Turn in a Tax Cheat, get a reward

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Did you know that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) pays rewards for snitching on tax cheats. It's as simple as completing a 1 page, simple form. One of our readers sent in the details of this policy and to be honest with you, the payout is pretty good although you may have to wait a while for it.

Read [PDF] IRS publication 733. Here are a few highlights:

You can report dead people (seriously, they will go after the estate).

If you don't want to fill out any forms, you can call 1-800-829-0433 and report the person verbally.

For very specific information (i.e. you know bank account numbers, exacts, etc.) you may receive 15% of the recovered amount up to $10 MILLION (yes, $10,000,000).

For information that helped but was not very specific, you still receive 15% of the recovered amount up to $10 million.

For information that helped start an investigation but had no relevance to the findings, you still get 1% of the recovered amount.

From what I've seen, the process takes 2-5 years to conclude.

Fill out US Form 211.

I can't believe it but that is the entire process. A whopping 2 steps. Ironically, the IRS makes is totally difficult to pay your taxes but makes it very simple for someone to rat you out. I actually have a certain lawyer in mind that may need to get reported because I know he never claimed the $800 he defrauded me out of.

In case you are curious, the picture is of Al Capone, a notorious Chicago gangster finally brought to justice because, of all things, tax evasion.