WASHINGTON, D.C. | April 22, 2024 — On Friday, April 19th, National Whistleblower Center’s Executive Director Siri Nelson sent a letter to Senator Wyden and Senator Grassley, Chairmans of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus. Nelson’s letter concerned unnecessary delays in IRS Whistleblower Awards, particularly those arising from the Partial Awards/Multiple Actions Rule.
In an April 16th Finance Committee hearing, Senator Grassley raised concerns around the IRS rule on Partial Awards/Multiple Actions to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel. Grassley’s concerns were echoed by Senator Wyden, who stated his desire to cooperate with Grassley on confronting and redressing these issues. Werfel responded by promising to review the IRS rule and to respond with more information regarding Grassley’s concerns. Nelson’s letter commended the pair for addressing the Partial Awards/Multiple Actions Rule and offered NWC’s assistance to finding resolution as soon as possible.
“NWC applauds Senators Grassley and Wyden for raising this issue of partial awards to IRS Commissioner Werfel. This IRS policy has resulted in adding years of waiting for tax whistleblowers to receive an award. The NWC hopes that the IRS will do the right thing and remove this barrier to tax whistleblowers receiving awards in a timely manner.” – Executive Director, Siri Nelson.
“My years of representing whistleblowers has made one thing clear – if an agency wants a successful whistleblower program – the agency must make awards and the agency has to make those awards timely. Ending this nonsensical rule which is delaying awards by years is an easy win for the IRS whistleblower program. Whistleblowers should be rewarded as quickly as possible – not subject to artificial time delays created by the agency.”– Chairman, Stephen Kohn.
The Partial Awards/Multiple Action IRS Rule is a source of major frustration for tax whistleblowers, causing them to unnecessarily wait multiple years for rewards. This not only discourages tax whistleblowers from coming forward, but also runs in opposition to the goals put forth by Congress in 2006 when they amended the IRS Whistleblower Program.
Prompt payment of awards is vital to the success of any whistleblower program. National Whistleblower Center is dedicated to fighting roadblocks to just compensation wherever necessary and is gladdened by the dedication of Senator Grassley and Senator Wyden. Read Nelson’s full letter to Grassley and Wyden here.
NWC Executive Director Siri Nelson is available for comment. For more information, contact NWC at info@whistleblowers.org.
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NWC is the leading nonprofit working with whistleblowers worldwide to fight corruption and protect people and the environment. For over 30 years, NWC has won policies to protect whistleblowers from retaliation and reward them for helping deliver criminal and civil penalties against wrongdoers.
