IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act of 2021

IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act of 2021

This bill modifies provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to whistleblower protections. Specifically, the bill

• revises the standard for review of whistleblower awards in the Tax Court to require a de novo review standard (currently, the standard is abuse of discretion);
• exempts whistleblower awards from reductions due to budget sequestration;
• establishes a rebuttable presumption that whistleblowers would suffer harm if their identities were disclosed in a Tax Court proceeding;
• modifies the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower report to require inclusion of a list and description of the top 10 tax avoidance schemes disclosed by whistleblowers;
• requires the IRS to pay interest on whistleblower awards if not paid within one year of receipt of proceeds collected from whistleblower disclosures,
• allows the IRS to retain 3% of whistleblower proceeds (up to $10 million) to pay administrative costs of the whistleblower program; and
• allows payment of the attorney fees of whistleblowers regardless of whether the whistleblower award was paid through the mandatory or the discretionary whistleblower award program.