UNITED STATES TAX COURT

RMM

145 T.C. No. 8

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

WHISTLEBLOWER ONE 10683-13W, WHISTLEBLOWER TWO 10683-13W,

AND WHISTLEBLOWER THREE 10683-13W, Petitioners v.

COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 10683-13W.

Filed September 16, 2015.

This is a so-called whistleblower case brought pursuant to

I.R.C. sec. 7623(b)(4). Ps move to compel production of documents

and responses to interrogatories (motions). R objects on the ground

that the requested information is outside the administrative record

compiled by R's Whistleblower Office and is, thus, not discoverable.

H_ejd: Even were we to agree with R that the Court's scope of

review is the administrative record, R cannot unilaterally decide what

constitutes that record, and R's response indicates that the purported

record is incomplete.

H_el_d, further, we will issue an appropriate order granting the

motions.

SERVED Sep 16 2015

-2Henry Stow Lovejoy, Usman Mohammad, Bryan C. Skarlatos, and Brian C.

Wille, for petitioners.

David K. Barnes and H.R. Roberson, for respondent.

OPINION

HALPERN, Judge: This case is brought pursuant to section 7623(b)(4),¹

appealing respondent's determination not to make an award to petitioners for

information provided by them and leading to the recovery of unpaid taxes and

other amounts (a so-called whistleblower award). Petitioners move to compel

production of documents and responses to interrogatories (motions). Respondent

has filed virtually identical responses (responses) to each motion, his sole

objection being that the information requested is not contained within his

Whistleblower Office's case file (a purported "administrative record") and,

therefore, is beyond the scope of discovery. We disagree and will grant the

motions.

¹All section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as

amended and in effect at all relevant times, and all Rule references are to the Tax

Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.

-3Background

Petitioners filed a whistleblower claim with the Internal Revenue Service

(IRS) in 2006, in which they informed the IRS of a tax evasion scheme (TES)

carried out by a specific target corporation (target). Petitioners allege that the

information they provided resulted in the IRS (1) investigating certain transactions

of the target and (2) initially disallowing the TES. The IRS issued a legal

memorandum for general distribution stating that all transactions similar to the

TES should not be respected. Petitioners allege that the information they provided

led to the issuing of that legal memorandum. With respect to the target, however,

they allege that the IRS later reversed course and respected the target's use of the

TES. They further allege that the allowance of the TES was part of a larger

compromise in which the target agreed to over $50 million of tax adjustments.

They also allege that they informed the IRS about a sham debt obligation of the

target that was related to the TES. The target claimed an over $20 million loss

deduction related to the debt obligation, and petitioners believe the IRS later

disallowed that deduction.

The motions seek information as to who within the IRS reviewed the

information petitioners provided, information about the IRS investigation into the

TES, information about the publishing of the legal memorandum, information

-4related to the IRS investigation into the sham debt obligation, and information

related to the amount of collected proceeds. In particular, the motions identify

responses to mterrogatories 1-6 and document requests 1-5 and 14-16 as either

unsatisfactory or not produced by respondent.

In the responses, respondent does not deny any of petitioners' factual

allegations. Specifically respondent does not deny that he investigated the target

and its use of the TES or that his investigation was the result of petitioners'

information. Nor does he deny that there may have been a "compromise"

involving numerous issues including the TES that led to the collection of over $50

million. Similarly, he does not deny the disallowance of the loss deduction related

to the sham debt obligation.

Discussion

Section 7623 provides for awards to those individuals (i.e., whistleblowers)

who provide information to the Government about third parties who are

underpaying their taxes. Specifically, section 7623(b) provides: "If the Secretary

proceeds with any administrative or judicial action * * * based on information

brought to the Secretary's attention by an individual, such individual shall * * *

receive as an award at least 15 percent but not more than 30 percent of the

collected proceeds * * * resulting from the action (including any related actions)

-5or from any settlement in response to such action." We agree with petitioners that

their entitlement to an award turns on two issues: first, whether there was a

collection of proceeds, and, second, whether that collection was attributable in

some way to the information that petitioners provided.

Rule 70 governs discovery, and paragraph (b) thereof provides that the

scope of discovery is "any matter not privileged and which is relevant to the

subject matter involved in the pending case." The paragraph further provides: "It

is not ground for objection that the information or response sought will be

inadmissible at the trial, if that information or response appears reasonably

calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence". The standard of relevancy

in a discovery action is liberal. See Melea Ltd. v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 218,

221 (2002). The information and responses petitioners seek are clearly relevant to

petitioners' theory of their case: They are looking for evidence that will prove that

one or more collections of proceeds from the target were attributable to the

information petitioners provided.

As stated, respondent does not deny petitioners' factual allegations, nor does

he argue that the information sought would be irrelevant to the questions of

whether there were collections of proceeds and whether those collections were

attributable to petitioners' information. Rather, his relevance objection is based

-6solely on a generalized view that our scope of review should be limited to the

"administrative record" and the information petitioners seek is outside that record.

Respondent's argument is not a sufficient basis to deny petitioners' discovery

requests. Even were we to agree with respondent as to the scope of review, he

cannot unilaterally decide what constitutes an administrative record. See

Thompson v. DOL, 885 F.2d 551, 555 (9th Cir. 1989); Tenneco Oil Co. v. DOE,

475 F. Supp. 299, 317 (D. Del. 1979). How could evidence related to whether

there was a collection of proceeds and whether that collection was attributable to

the whistleblower's information not be part of any purported administrative

record? Any such evidence goes to the very basic factual inquiries required by

section 7623(b). Respondent's lack of direct response to petitioners' motions

appears to indicate that the current "administrative record" is incomplete.2 See

Tenneco Oil Co. v. DOE, 475 F. Supp. at 317-318 (allowing discovery to

2Sec. 301.7623-3, Proced. & Admin. Regs., is entitled "Whistleblower

administrative proceedings and appeals of award determinations." Para. (e)

thereof is headed "Administrative record" and states in pertinent part: "The

administrative record comprises all information contained in the administrative

claim file". Para. (e)(2) thereof describes the content of the administrative claim

file. Para. (f) thereof states that the "rule" (section) is effective on August 12,

2014. Neither party mentions the section, and we assume that it is not in effect

with respect to petitioners' claim. In any event, we do not purport to interpret the

term "administrative record" as used in sec. 301.7623-3, Proced. & Admin. Regs.

-7complete the administrative record); see also Asarco, Inc. v. EPA, 616 F.2d 1153,

1160 (9th Cir. 1980) ("The court cannot adequately discharge its duty to engage in

a 'substantial inquiry' if it is required to take the agency's word that it considered

all relevant matters."); Ad Hoc Metals Coal. v. Whitman, 227 F. Supp. 2d 134, 137

(D.D.C. 2002) ("The Court finds that EPA in fact did consider several of the

documents that plaintiffs have identified and that the record should be

supplemented to add certain documents incorrectly omitted from the

administrative record.").

We do not have before us a situation where petitioners want information or

want us to review information that was not before the agency at the time it made

its decision. CL FPC v. Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Corp., 423 U.S. 326, 331 (1976).

Nor are we considering a situation where relevant evidence may still need to be

developed by the agency. R at 333. We believe that: (1) the information already

exists, (2) is in the IRS' hands, and (3) should be included in an administrative

record compiled for purposes of making a determination of petitioners' claim.

There being no further objections before us, and given that we find

petitioners' discovery requests relevant to the issues in this case, we will, as stated,

grant the motions.

-8Cognizant of the importance of the confidentiality concerns and disclosure

restrictions embodied in section 6103, we will in our order granting the motions

include the following rules and restrictions governing pretrial disclosure of

returns, return information, and taxpayer return information (all as defined in

section 6103(b)(1), (2), and (3)) of third-party taxpayers identified in petitioners'

whistleblower claim.

1.

Respondent shall designate any documents or other information

provided to petitioners and containing returns, return information, or

taxpayer return information (all as defined in section 6103(b)(1), (2),

or (3)) of third-party taxpayers identified in petitioners' whistleblower

claim as confidential information (confidential information) and mark

such confidential information as "CONFIDENTIAL--Section 6103

Information Subject to Protective Order".

2.

Any person receiving confidential information shall use such

confidential information solely for the bona fide purpose of

conducting this litigation and not for any other purpose whatsoever.

Any failure to comply may expose a person to sanctions and

punishment in the nature of contempt.

3.

Any confidential information shall not be disclosed directly or

indirectly by either petitioners or petitioners' counsel to any person

except for the sole purpose of trial preparation and in accordance with

the provisions of the protective order.

4.

When providing confidential information to other persons for trial

preparation, petitioners and their counsel must provide a copy of this

order to the person receiving confidential information and inform the

person that he or she must comply with the terms of the order. Before

providing confidential information, petitioners and their counsel shall

obtain the person's signature on a copy of the order, followed by a

-9business or home address of that person at which service of process

can generally be made during business hours. Petitioners and their

counsel shall retain the signed copy of the order until one year after

the decision in this case becomes final.

5.

Petitioners, petitioners' counsel, and any other persons who receive

confidential information shall, when the resolution of this case

becomes final within the meaning of section 7481(a), return all copies

of any confidential information to respondent or certify in writing to

respondent the destruction of all confidential information.

An appropriate order will be

issued.