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The Whistleblower Office administers claims for awards from people who report specific, timely and credible information about noncompliance with tax laws or other laws the IRS is authorized to administer, enforce or investigate.
Whistleblower claim for award
The office pays monetary awards to eligible individuals whose information is used by the IRS. The award amount generally is 15 to 30% of the proceeds collected and attributable to the whistleblower's information.
Submit a whistleblower claim for award
Value of the Whistleblower Program
Our nation’s tax system is built on the principle of voluntary compliance: taxpayers file tax returns and pay their taxes on time and accurately. The IRS addresses non-compliance with tax laws through examinations, collection activities, criminal investigations, data analytics and other methods, but we can’t detect it all by ourselves.
We need help from whistleblowers—people with firsthand knowledge of non-compliance who are willing to share what they know with us so we can investigate it when warranted. Whistleblower information that the IRS can act on bolsters the fair, efficient and effective enforcement of our nation’s tax laws, the success of our voluntary tax system and our efforts to reduce the tax gap.
Vision
To effectively promote voluntary compliance and reduce the tax gap by providing excellent service to whistleblowers, taxpayers and other stakeholders.
Mission
To effectively administer the IRS Whistleblower Program by ensuring:
- IRS compliance functions receive and consider specific, timely and credible whistleblower claims that identify non-compliance with tax laws or other laws the IRS is authorized to administer, enforce or investigate
- Whistleblowers receive required notifications on time
- Awards are fairly determined and timely paid
IRS Whistleblower Operating Plan PDF
Annual report to Congress
The Secretary of the Treasury reports annually on the use of Internal Revenue Code Section 7623 in the IRS Whistleblower Annual Report to Congress.
Fiscal year 2024 IRS Whistleblower Office - Annual Report to Congress PDF
All annual reports to Congress
News
Recent updates from the Whistleblower Office:
- Fiscal year 2026 sequester notice from Whistleblower Office effective Oct. 1, 2025 PDF – Information on how the sequestration rate impacts whistleblower award payments during the current fiscal year.
- The IRS Whistleblower Office released its multi-year Operating Plan PDF outlining guiding principles, strategic priorities, recent achievements, and current initiatives to advance the IRS Whistleblower Program.
Whistleblower law
The scope and procedures of the IRS Whistleblower Program are guided by:
Internal Revenue Code (IRC)
IRC section 7623: Authorization to pay awards. In addition to providing the authorization for paying awards, this section also contains laws for awards, definition of proceeds, and civil action to protect against retaliation.
IRC section 6103: Under section 6103(a), returns and return information are confidential, unless an exception applies.
- Section 6103(h)(4) authorizes the disclosure of returns and return information in administrative or judicial proceedings pertaining to tax administration in certain circumstances. A whistleblower administrative proceeding under section 7623 is an administrative proceeding under section 6103(h)(4).
- Section 6103(k)(13) authorizes certain disclosures to whistleblowers including notification when the whistleblower’s information has been referred for an audit or examination, notification when a payment of tax has been made on an assessment related to the whistleblower’s information, and information on the status and stage of the investigation or action related to the whistleblower’s information.
Treasury regulations
These Treasury regulations provide comprehensive guidance for the award program authorized under Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 7623:
- 26 CFR 301.6103(h)(4)-1: Outlines authorized disclosure of returns and return information in whistleblower administrative proceedings.
- 26 CFR 301.7623-1: Provides general rules for submitting information on underpayments of tax or violations of the internal revenue laws and filing claims for award.
- 26 CFR 301.7623-2: Defines key terms for purposes of determining awards under section 7623 and the corresponding regulations
- 26 CFR 301.7623-3: Describes the administrative proceedings applicable to claims for award under both section 7623(a) and section 7623(b) and appeals of award determinations.
- 26 CFR 301.7623-4: Provides the framework and criteria that the Whistleblower Office will use in exercising the discretion granted under section 7623 to make awards.
History of the Whistleblower Program
Timeline of the program from its establishment in 1867 to today:
- What is now Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 7623(a) has been on the books since March 1867, allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to pay such amounts as he deems necessary "for detecting and bringing to trial and punishment persons guilty of violating the internal revenue laws or conniving at the same."
- Prior to 2006 the only substantive change since 1867 was in 1996, when a clause was added allowing payments to be made "for detecting underpayments of tax" as another basis for an informant award and making the payments from proceeds collected rather than appropriated funds.
- The Treasury Department issued a regulation to implement the law, and the IRS has had a series of policies to define the scope and procedures for the program.
- The courts have considered attempts to challenge award decisions under this law, and uniformly found that the discretion to make, or not make, an award is essentially not reviewable.
- The pre-amendment program was discretionary, and was governed by policies that defined award percentages and set a cap.
- The maximum award percentage was 15% of collected taxes and penalties.
- The maximum award amount was subject to limitations based on the date the claim was filed.
- Awards were generally not paid when the disclosures were based on public information, or when the whistleblower participated in the tax non-compliance.
- The whistleblower was not required to be an individual.
- There was no requirement that the whistleblower sign a Form 211.
On Dec. 20, 2006, Section 406 of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (TRHCA 2006) added IRC section 7623(b), which enacted significant changes in the IRS award program for whistleblowers. The TRHCA 2006 set a new framework for the consideration of whistleblower submissions and established the Whistleblower Office within the IRS to administer that framework.
On Aug. 12, 2014, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published final regulations providing comprehensive guidance for the IRS Whistleblower Program under IRC Section 7623. This included guidance on:
- Submission of information regarding underpayments of tax or violations of the internal revenue laws and filing claims for award, as well as on the administrative proceedings applicable to claims for award under IRC Section 7623
- Determination and payment of awards; and defined key terms used in IRC Section 7623
- Confirmation of the director, officers, and employees of the Whistleblower Office who are authorized to disclose return information to the extent necessary to conduct whistleblower administrative proceedings
On Feb. 9, 2018, Section 41108 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018) amended IRC Section 7623, which added a new subsection:
(c) Proceeds – For purposes of this Section, the term ‘proceeds’ includes —
(1) penalties, interest, additions to tax, and additional amounts provided under the Internal Revenue laws, and
(2) any proceeds arising from laws for which the Internal Revenue Service is authorized to administer, enforce, or investigate, including —
(A) criminal fines and civil forfeiture, and
(B) violations of reporting requirements.
BBA 2018 also amended Section 7623(b)(5)(B) to limit Section 7623(b) to cases in which the "proceeds" in dispute exceed $2,000,000.
On July 1, 2019, Section 1405(a) of the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (TFA 2019) amended IRC Section 7623 and Section 6103 and added several important provisions to help improve whistleblower service, to ensure the continual enforcement of the tax laws in a fair and impartial manner, and to ultimately support the continued success of our nation. In addition, TFA 2019 created protections for whistleblowers against retaliation.