The Internal Revenue Service is promoting a new program designed to pay employees who rat out their tax cheating employers. The IRS is now paying individuals to become informants on individuals and companies that habitually neglect to pay taxes. If the IRS uses specific and credible information provided by the informant that results in the collection of taxes, it can award the informant up to 30 percent of the monies collected.
The IRS isn't the only agency to incentivize informants. Under a new law entitled the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, a manufacturer, private labeler or distributor or retailer is now specifically prohibited from discharging or retaliating against an employee for providing information to the federal government that the informant reasonably believes to be related to any violation of any Act, order, rule, regulation, standard or ban enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The new law outlines that employees shall be protected for doing any of the following in connection with a report to the Consumer Product Safety Commission:
- Providing information pertaining to any perceived violation of any law enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or any order, rule, regulation, standard or ban under any of the federal consumer safety laws.
- Testifying or offering to testify in a proceeding concerning such a violation.
- Assisting or offering to assist or participate in such a proceeding.
- Objecting or refusing to participate in any activity, policy, practice or assigned task that the employee reasonably believed to be in violation of any law enforced by the Consumer Production Safety Commission, or any orders, rules, regulations, standards or bans under such laws.
If a violation is found, the employee can be awarded reinstatement, compensatory damages and attorney's fees.
