Source document
IRS Whistleblower Office Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report to Congress (Publication 5241, Rev. 12-2020)
Has everything in it been taken?
CompleteReviewed 8 Oct 2026
Reviewed. Everything in it that belongs in the tables has been taken.
What the document holds
IRS Whistleblower Office FY2020 report to Congress (16 PDF pages, two printed pages each; Rev. 12-2020): Director's message (169 awards, $86,619,032; proceeds $472,080,014 split Title 26/non-Title 26; cumulative over $1 billion awarded and $6.14 billion collected; four analysts added; percentage changes not recorded); background and rules; TTB memorandum (3 Dec 2019); COVID-19 impacts; staffing (43 FTE, Figure 1, out of scope); first Whistleblower Program Forum (30 Apr 2020); issues of interest; Table 1 FY2018-2020; Figure 2 claims paid and days/years by type; Figure 3 FY2020 claim numbers by month and type; Table 2A receipts by division; Table 2B receipts sent to field; Figure 4A issued/open/closed; hotline statistics (1,984 calls, 165 a month on average, 308 highest month); Figure 4B whistleblowers by region (already recorded); Figure 5 open 7623(b) claims by year of receipt (bars only, no printed values: nothing to extract); Table 3 open claims by phase; Table 4 closures by reason with percent and average days. Added the missing rows of Tables 1-4 and Figures 2-3 (Figure 2 day figures by label position; Figure 3 series by stacking order, Apr/May labels overlap), hotline counts (enquiries_received, channel=helpline), restated rules and three events.
What it supports
230 rows on this site come from this document. Each one opens with the page and the exact words.
Other documents give different figures in 4 cases involving this one. Both are kept.
Numbers (221)
- Average reward rate18.3%FY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Average reward rate19.5%FY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Average reward rate21.7%FY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (amount)Item: Sequestration reductionUSD 5,110,523FY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (amount)USD 86,619,032FY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (amount)USD 120,305,278FY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (amount)USD 312,207,590FY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (amount)Limit: USD 1.01 billion2007-2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)169 awardsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Item: Claims related to paid awards593 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623b30 awardsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623b · Item: Claims related to paid awards120 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623a · Item: Claims related to paid awards473 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)181 awardsFY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Item: Claims related to paid awards510 claimsFY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623b24 awardsFY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623b · Item: Claims related to paid awards183 claimsFY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623a · Item: Claims related to paid awards327 claimsFY2019 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)217 awardsFY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Item: Claims related to paid awards423 claimsFY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623b31 awardsFY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623b · Item: Claims related to paid awards92 claimsFY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Awards paid (number)Subsection: 7623a · Item: Claims related to paid awards331 claimsFY2018 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closed11,135 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closed11,135 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim rejected allegations are not specific credible or are speculative in nature5,074 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim denied examination result was no change or whistleblower issues was no change1,820 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim denied surveyed by operating division969 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim denied issues below threshold for irs action697 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim rejected no tax issue663 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Award paid593 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim rejected failure to sign form 211 under penalties of perjury or incomplete form 211503 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim denied insufficient time remaining on statute of limitations or statute expired before form 211 submission403 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Anonymous referred to 3949 a program108 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Closed unable to contact undeliverable whistleblower73 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Closed failure to file form 21155 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Administrative error duplicate records created in error48 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim denied information already known47 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Claim denied no collected proceeds uncollectible33 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Claims closedReason: Deceased whistleblower claims27 claimsFY2020 · IRS 2020Final figureUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
Showing 40 of 221. See all 221 in the table
Reward rules (6)
- Anonymous reports allowedsection 7623(b): information must be signed and submitted under penalties of perjury0Since 20 Dec 2006 · IRS 2020United States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Budget sequestration cut to award paymentsaward payments made in FY20205.9%1 Oct 2019 – 30 Sep 2020 · IRS 2020United States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Maximum award sharesection 7623(b) awards, share of proceeds (as amended 2018)30%Since 20 Dec 2006 · IRS 2020United States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Minimum award sharesection 7623(b) awards, share of proceeds (as amended 2018)15%Since 20 Dec 2006 · IRS 2020United States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Minimum sanctions or amount collected to qualifysection 7623(b): proceeds in dispute (as amended 2018)USD 2,000,000Since 9 Feb 2018 · IRS 2020United States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- Minimum taxpayer gross incomesection 7623(b): individual taxpayer gross income for at least one tax year in questionUSD 200,000Since 20 Dec 2006 · IRS 2020United States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
Timeline (3)
- First IRS Whistleblower Program Forum30 Apr 2020ContextUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- COVID-19 suspends intake and award issuanceMar 2020ContextUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
- IRS and TTB memorandum on whistleblower claims3 Dec 2019ContextUnited States · IRS Whistleblower Program (Whistleblower Office), 26 U.S.C. § 7623
About the document
What it covers FY2018-2020 awards and collections; processing years by claim type; FY2020 receipts by division; referrals; claims issued/open/closed; hotline calls; whistleblowers by region; FY2020 closures by reason.
Notes Extracted from the PDF portfolio p5241--2020.pdf (embedded file p5241--2020-12-00.pdf). Two printed pages per PDF page; locations are PDF pages. Figure 2 day counts are graphics; only the years labels are in the text layer.
Source id usa-irs-wbo-ar-fy2020 · accessed 3 Oct 2026