The IRS is promoting a British tax whistleblower program that can pay awards to tipsters who are citizens or residents of neither the United States nor the United Kingdom. The program is run by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, known as HMRC, and is called the Strengthened Reward Scheme. The IRS says it drew on its own Whistleblower Office’s experience to help the UK get the program running quickly.
The IRS release, numbered IR-2026-120 and dated October 7, says whistleblowers “do not need to be citizens or residents of the U.S. or UK to receive an award.” HMRC’s published guidance explains who is excluded and how to report, and it does not mention residency.
What HMRC pays and what it takes to qualify
HMRC published the scheme on November 26, 2025. A reward is possible when a tip leads HMRC to collect at least £1.5 million in tax. The reward is 15% to 30% of the tax collected, excluding penalties and interest, and HMRC says rewards are discretionary and not guaranteed.
Those figures run close to the American program. The IRS Whistleblower Office says awards generally fall between 15% and 30% of the proceeds collected and attributable to the whistleblower’s information. Its main award track is limited to cases where the proceeds in dispute exceed $2 million.
Who cannot collect is spelled out. HMRC excludes current or former civil servants and government contractors who learned the information through their jobs, the taxpayer involved, anyone who planned the activity, and anyone acting for someone else. Information HMRC already knows, or could find through routine processes, does not qualify either.
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The American program has a longer history. Section 7623(b) of the tax code, added by the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, set up the current framework and created the Whistleblower Office. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 later limited that track to cases where the disputed proceeds exceed $2 million, which is why small-dollar tips fall outside it.
What the IRS wants reported
The IRS release says the two agencies want “specific, timely, significant, and credible information about suspected violations of tax laws.” It lists undeclared foreign bank accounts and failure to file an FBAR, which is the annual report of foreign bank and financial accounts, along with hidden assets in foreign trusts, foundations or anonymous holding entities in tax havens.
Money laundering and transfer pricing manipulation round out the list. Transfer pricing is the shifting of profit across borders by high-net-worth individuals and multinational companies. The target is the top of the wealth scale: HMRC describes the scheme as aimed at serious avoidance and evasion involving the wealthiest individuals and largest businesses.
IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano said the collaboration “will help deter large-scale, cross-border tax evasion.” HMRC Chief Executive JP Marks said he was pleased to join the IRS in recognizing “the important role that informants play,” and thanked the IRS for supporting the scheme’s development.
How a tip is submitted on each side
In the United States, tips go to the IRS Whistleblower Office or through IRS.gov/SubmitATip. In the UK, reports go through the online form at gov.uk/report-tax-fraud, under HMRC’s guidance on reporting serious tax avoidance or evasion.
HMRC’s form asks for the type of activity, how the reporter knows about it, the reporter’s relationship to the person or business, how long it has run and the total value or an estimate. Files cannot be attached, but a reporter can say supporting material is held. Anonymous reports are accepted, though no reward is paid on them because HMRC needs contact details.
HMRC tells reporters not to investigate further, not to tell anyone about the report and not to encourage anyone to commit a crime to get more information. It also says not to submit duplicates or call about a report. HMRC cannot give feedback and contacts the reporter only if it needs more information or a reward is due.
Timing is long. HMRC says investigations can take years and payment may come long after a report. On the American side, tax-return confidentiality limits what the IRS can say, but a provision lets the agency tell a whistleblower when information has been referred for examination, when a related payment has been made and the status of the investigation.
Why residency matters in cross-border cases
The examples in the IRS release all involve money held or moved across borders, so the people who know about it do not always live where the tax is owed. The IRS statement is that residency is no bar to an award under the UK program.
For most households this program will never come into play. The reward thresholds, £1.5 million of tax collected in the UK and $2 million in dispute on the main American track, put it at the level of the wealthiest taxpayers and the largest businesses. Ordinary taxpayers meet the IRS through notices, not tips.
Got an IRS letter that needs a plain-English read?
Enforcement headlines about offshore accounts and big evaders do not touch most households, but IRS mail still does. A letter that is misread or answered late can turn a routine question into a penalty.
This story is about reporting other people’s evasion, so the related job is the reader’s own IRS correspondence, and that is what The IRS Refund Recovery Kit finishes, with a notice decoder and a refund status tracker spreadsheet. Part 4, Why It Stalled, is the notice decoder for IRS letters.
Get the notice decoder and tracker spreadsheet for reading IRS mail →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
