The House Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), has established an online form to allow Internal Revenue Service (IRS) personnel to report "any inappropriate behavior" by IRS workers.
In a blog post on the Committee website, Smith said the purpose of the form was for potential whistleblowers to have a platform to provide oversight for the IRS.
"The IRS has a disturbing track record of violating the trust of the American taxpayer – whether it’s leaking confidential taxpayer information, targeting Americans for their political beliefs or just failing to perform its most basic customer service responsibilities," Smith said in the post. "It has become clear that relying on the IRS to be forthcoming about its failures or outright abuses of taxpayer confidence is insufficient to ensure much needed, aggressive oversight of the agency. The American people are demanding accountability, and they deserve answers. By providing IRS personnel with a safe, secure and confidential way to provide information that might be vital to protecting taxpayers, the Ways and Means Committee is delivering on our commitment to hold government accountable.”
IRS workers can go to waysandmeans.house.gov/IRSwhistleblower to submit information to the Committee regarding "any malpractice or malfeasance they believe has occurred and would be of interest to Congressional oversight efforts," the post read. The submissions are anonymous, and any taxpayer information submitted with the form would be protected pursuant to Section 6103 of the Tax Code, which governs whistleblower disclosures of information to the Committee, the post read.
The IRS has exposed taxpayer information in previous cases, such as twice publishing the confidential information of more than 100,000 taxpayers with individual retirement accounts. The IRS division that grants nonprofit status to political organizations had been "specifically targeting conservative groups with additional scrutiny in the lead up to the 2012 presidential election," the post read.
Smith was elected in 2013 to the 8th Congressional District of Missouri, according to his official website. He previously served in the Missouri General Assembly.
