The IRS recently put forward an expanded list of IRS audit priorities that serves as a roadmap as to the focus for the agency – and a guide for tax whistleblowers. One of the biggest hurdles for a tax whistleblower is not only making a good submission – but also having the whistleblower’s submission attract the attention and focus of the IRS. Thus, knowing what is of interest to the IRS is most helpful for tax whistleblowers.
Mr. De Lon Harris – commissioner of examinations in the IRS Small Business/Self Employed Division (SB/SE) stated at the December 9th American Bar Association conference in Las Vegas, NV that the top ten priority areas for IRS examination are:
1) High-net-worth / high income nonfilers
2) Global high wealth
3) Large pass-thru entities
4) Large corporate compliance
5) Employment tax
6) Transfer pricing
7) Nonfiler virtual currency (cryptocurrency)
8) Bank Secrecy Act/Title 31
9) Abusive transaction promoters
10) Special enforcement program (which has a focus on illegal/legal unreported income)
I would add excise taxes to this list as well – given the IRS is finally hiring new agents to cover this area – finally blowing the dust off a lot of old files.
As the IRS has already hired 2,000 more examiners at SB/SE (and possibly 2,000 more based on increased IRS funding) – I expect a significant increase in examination activity by the IRS in the next few years — with a focus on these priority areas.
Role Of Whistleblowers
The IRS has been good at utilizing...
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