Skip to main content

IRS highlights partnership with UK tax authority’s new whistleblower program

 

IR-2026-120, Oct. 7, 2026

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today highlighted its partnership with the United Kingdom’s whistleblower program, which drew upon the IRS Whistleblower Office’s expertise to quickly get established. This collaboration reinforces efforts to identify global tax evasion and strengthen cross-border compliance.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs program, known as the Strengthened Reward Scheme, launched in November 2025 to encourage the reporting of serious tax avoidance and evasion involving the wealthiest individuals and largest businesses. 

“The collaboration between the U.S. and the UK’s whistleblower program will help deter large-scale, cross-border tax evasion,” said IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano. “By working together, the two tax authorities encourage robust tax enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic and will have a far-reaching global impact in the fight against international financial fraud.”

HMRC Chief Executive JP Marks said, “I’m pleased to join the IRS in recognizing the important role that informants play in helping protect the integrity of our tax systems.” He added, “The IRS has played an important role in supporting the development of HMRC’s Strengthened Reward Scheme, and I am grateful for the close collaboration between our organizations. By working together, we can strengthen our efforts to tackle tax avoidance and evasion.”

More than ever, tax avoiders are using sophisticated methods to conceal their wrongdoings. Modern tax evasion relies on complex webs of offshore accounts, shell companies, and fraudulent transfers that are incredibly difficult for external investigators to trace. Fraudsters seek to dodge tax enforcement by creating mechanisms that are split across jurisdictions.

Whistleblowers are critical to helping tax authorities pierce this veil of secrecy. The accountants, bankers, or executives who blow the whistle and provide specific, credible intelligence, allow tax authorities to identify bad actors and ensure they fulfill their tax obligations.

As both the U.S. and UK are global financial hubs, the IRS and HMRC are committed to working with and rewarding whistleblowers for their vital contributions to global financial security and tax compliance.

The IRS and HMRC encourage individuals with specific, timely, significant, and credible information about suspected violations of tax laws to submit a report. In the U.S., visit IRS Whistleblower Office or IRS.gov/SubmitATip and in the UK, visit Reporting Serious Tax Avoidance or Evasion on GOV.UK 

Examples of what whistleblowers in either country can report include:

  • Undeclared foreign bank accounts and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).
  • Hidden assets routed through foreign trusts, foundation structures, financial instruments, or anonymous holding entities in tax havens.
  • Money laundering.
  • Transfer pricing manipulation and illicit cross-border profit shifting by high-net-worth individuals and multinational entities.

Whistleblowers may qualify for a monetary award when their information leads to the collection of taxes or other proceeds. Whistleblowers do not need to be citizens or residents of the U.S. or UK to receive an award.