Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

The Internal Revenue Service Recently Reports to Congress That It Had Paid $53 Million in Whistleblower Awards During Fiscal Year 2013, States Parker Waichman LLP
  • USA - English


News provided by

Parker Waichman LLP

May 09, 2014, 14:15 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX


“Whistleblower attorneys have been important in assisting, protecting, and representing whistleblowers in these matters, and ensuring whistleblower anonymity for as long as possible in these cases.” states Gary Falkowitz, Esq, of Parker Waichman LLP

Post this

Port Washington, NY (PRWEB) May 09, 2014 -- Parker Waichman, LLP, a national law firm that represents whistleblowers in qui tam cases, which refers to civil lawsuits whistleblowers may bring under the False Claims Act (FCA), also represents whistleblowers who seek to report tax fraud, which is not covered under the FCA. Tax fraud costs the federal government billions of dollars each year, notes The Columbia Law Review. However, the FCA, considered the government’s strongest qui tam tool, excludes tax fraud; some states do permit qui tam lawsuits involving potential violations of state tax laws. (November 2013, Issue 7, Notes-Archived, Volume 113)

Qui tam litigation consists of individuals bringing lawsuits involving fraud on behalf of the government, and the IRS does have a whistleblower program in place that awards individuals who bring information concerning tax fraud to the IRS. Tax fraud is covered by the IRS whistleblower program; the state false claims act, which authorizes qui tam for tax; and the New York False Claims Act, all meant to protect taxpayer privacy. However, many experts and law makers are urging the federal government and states to amend their FCAs to enable qui tam lawsuits alleging tax fraud, November 2013, Issue 7, Notes-Archived, Volume 113 [2013]): The Columbia Law Review reports.

In all, the IRS collected some $367 million in fiscal year 2013 based on information received from whistleblowers, the IRS report indicated, according to an April 18, 2014 The Wall Street Journal report.

The IRS offers two whistleblower programs. The original program, which is decades long, provides whistleblower awards of up to 15 percent of the tax collected and applies to those cases in which less than $2 million in tax is collected. In 2006, the IRS’ “large award” program was implemented and enables payments of a maximum of 30 percent of collected tax and involves those cases that involve more than $2 million The Wall Street Journal indicated.

The IRS report indicated that it had made a total of nine payments under the large award program and does have open cases based on information provided by 1,320 whistleblowers involving 12,192 taxpayers, according to The Wall Street Journal, which noted that individuals, corporations, trusts, or estates may classify as a whistleblower. A review of current data indicates that the IRS is in early or middle phases of acting on about two-thirds of its whistleblower submissions; one-third are closer to the end of the process and about three awards are expected in the near future. IRS whistleblowers are usually individuals or entities that are aware of tax fraud by a firm or person who is intentionally committing tax fraud by underreporting or omitting tax income. Other fraud includes overstating deductions, abusing deductions to charities, abusing or misusing trusts, claiming false tax credits, claiming false tax deductions, not reporting investment income, or hiding income assets.

There are moves to simplify and ease the tax fraud whistleblower process and reduce the current backlog. For example, the just-issued IRS report contains recommendations, according to an April 6, 2014 RT.com report. Also, Senator Charles Grassley (Republican-Iowa), co-author of the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act, is working to enact laws to increase whistleblower protections. “Whistleblowers are often treated like skunks at a picnic,” the senator said. “It takes guts to put your career on the line to expose waste and fraud.” One of the steps taken by the senator includes his having written to President Obama seeking a federal ban on those federal agencies that deem jobs “non-critical sensitive” as a way in which to silence whistleblowers, according to an April 10, 2014, The Washington Post report. The good news, according to an April 7, 2014 Reuters report, is that new whistleblower submissions are up with 355 in 2013 from 332 in 2012, the IRS report indicated.

The IRS maintains whistleblower confidentiality during the initial investigation phase; however, if testimony is required in a judicial proceeding, whistleblower identity may be revealed. Because some federal and local laws may provide tax fraud whistleblowers with protection, whistleblowers typically seek legal assistance to best understand their rights and protections.

“Whistleblowers are significant and necessary in assisting the federal government in the recovery of billions of dollars that are illegally being withheld from the government. This fraudulent behavior results in harm to our citizens due to a lack of funding to critical programs and activities,” said Gary Falkowitz, Managing Attorney at Parker Waichman. “Whistleblower attorneys have been important in assisting, protecting, and representing whistleblowers in these matters, and ensuring whistleblower anonymity for as long as possible in these cases.”

Parker Waichman LLP supports efforts to protect whistleblowers and offers free legal evaluations to those individuals who believe their companies may be involved in wrongdoings. If you believe that a company is committing fraudulent activities against the federal government and would like our assistance, we encourage you to contact us at the firm’s Whistleblower page at yourlawyer.com or call 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636).

Gary Falkowitz, Parker Waichman LLP, http://yourlawyer.com, +1 (800) 529-4636, [email protected]

Modal title

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.