The IRS collected more than $245 million as a result of whistleblowers' tips, for which it made 179 awards totaling over $36 million in 2021, the agency's Whistleblower Office said in its annual report to Congress.
According to the report, which was released June 13, 2022 the revenue was split between almost $130 million collected under Code Sec. 7623(a) and more than $115 million under Code Sec. 7623(b). Covering the period October 2020 through September 2021, the report found that the work of Whistleblower Office decreased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, though most operations have resumed in full.
Since the whistleblower program began in 2007, the number and amounts of awards paid annually can vary significantly, "especially when a small number of high-dollar claims are resolved in a single year," according to the report.
$6.4 Billion From Noncompliant Taxpayers, the Report Said.
The year in which an award is paid is generally not the year in which collections occurred because the IRS must wait to make a final determination of proceeds. That determination can occur only after a taxpayer has exhausted all appeals and can no longer file a claim for refund or otherwise seek to recover the proceeds from the government.
________________________________________
Read more at: Tax Times blog
