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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…