If you know someone is cheating on their taxes and your pulse quickens at the thought of the IRS paying you, then then check out the IRS Whistleblower – Informant Award program. It’s a program that rewards you for providing “specific and credible information” that the IRS can use to collect “taxes, penalties, interest, and other amounts” from a cheat.

This isn’t a “my neighbor next door can’t possible afford that new Porsche he bought” type of information, we’re talking specifics and, in most cases, documents. In most cases it’s business related, with the whistleblower being someone privvy to sensitive documents such as a banker or administrative assistant.

How much can you earn? There are two types of awards based on some qualifications, the first of which is dollar amount:

• Amounts in dispute are greater than $2,000,000 or individuals with more than $200,000 of annual gross income – IRS pays 15-30% of the amount collected.
• Amounts in dispute are less than $2,000,000 or individuals with less than $200,000 of annual gross income – IRS pays 15% of the amount collected up to $10,000,000 (if you’re wondering how the math works out, this award can also be discretionary, which accounts for the disconnect).

If you have reams of damaging documents and are wondering where to go, the IRS explains how you file a Whistleblower Award Claim.

With our national debt nearing $13 trillion dollars, we can use all the help we can get!

Jim doesn’t cheat on his taxes and can usually be found writing about personal finance at Bargaineering.com.

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