TaxSqueal.com: Former IRS investigator lends his old employer a hand
Posted by AccountingWEB in Tax, Income Tax on 03/31/2011 - 13:10
After 30 years with the IRS, 25 of them as a special agent with the criminal investigation division, Al Drucker has heard just about everything when it comes to tax cheats.
The information often comes from "the three exes," as he puts it: ex-spouses, ex-friends, and ex-employees. "When someone else knows about what you've done it will always come back to haunt you."
Hearing complaints is one thing, but translating talk into action is quite another. Most people are extremely reluctant to interact with the IRS, even anonymously, Drucker says.
Enter TaxSqueal.com. Drucker launched the Web site in June to give informants an easier, anonymous and no-cost way to send their tax cheat information to the federal government. Typical complaints involve undocumented workers, "under the table" payments, or two sets of books.
Complaining directly to the IRS involves calling a hotline with a message that points the caller to www.irs.gov to find a form, "which is not written in plain language," filling it out, and mailing it in. Drucker, of Manalapan, NJ, said his motivation is to help ease the process. "I'm just a conduit."
Drucker does no investigating of TaxSqueal.com complaints himself – he's retired after all. He scrubs all information about the informer from his computer system and forwards the complaints to the IRS. As a former employee, he is aware of the financial and staffing restraints the IRS operates under, not to mention the challenges of fraud investigations. "Informants can point you in a specific direction," he said "They really are an important source of leads."
Drucker isn't making any money and isn't collecting any whistleblower rewards, although advertisers may want a presence on his Web site down the road. The federal government rewards whistleblowers with a portion of tax collections in some cases, but Drucker says, "If you're looking for a reward, this isn't the site for you."
Complaints came in slowly at first, but are picking up speed, in part because it is tax season and in part because his site has received some publicity. The allegations run the gamut. Everyone from federal officials to next-door neighbors is targeted.
Drucker estimates that a quarter of the complaints come from well-intentioned citizens. "Some of it is pure disgust on the part of taxpayers who see others skating and getting away with something that is blatantly wrong." The other 75 percent have an ax to grind, he said. Drucker makes no judgment, passing on the information to the IRS service center in Fresno, CA, where complaints are farmed out to field offices across the country.
"There's no part of me that is anti-IRS," says Drucker, who is proud of his long career with the agency. "This isn't done to say they're doing a terrible job."
He hasn't heard any feedback from the IRS itself, but he said, "I cannot imagine they would be disappointed. Any information that could lead to the collection of taxes is a good thing."
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Gail Perry, CPA
Response from TaxSqueal.com
TaxSqueal.com, nor the IRS has any immediate way to determine the veracity of allegations received. It would be inappropriate for TaxSqueal.com to pick and choose which submissions to forward. Therefore, regardless of content, all submissions, unless they are vulgar, are sent to the IRS. Based upon my prior knowledge of the evaluation process, allegations received are scored based upon content and specific details provided. A sort of triage is performed, enabling the most flagrant potential violations to be considered first. Civil examinations are always a possibility, which may lead to a subsequent referral to the criminal division. It is important to realize that it would be impossible to act upon every allegation received, based upon manpower and budgetary constraints. Once familiar with the submissions process, as well as internal databases available to the IRS, it is fairly simple to determine not only the best submissions for further evaluation, but also those that appear false or entirely fabricated. Just because the possibility of a bogus submission exists, does not necessarily mandate any action on the part of the IRS. Every allegation received must be considered on its merit, content, potential tax loss and other contributing factors. This is a complex, time consuming process. However, the most problematic issue is that it is impossible for the IRS to gather additional facts or corroboration from the informant since the submissions have been submitted anonymously. Additionally, taxpayers, when and if contacted by the IRS often have logical explanations relating to the issues at hand, negating further questioning by the authorities.
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