Today marks the end of IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman’s tenure, just as President Obama and Congressional leaders shift to addressing the looming “fiscal cliff.” Rather than disrupt the process of narrowing the deficit, Shulman’s departure could actually assist it–in an important way that does not depend on raising tax rates.…
With the current debate over raising tax rates becoming increasingly heated, a bipartisan, common-sense effort to recover more of the several hundred billion dollars that tax cheats already owe deserves far greater emphasis. The IRS in September sent a smart and principled message that it is willing to encourage those…
Each Fall, the Justice Department tallies its recoveries of taxpayer dollars that have been pilfered through fraud directed at federal programs. A year ago, DOJ proudly announced $3 billion in recoveries in False Claims Act cases, and a record $8.7 billion recovered in the three years starting in 2009. Late…
Recently, I was asked to explain the newly enacted “Georgia Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act” to some 200 city and county attorneys in Georgia. Although our firm has qui tam False Claims Act cases pending around the country, I take particular interest in making successful this law that I helped…
This morning’s announcement that the SEC has made its first award to a whistleblower under its new SEC Whistleblower Program established by Dodd-Frank leaves some clues about the message the SEC intends to send. Speed: The SEC wasted no time–the award came barely two years after Dodd-Frank’s passage, and a…
In presenting programs on how to protect whistleblowers from criminal and civil liability, we have watched in amazement as UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld got himself incarcerated for a felony conviction–despite apparently being one of the most valuable IRS whistleblowers ever. Today’s announcement of Birkenfeld’s release after serving almost 30 months…
When the SEC debated in 2011 requiring “internal” reporting within companies as a prerequisite to filing an SEC Whistleblower claim under Dodd-Frank, business interests howled that any other rule would “destroy” compliance programs. Never mind that the vast majority of whistleblowers have always raised concerns about illegal conduct internally before…
The nation’s newest state False Claims Act was signed into law today by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, after passing unanimously in both houses of the legislature. The “Georgia Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act” protects all taxpayer dollars spent not only by the State, but also by counties, municipalities, school districts,…
A critical issue in qui tam cases under the False Claims Act is how government lawyers and whistleblower attorneys prove damages caused by the fraud and false claims involved. This whistleblowerlawyerblog‘s co-author MIchael A. Sullivan has been asked to moderate a panel discussion on “Recent Developments on Damages and Penalties”…
In a controversial decision today, the IRS squandered an opportunity to help close the tax gap by attracting more whistleblowers with significant information about large tax schemes. The public will suffer as a result. Stubbornly, the IRS rejected calls for a common sense approach to rewarding tax whistleblowers, as it…