WASHINGTON — Dangle some cash and a lot of people are happy to turn in their employers for cheating on their taxes.
Since Congress beefed up whistle-blower rewards in late 2006, tips about suspected tax cheats owing at least $2 million have jumped more than tenfold, the Internal Revenue Service said in a report Thursday. In 2008, the agency received tips on 1,246 suspected tax dodgers, each owing more than $2 million. That’s up from 116 big-money tips in 2007.
IRS officials, however, don’t know yet whether many of the tips will pan out. The report says the IRS is still in the middle of the lengthy process of audits and processing appeals.
Stephen Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblowers Center, said most whistle-blowers are dedicated workers who become disillusioned when they discover their employers committing wrongdoing.
