The Insinga case raised important questions of how long the IRS can take to decide a whistleblower’s submission. The National Whistleblower Center is a champion of whistleblowers and Dean Zerbe of ZMFF&J serves as a senior advisor for the NWC.
The NWC thought it critical to support the whistleblower in Insigna. Given Dean’s background and knowledge of the IRS whistleblower laws as well as the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), the NWC asked Dean to draft the NWC’s amicus brief for the Insigna case – together with Steve Kohn — executive director of the NWC.
This amicus brief presents a strong statement that under the APA, the IRS is limited in the time it can take to make a decision on a whistleblower case. The Tax Court in its order cited the NWC brief and while the Tax Court decided to not reach the merits of the NWC amicus brief at this time (seeking to first determine whether the IRS had made a determination), the Tax Court’s order is certainly favorable to whistleblowers. The issues raised in the amicus brief remain very much alive for whistleblowers that are struggling with the timeliness of IRS decisions. ZMFFJ specializes in assisting whistleblowers who have already submitted a claim but have not seen a determination by the IRS.
