Whistleblowers submitting claims under Sec. 7623(a) or (b) must complete IRS Form 211, Application for Award for Original Information, in order to qualify for the whistleblower award. If they submit claims without completing the form, they will not be eligible for the reward. [1] IRS Form 211 must be completed in its entirety and should [...]
By Shauna Itri In Part I of this blog series, we discussed which taxes employers must withhold from employees, as well as the Internal Revenue Code’s definition of “employee.” In this blog post, we will review the factors that determine whether an individual is an employee or independent contractor and discuss the consequences employers [...]
By Shauna Itri Under the Internal Revenue Code, employers must withhold federal income tax as well as social security tax from the wages they pay to employees. In addition, employers must pay social security and unemployment taxes on behalf of their employees.[1] "These taxes are known collectively as 'employment taxes.'" Greco v. IRS, 380 F. Supp. [...]
Noting the success of the federal False Claims Act, Congress enacted a similar IRS whistleblower program in 2007 under the Tax Relief and Healthcare Act, which allows individuals to report tax fraud and evasion in exchange for a possible cut of the eventual recovery. The program has maintained some success over the years; however, recent [...]
The False Claims Act covers a wide array of fraudulent activities. In a recent case against cell phone accessory maker OtterBox, the federal government has alleged its parent company Otter Products, LLC, shortchanged the government’s Internal Revenue Service with regard to taxes due on imports from China. Under the FCA, Otter Products is required to [...]
Our blog often discusses litigation surrounding the False Claims Act, which is the hallmark whistleblower statute in the United States. Enacted during the Civil War, the FCA and its incentivizing qui tam provisions paved the way for other government entities to advocate for Congress to enact similar provisions in their anti-fraud statutes. In this [...]
