Mar
19
2010
Until recently, whistleblowers have never been thrust as far forward into the public eye. The case of Brad Birkenfeld, who has been sentenced to 40 months in prison after reporting on Swiss bank UBS to the IRS, has thrust the whistleblower act of the IRS and all that surrounds it directly into the public spotlight. This case potentially exposed thousands of US taxpayers that may have been disguising assets by using the Swiss bank. Essentially, the IRS has a program which rewards people who report on those that are engaging in illegal tax activity. The reward is based on a percentage (up to 30% in some extreme cases) of the owed money which is collected by the IRS.
Some people think that the laws about whistleblowers are simply an internal matter for events that take place within the United States and that only involve the IRS. However, whistleblower lawyers are now being forced to examine the international tax implications, and possibilities, that have become implicit after the events in the UBS and Birkenfeld case.
One thing that whistleblower lawyers need to learn about is how foreign governments can use tax treaties to obtain information that they would not otherwise be able to obtain due to lack of foreign jurisdiction. Although the UBS problem has been the largest example of how the whistleblower act can apply to international situations, there are smaller examples which may become more and more common closer to home as more people attempt to claim their rewards as part of the whistleblower act. For instance, much business is done between the US and Canada, and the CRA and IRS can request information from each other to enforce their own tax laws. This is one possible site of expansion for those looking to profit from the whistleblower laws.
Part of the reason the program has also been getting such increased attention is because of the changes that the IRS implemented to it several years ago. This resulted in larger rewards being paid on reporting of larger amounts owing. This potential for huge rewards has certainly brought out more people that are interested in finding ways to profit from the revised laws. As more becomes established as to how these laws apply to matters of international tax evasion, it is a sure thing that we will see more reports coming from international sources, although most probably won’t be on the scale of the Birkenfeld and UBS case.
Tags: Brad Birkenfeld, irs, tax, tax fraud, taxes, UBS, whistleblowers
