New IRS Offshore Account Disclosure Program Takes Shape
As the IRS continues its increasing focus on international tax issues, a new IRS offshore disclosure program announced in December continues to take shape. While the IRS has not made public a full description of the program, details have emerged in comments of IRS officials over the past weeks. Using the 2009 IRS voluntary disclosure […]
Long-Awaited IRS Whistleblower Rule “Fix” Is Released for Comment
We have written previously about Senator Grassley’s pointed criticisms of aspects of the IRS whistleblower rules proposed in June 2010. The IRS’s delay in finalizing those rules is a principal reason why the IRS has not yet paid whistleblowers who have come forward since the December 2006 creation of the new IRS Whistleblower Program. Today, […]
Activities of IRS Large Business and International Division Earn Its Commissioner Recognition As “Tax Person of the Year”
Citing many developments in the IRS Large Business and International Division in 2010, Tax Analysts this week named IRS LB&I Commissioner Heather Maloy as its “Tax Person of the Year.” Among those developments that we have followed previously are the international focus of the restructured LB&I division (formerly known as the Large and Mid-Size Business […]
New SEC Whistleblower Program to Benefit from SEC’s Appointment of New Enforcement Official?
The SEC has just announced that current senior advisor to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, Stephen L. Cohen, has been named an Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement. We hope this is good news for the nascent SEC Whistleblower Program. The SEC recently announced that its delaying creation of an SEC Whistleblower Office for budget […]
IRS Whistleblower Claims Reporting Tax Evasion and “Overlooked” Returns
Tax whistleblowers using the new IRS Whistleblower Program have reported many instances of tax evasion involving domestic and foreign corporations, partnerships, and trusts, in addition to abusive offshore transactions about which we have written previously. These tax whistleblowers will allow the IRS to reduce the more than $300 billion “tax gap”–the difference between what tax […]
Special: Article Explaining the 2010 False Claims Act and State False Claims Acts
Three years ago, our whistleblower lawyer blog presented an in-depth article discussing the nation’s major whistleblower law, the False Claims Act, and the wave of new state False Claims Acts. Since then in 2009-2010, Congress has amended the False Claims Act three times to remove obstacles created by courts, which had limited the law’s effectiveness. […]
Part 1: Introduction: What You Should Know About the False Claims Act And New State False Claims Acts After the 2009-2010 Amendments
This is Part 1 of an updated explanation of the major qui tam whistleblower statutes, the federal False Claims Act and the new state False Claims Acts. This Part 1 provides an introduction to the False Claims Act. In 2010, more than ever, it is essential for lawyers to understand their clients’ potential liabilities under […]
Part 2: The False Claims Act and the Increasing Number of State False Claims Acts
This is Part 2 of an explanation the federal False Claims Act and the new state False Claims Acts with qui tam whistleblower provisions. This Part 2 discusses the sound policy reasons underlying the False Claims Act. I. Why Have A “False Claims Act”? Fraud is perhaps so pervasive and, therefore, costly to the Government […]
Part 3: The False Claims Act: Background & History
This is Part 3 of an updated explanation of the major qui tam whistleblower statutes, the federal False Claims Act and the new state False Claims Acts. This Part 3 explains the history of the False Claims Act and why effective whistleblower laws are important. II. Background of the Federal False Claims Act Although the […]
Part 4: How the False Claims Act Works After the 2009-2010 Amendments (with Comparisons to Some State False Claims Acts)
This Part 4 of a six part summary explains how the federal False Claims Act works, after Congress amended it three times in 2009-2010. It also discusses similar provisions of some state False Claims Acts. This is an update from a previously published article by whistleblower lawyer blog author Michael A. Sullivan. III. Overview of […]