I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1336 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify and reform rules 

relating to investigations and whistleblowers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2023 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of California) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify 

and reform rules relating to investigations and whistleblowers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IRS Whistleblower 

5 Program Improvement Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STANDARD AND SCOPE OF REVIEW OF WHISTLE2 BLOWER AWARD DETERMINATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 7623(b) 

4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘appealed to’’ and inserting ‘‘re6 viewed by’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any re8 view by the Tax Court under the preceding sentence 

9 shall be de novo and shall be based on the adminis10 trative record established at the time of the original 

11 determination and any additional newly discovered 

12 or previously unavailable evidence.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

14 paragraph (4) of section 7623(b) of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘APPEAL’’ and in16 serting ‘‘REVIEW’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to cases under section 7623(b)(4) 

19 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which are pending 

20 on, or filed on or after, the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act. 

22 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FROM SEQUESTRATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 255 of the Balanced 

24 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

25 U.S.C. 905) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub2 section (l); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(k) AWARDS TO WHISTLEBLOWERS.—An award au6 thorized under section 7623 of the Internal Revenue Code 

7 of 1986 shall be exempt from reduction under any order 

8 issued under this part.’’. 

9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 

10 section shall apply to any sequestration order issued under 

11 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 

12 of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) after December 31, 2022. 

13 SEC. 4. WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVACY PROTECTIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of section 7623(b) 

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add16 ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(D) WHISTLEBLOWER ANONYMITY BE18 FORE THE TAX COURT.—Notwithstanding sec19 tions 7458 and 7461, the Tax Court shall grant 

20 a whistleblower’s request to proceed anony21 mously before the Court for all proceedings 

22 under this section absent a finding by the Tax 

23 Court that a heightened societal interest exists 

24 for disclosing the whistleblower’s identity, ex25 ceeding the normal interest in knowing a petiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Mar 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336

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1 tioner’s identity. Should the Tax Court find 

2 that such a heightened societal interest exists, 

3 such interest shall be balanced against the po4 tential harm disclosure could cause to the whis5 tleblower.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to petitions filed with the Tax 

8 Court which are pending on, or filed on or after, the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF IRS WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 406(c) of division A of the 

12 Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘such use,’’ in paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘such 

14 use (which shall include a list and descriptions of the top 

15 tax avoidance schemes, not to exceed 10, disclosed by 

16 whistleblowers during such year),’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— The amendment made by 

18 this section shall apply to reports the due date for which 

19 are after the enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 6. INTEREST ON WHISTLEBLOWER AWARDS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7623(b) of the Internal 

22 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating para23 graphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively, 

24 and by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(5) INTEREST.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary has 

3 not provided notice to an individual described in 

4 paragraph (1) of a preliminary award rec5 ommendation before the applicable date, the 

6 amount of any award under this subsection 

7 shall include interest from such date at the 

8 overpayment rate under section 6621(a). 

9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—No interest shall ac10 crue under this paragraph after the date on 

11 which the Secretary provides notice to the indi12 vidual of a preliminary award recommendation. 

13 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE DATE.—For purposes of 

14 this paragraph, the applicable date is the date 

15 that is 12 months after the first date on 

16 which— 

17 ‘‘(i) all of the proceeds resulting from 

18 actions subject to the award recommenda19 tion have been collected, and 

20 ‘‘(ii) either— 

21 ‘‘(I) the statutory period for fil22 ing a claim for refund has expired, or 

23 ‘‘(II) the taxpayers subject to the 

24 actions and the Secretary have agreed 

25 with finality to the tax or other liabilVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Mar 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336

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1 ities for the periods at issue, and ei2 ther the taxpayers have waived the 

3 right to file a claim for refund or any 

4 claim for refund has been resolved.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall take effect 180 days after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a claim for 

10 a whistleblower award under section 7623(b) of the 

11 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to 

12 which, as of the date described in paragraph (1)— 

13 (A) the Secretary of the Treasury has not 

14 provided notice to the individual of a prelimi15 nary award recommendation as described in 

16 paragraph (5)(A) of such section, as added by 

17 this Act, and 

18 (B) the applicable date provided in para19 graph (5)(C) of such section, as so added, has 

20 passed, 

21 the applicable date for purposes of such paragraph 

22 (5)(C) is the date that is 12 months after the date 

23 described in paragraph (1). 


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1 SEC. 7. CORRECTION REGARDING DEDUCTIONS FOR AT2 TORNEY’S FEES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a)(21)(A)(i) of the In4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘7623(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘7623’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

7 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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