Sunday, November 1, 2009

Waiting Whistleblowers

"A three-year-old [IRS] program that promises hefty bounties for information on big tax cheats has succeeded in drawing whistleblowers. It just hasn't paid out any rewards yet. ... In its second annual report to Congress last week, the office said it got 476 submissions on 1,246 taxpayers in fiscal 2008, each of which appear to meet the requirement that at least $2 million in taxes were evaded. ... Critics of the IRS office say it isn't doing enough to help whistle-blowers through what often turns into a long and frightening ordeal after they hand over information. They can lose their jobs and friends, and feel isolated, even from the IRS, once they have handed over information. ... The IRS is strictly limited in what it can tell whistle-blowers about investigations, said spokesman Bruce I. Friedland", Arden Dale at the WSJ, 14 October 2009.

How unlike the SEC and Mary Jo White, my 23 October 2008 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/10/who-is-stephen-cutler-2.html. The IRS can do whatever it wants. I would never trust the IRS as a whistle-blower. I suspect less than 1% of these persons will ever see a dime from the IRS.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the IRS will get more pwerful. Mordor anyone.

Anonymous said...

Citizen empowered tax "bounty hunters"... right on!

1% is too low... I'll say 5%.