Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the Internal Revenue Service’s guidance released today, further implementing new incentives for whistleblowers to come forward on tax fraud. Grassley authored the 2006 whistleblower improvements.
“Today’s guidance takes some positive steps, such as treating net operating losses so the whistleblower gets credit as increased taxes are paid going forward. However, the guidance is disappointing in some other key areas. I wanted to see a lot more definitive language on communication with whistleblowers. I’ve heard from the IRS that better communication is important but I’m not seeing much progress there so far. I’m also disappointed that the IRS continues to limit the categories of awards that are eligible. My intent in drafting the law was simple. If the whistleblower gives information that’s useful to the government and improves tax collection, the whistleblower should benefit. The more barriers in place, the less law-abiding taxpayers will benefit from the whistleblower function. I’ll continue to work with the IRS, GAO, and TIGTA and in Congress to keep making progress in getting the whistleblower office working at full capacity.”
The new guidance is available here.
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