Archive for the ‘News’ Category

How Do Tax Whistleblowers Reconcile the Diebold Case?

Monday, August 10th, 2009

In 2003 , Stephen Heller blew the whistle on an illegal scheme by Diebold to use uncertified software on their voting machines in the state of California, which would have compromised the voting process and voter confidence.  Heller blew the whistle on the company's plan to defraud California voters when he ...

The UBS Plot Thickens (and Stinks)

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

On July 28, 2009, Jeffrey P. Chernick, a former client of UBS Bank, pled guilty to filing a false tax return in violation of I.R.C. s. 7206.  However, in the midst of changing his plea to guilty, he revealed that a, yet unnamed, attorney had told him that a high-ranking ...

Another UBS Client is Indicted

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

http://www.RewardTax.com has just learned that another American client of UBS has been indicted for having a secret Swiss bank account maintained by UBS.  This marks the the third UBS client to be indicted for a similar offense this year.  Jeffrey Chernick was charged in Florida with using UBS to evade U.S. ...

Obama Administration Increases Efforts to Pursue International Tax Enforcement

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

The IRS has ramped up its efforts in international tax enforcement under the Obama Administration.  The President and the Commissioner of the IRS, Doug Schullman, have declared that enforcement of international taxation matters will be a priority in the next several years, including using tax informants and tax whistleblowers.  As stated ...

Another UBS Client is Convicted

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Another wealthy client of UBS has plead guilty to tax evasion. This marks another criminal who was taken down by the Tax Whistleblower Reward Program. In addition, this victory for the Internal Revenue Service is another benefit of its offshore tax compliance initiative. Steven Michael Rubinstein, an accountant involved in the ...

Courts Confirm that Whistleblower Rewards are Taxable

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Although a qui tam reward is different from a Tax Whistleblower reward under IRC s. 7623, the tax treatment of the rewards should be identical.  The Court of Appeals in Burns v. Commissioner, CA 9, 103 AFTR 2d ¶2009-941, recently held that the Tax Court properly determined that final installment ...

Cardinal Health Exposed by Tax Whistleblower

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

UBS was the first big tax whistleblower case to hit the press.  Cardinal Health has the dubious distinction of being the second.  The IRS is pursuing Cardinal Health for $777 million in unpaid tax plus interest and penalties.  The unpaid tax stems from an international tax shelter facilitated by Rabobank Group, a Dutch bank ...

IRS to Hire 800 New Agents to Fight Offshore Tax Shelters

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

President Obama has declares war on multi-national corporations' use of offshore tax shelters.  President Obama announced an overhaul of the tax code to "detect and pursue" U.S. tax evaders and go after their offshore tax shelters.  Taxpayers can expect more aggressive action by the IRS in pursuing cases submitted under the Tax Whistleblower Reward Program to ...

The Tax Whistleblower Office Song

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

This is too funny not to post.  Reporting tax fraud now has its own theme song....   The IRS Tip Line To the tune of     I Heard It Through the Grapevine By William J. Wilkins       * * Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LL P, Washington, DC ta x bit es       I The IRS tip line Oo, oo, I bet ...

States That Offer Tax Whistleblower Rewards

Friday, April 24th, 2009

Seven states have passed laws that allow private individuals to act as Tax Whistleblowers.  These seven states include California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, and Rhode Island.  Some of these states have modeled their Whistleblower Acts after the federal False Claims Act.  In addition, some of these states have Whistleblower Acts that exclude income tax--Illinois, ...