[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 29, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 762. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform 
provisions relating to whistleblowers; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in 2006, I was successful in enacting 
much needed updates to the IRS whistleblower program. Up until that 
time, the program was entirely a voluntary award program. There was 
also no central office within the IRS for handling whistleblower 
claims. Given this, there was little incentive for whistleblowers to 
step forward potentially risking their careers.
  My 2006 amendments sought to bolster the IRS whistleblower program by 
making a special program targeted at going after high-dollar tax 
cheats, such as corporations. It did this by making awards mandatory in 
cases where a whistleblower discloses tax fraud totaling $2 million or 
more. Moreover, the 2006 amendments established the Whistleblower 
Office within the IRS to formalize and manage the program.
  The IRS whistleblower program has turned into one of the most 
effective programs in addressing tax evasion--leading to the recovery 
of more than $3 billion in taxes that otherwise would have been lost to 
fraud. I firmly believe the program has the potential to collect even 
greater sums going forward. However, for this to occur, the IRS is 
going to have to completely embrace the program and start to view 
whistleblowers as their allies.
  The Government Accountability Office, GAO, issued a report on the 
program in 2015 that expressed concerns that long timelines and poor 
communication may be discouraging whistleblowers. This is exactly what 
I have been hearing from whistleblowers for years. Too often 
whistleblowers are waiting in the dark for years with no communication 
on where their claim is in the system.
  While the IRS has made improvements in this area, I fear that without 
further improvements some whistleblowers may start to question whether 
stepping forward is worth their time and effort. My concern is 
exacerbated by the fact that under current law, IRS whistleblowers have 
no protections against employer retaliation for good-faith disclosures.
  That is why I am pleased to be joined by Senator Wyden today in 
introducing legislation that seeks to address these issues. The IRS 
Whistleblower Improvements Act would increase communication between the 
IRS and whistleblowers, while protecting taxpayer privacy, and provide 
legal protections to whistleblowers from employers retaliating against 
them for disclosing tax abuses.
  To increase communication, our bill would specifically allow the IRS 
to exchange information with whistleblowers where doing so would be 
helpful to an investigation. It would further require the IRS to 
provide status updates to whistleblowers at significant points in the 
review process and allows for further updates at the discretion of the 
IRS. It does this while ensuring the confidentiality of this 
information is maintained.
  Moreover, to protect whistleblowers from employer retaliation, our 
bill extends antiretaliation provisions to IRS whistleblowers that are 
presently afforded to whistleblowers under other whistleblower laws, 
such as the False Claims Act and Sarbanes-Oxley.
  Too often, whistleblowers are treated like skunks at a picnic. This 
is unfortunate, as often the only way to discover fraud and abuse is 
for a whistleblower to step forward. It is time we roll out the welcome 
mat for IRS whistleblowers. Our bill takes a good step in that 
direction.
  I urge my colleagues to join Senator Wyden and me in supporting this 
commonsense legislation.
                                 ______