IRS Whistleblower Representatives Present Comments at Public Hearing on Proposed Treasury Regulations.

by | Apr 11, 2013 | Administration of Whistleblower Claims, Award Determinations, Guidance, IRS Whistleblower Office | 22 comments

A congratulations and a thank you to Erica Brady, who yesterday spoke on behalf of The Ferraro Law Firm’s clients at the public hearing on the Proposed Treasury Regulations that outline how the IRS will interpret section 7623.  Erica joined other practitioners in pointing out that the Proposed Treasury Regulations should not be finalized in their current form. 

Erica reiterated my message from the hearing on the previous Proposed Regulations of, “Do no harm.”  The regulations should not narrow a broad statute or thwart Congressional intent by limiting existing whistleblower’s rights or discouraging whistleblowers from coming forward.  Erica highlighted four topics at the hearing:

  1. The narrowing of “Proceeds Based On,”
  2. The arbitrary cut off for reduced tax attributes to be included in collected proceeds,
  3. The method in which the award percentage is calculated, and
  4. When the administrative proceeding starts.

Erica showed a little chutzpah by asking all those assembled in the large IRS auditorium to raise their hand if they thought that the Proposed Treasury Regulations as written would actually attract whistleblowers into the program… but only the hands of those who were responsible for writing the Proposed Regulations went up.  When she asked if anyone who did not have a hand in writing the Proposed Regulations felt that the Proposed Treasury Regulations would help attract whistleblowers, no hands remained up.

Lynam Knott