Tax Court Denies Whistleblower Award Despite Improper Disclosure

The IRS reasonably denied a whistleblower’s claim for an award after concluding that the agency’s improper disclosure of the whistleblower’s existence likely didn’t motivate the target of an investigation to cut a deal, the US Tax Court said Wednesday.

It isn’t disputed the the IRS “made missteps” when it revealed to the target’s representative the existence of a whistleblower through communications in the summer of 2012 about the target’s eligibility for the government’s voluntary disclosure program with regard to unreported income, the Tax Court said. But the Whistleblower Office reasonably determined that the error didn’t affect whether or not the ...