For potential tax whistleblowers, one of the most pressing questions is whether coming forward will put them at risk. A recent analysis by Dean Zerbe — former Senior Counsel and Tax Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, and a leading tax whistleblower attorney with nearly two decades of experience representing IRS whistleblowers — offers a reassuring answer: the Internal Revenue Service takes whistleblower protection seriously.
In his column in Forbes, Zerbe reflects on a newly released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “Protection For Whistleblowers And Others: Selected Agency Actions Regarding Reports of Potential Wrongdoing.“ The report examines how federal agencies safeguard whistleblower confidentiality.
The findings highlight strong confidentiality measures within the IRS Whistleblower Office. According to the report, the office maintains separate claim files for whistleblowers and limits disclosure to a strict “need to know” basis. A whistleblower’s submission is considered protected tax information under Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code. This means the IRS will neither confirm nor deny the existence of a whistleblower to a taxpayer under investigation.
Notably, Zerbe points out that, unlike False Claims Act filings, which are made in open court, all IRS whistleblower submissions are handled entirely within the agency, making it extremely difficult for a taxpayer to suspect a whistleblower is involved.
Zerbe also discusses a 2019...
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