How to Get Someone Audited by the IRS and Get Paid

To report someone to the IRS for a reward, file Form 211, Application for Award for Original Information, with the IRS Whistleblower Office. If your original information leads the IRS to collect unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest, you may be entitled to between 15 and 30 percent of what the government recovers. The program is designed for specific, credible information about significant tax violations, not for personal disputes or vague suspicions.

Form 211 is the only IRS form that puts you in line for a monetary award. The general fraud referral form, Form 3949-A, lets you report suspected tax cheating but pays nothing. If you want to be paid, file Form 211 instead, or in addition.¹

What Form 211 Requires

Form 211 asks for more than a tip. You must explain how you obtained your information, estimate the amount of tax, penalties, and interest at stake, and sign under penalty of perjury confirming that your statements are true.² You cannot file Form 211 anonymously. The Whistleblower Office needs to know who you are to evaluate your claim and eventually pay you.

Form 211 can be submitted online through the IRS Whistleblower Office portal, by fax, or by mail to the Whistleblower Office in Ogden, Utah.² Pick one method. Duplicate submissions can delay processing. After the Whistleblower Office receives your claim, you get a letter confirming receipt and assigning a case number. That is typically the last update you will see until the case is fully resolved.

Information and Evidence to Gather First

A useful claim starts with identifying details about the person or business you’re reporting. The more specific the information, the easier it is for the IRS to match your allegations to actual tax records. Try to gather:

The individual’s or business’s full legal name as it would appear on a tax return
Current home or business address
Social Security Number for an individual, if known
Employer Identification Number for a business, if known

Then describe the specific conduct you believe violates tax law: the tax years involved, the estimated dollar amount of unreported or underreported tax, and how you learned about it. The IRS looks for specific, credible facts. Vague suspicions rarely lead to an investigation.³

Documents matter. Bank statements, internal ledgers, emails discussing unreported cash payments, or copies of altered financial records give agents a concrete starting point. A claim backed by documents is far more likely to be worked than one built on narrative alone.

How Much the Award Can Be

The Whistleblower Program has two tiers with different rules.

Mandatory Awards Above the Threshold

The larger program applies when the total amount of tax, penalties, and interest in dispute exceeds $2,000,000. If the subject is an individual, that person’s gross income must also exceed $200,000 for at least one tax year in the claim. When both thresholds are met and the IRS collects proceeds based on your information, you are entitled to an award of 15 to 30 percent of the amount collected. The exact percentage depends on how much your information contributed to the recovery.⁴

Discretionary Awards Below the Threshold

If the case does not meet the $2,000,000 threshold, the IRS may still pay an award at its discretion. These awards cap at 15 percent of the collected proceeds, with no guaranteed minimum. The Whistleblower Office decides whether to pay and how much.⁵

There is also a reduced cap even inside the mandatory program. If the IRS action was based primarily on information from court proceedings, government reports, or the news media rather than your original tip, the maximum award drops to 10 percent. That reduced cap does not apply if you were the original source of the information that led to those public disclosures.⁴

When an Award Gets Reduced or Denied

The Whistleblower Office can lower your award if you played a role in planning or starting the conduct that caused the tax violation. Set up the scheme yourself and then report it, and your percentage may drop. If you are convicted of criminal conduct arising from that role, the Whistleblower Office must deny your award entirely.⁴

Awards are paid only after the subject has exhausted all appeal rights and the government has actually collected the funds. The clock on your payout does not start until the underlying tax case is fully closed.

Taxes and Attorney Fees on the Award

Whistleblower awards are taxable as ordinary income. The IRS includes your award in gross income and issues a Form 1099-MISC reporting the payment.⁶ For awards exceeding $10,000 paid to U.S. citizens or resident aliens, the IRS generally withholds 24 percent for federal income tax before sending the payment.⁷

If you hire an attorney, you can deduct attorney fees and court costs above the line when calculating your adjusted gross income. The deduction applies specifically to costs paid in connection with an award under the IRS whistleblower statute, so you do not need to itemize to claim it.⁸

How Long Payment Takes

Whistleblower cases move slowly. The IRS must complete its investigation, assess taxes, collect the proceeds, and wait for the subject to finish any appeals before the Whistleblower Office can calculate and pay your award. As of fiscal year 2024, the average time from filing a claim to receiving payment was roughly 10 years for high-value cases and just under 10 years for discretionary claims. Those timelines reflect the complexity of the underlying tax cases and the legal processes involved, not delays in processing the whistleblower form itself.

Appealing a Whistleblower Decision

If the Whistleblower Office denies your claim or you disagree with the award amount, you can appeal to the U.S. Tax Court. You must file your petition within 30 days of the Whistleblower Office’s determination.⁴ The Tax Court has jurisdiction over all whistleblower award disputes, including outright denials, and it is the only court that can hear these cases.⁹

You can instead accept the Whistleblower Office’s preliminary determination by signing an award consent form, which waives your right to appeal. No payment is made until the appeal period expires, the Tax Court issues a final decision, or you sign the waiver.

Confidentiality and Anti-Retaliation Protections

Federal law protects the identity of people who report tax fraud. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6103, the IRS cannot disclose return information in a way that would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation.¹⁰ The subject of your report generally will not learn who filed it. If the case moves to an administrative or judicial proceeding and your testimony becomes relevant, your identity could be disclosed in that context.

If you are reporting your employer, federal law prohibits that employer from firing, demoting, suspending, threatening, or otherwise punishing you for cooperating with the IRS. Protection covers providing information to the IRS, testifying in a proceeding, or assisting in an investigation related to tax violations. If your employer retaliates, you can file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor. If the Department of Labor does not issue a final decision within 180 days and the delay is not your fault, you can sue in federal district court for reinstatement, back pay, and other relief.⁴

Filing a False Report Is a Crime

The whistleblower process is not a tool for personal disputes. Knowingly submitting false statements to a government agency, including the IRS, is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine.¹¹ Form 211 filers face additional exposure because they sign under penalty of perjury, meaning a false statement on that form can independently support a perjury charge. If you are unsure whether the conduct you know about actually violates tax law, talk to a tax professional before filing.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Submit a Whistleblower Claim for Award
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IRS Whistleblower Office. Form 211, Application for Award for Original Information
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Internal Revenue Service. Report Tax Fraud, a Scam or Law Violation
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7623 – Expenses of Detection of Underpayments and Fraud
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eCFR. 26 CFR 301.7623-4 – Amount and Payment of Award
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Internal Revenue Service. 25.2.2 Whistleblower Awards
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Internal Revenue Service. Withholding Rates for Whistleblower Award Payments
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 62 – Adjusted Gross Income Defined
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Internal Revenue Service. 35.3.2 Jurisdictional Defects
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6103 – Confidentiality and Disclosure of Returns and Return Information
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally