The Internal Revenue Service will review its tax whistle-blower program to improve its backlog and working practices, after the program came under fire from politicians and lawyers.
The IRS will work with “internal and external stakeholders” on a “comprehensive review” of the agency’s guidelines and procedures for handling whistle-blower complaints, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Steven T. Miller said in a two-page memo to senior IRS officials posted on the agency’s website yesterday.
Miller also set 90-day deadlines for the agency to review whistle-blower claims, which can take at least seven years to resolve.
The IRS whistle-blower program was created by Congress in 2006 to boost tax revenue by rewarding tipsters for information. Instead, it’s become the place where allegations of tax avoidance go to die, Bloomberg reported on June 19.
