A CPA in-house accountant and auditor became the first IRS whistleblower rewarded under new legislation, receiving more than $4.5 million for uncovering a $20 million-plus tax liability that had gone unreported at a financial services firm.

The whistleblower, who has requested his identity not be revealed, was part of the first U.S. tax whistleblower case settled since Congress passed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006. The act mandated rewards and ordered the IRS to open a Whistleblower Office by the end of that year.

Before the legislation, the IRS was not required to, but instead could choose to pay rewards to “informants”. However, given the new incentive to report tax fraud, 2007-2009 saw the IRS Whistleblower Office receive more than 12,000 new cases.

Read the entire article, “Breaking Legal News: First IRS Whistleblower Office Reward”