Transition Rules of the Tax Whistleblower Law
May 1, 2008 – 2:21 pmThe IRS has recently been active putting into place regualtions and issuing Notices with respect to those items that begin to make the tax whistleblowing process work. Clarification of IRC Section 7623 was addressed by IR Notice 2008-004. Primarily, the Transition rules:
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New section Title 26 Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 7623(b) includes several requirements that are inconsistent with the current treasury regulations and internal instructions applicable to IRC 7623(a).
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Long-standing authority to pay awards at the discretion of the Secretary was re-designated as section IRC 7623(a) (the old “tax informant claims” program), and a new section IRC 7623(b) (the new “tax whistleblowing program“) was added making it mandatory that the IRS pay a minimum of 15% of the amount collected and a maximum of 30%.
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What is now IRC 7623(a) has been implemented through regulations appearing at 25 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 301.7623-1.
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Until the Treasury Department publishes final rules to implement new section IRC 7623(b), the regulations appearing at 26 CFR 301.7623-1 will, in general, continue to apply to section IRC 7623(a).
IRC Section 7623(a) - Informant Claims Program
IRC Section 7623(b) - Whistleblower Rules