IRS Whistleblower Office

What the office accepts

The IRS says a person with information about suspected tax fraud, evasion, or a violation of a law the IRS is authorized to administer, enforce, or investigate may submit a claim for a monetary award. The examples it lists include abusive tax shelters, offshore tax evasion, FATCA, FBAR, and money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act matters within that authority. ¹ Source 1

Proceeds include penalties, interest, additions to tax, and other amounts under the internal revenue laws, and proceeds arising from laws the IRS may administer, enforce, or investigate, including criminal fines, civil forfeitures, and violations of reporting requirements. ¹ Source 1

Award range

The IRS claim page says a whistleblower award is generally 15 to 30 percent of the amount collected because of the information in the claim. It says the percentage decreases for claims based on public sources or if the whistleblower planned and initiated the actions that led to the noncompliance. ¹ Source 1

Awards are processed as mandatory under Internal Revenue Code section 7623(b) or discretionary under section 7623(a). A mandatory award requires a matter in which tax, penalties, interest, additions to tax, and additional proceeds in dispute exceed $2 million. If the taxpayer is an individual, that person’s gross income must also exceed $200,000 in at least one of the tax years in question. Claims that miss those criteria are considered for a discretionary award. ¹ Source 1

Publication 5251 states the same 15 to 30 percent band and the same thresholds, and it says information not used because of a taint review does not produce proceeds for an award. ² Source 2

How the IRS says to submit

The claim page says to use Form 211, Application for Award for Original Information. The whistleblower must provide contact information and sign under penalty of perjury. A representative cannot sign Form 211 for the whistleblower. The form asks for the subject’s identity if known, a specific description of the noncompliance, how the whistleblower learned it, and the whistleblower’s relationship to the subject. ¹ Source 1 ² Source 2

The IRS says it mails a letter that confirms receipt and assigns a claim number. It warns against filing the same claim more than once. Contact updates go to the Whistleblower Office in Ogden, Utah, at the address on the claim page. ¹ Source 1

People who are ineligible for an award include Treasury employees who obtained the information as employees, federal employees who obtained it through official duties, people required by law to disclose it or barred from disclosing it, and certain contractors. The report button on this site goes to America.gov/fraud. Form 211 is the IRS award claim, and the IRS links are citations. ¹ Source 1 ³ Source 3

Identity

The IRS says it protects the identity of a whistleblower to the fullest extent the law allows. That is not the same as the SEC rule that allows an anonymous award filing through a lawyer. To claim an IRS award, the person must provide contact information and sign the declaration. ¹ Source 1

The claim page also says a person who is not eligible for an award can anonymously report tax fraud without submitting a claim. That path is not an award application. ¹ Source 1

Deadlines

The claim page says the IRS mails a confirmation letter and tells readers to get the timeline in Publication 5251. This page does not restate a day count from that publication. The page does say the information should be specific, timely, and credible. ¹ Source 1 ² Source 2