. Despite this, the program has collected over 6 billion in unpaid taxes since 2007.
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