Conway v. United States

56 Fed. Cl. 572, 91 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2485, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 140, 2003 WL 21395612
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 6, 2003
DocketNo. 01-295 T
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 56 Fed. Cl. 572 (Conway v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Conway v. United States, 56 Fed. Cl. 572, 91 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2485, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 140, 2003 WL 21395612 (uscfc 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

MEROW, Senior Judge.

In this claim for breach of contract, plaintiff, Jack Conway, seeks payment of an additional award pursuant to a tax informant agreement entered into with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).1 Defendant as[573]*573serts that no additional award is due under the contract. The matter is now before the court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). For the reasons stated below, defendant’s motion is GRANTED.

Background

Facts

Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed. On August 13, 1996, plaintiff and the IRS entered into a written “Informant Award Agreement” (“Agreement”) under which plaintiff was to provide certain confidential information to the IRS regarding alleged underpayment of taxes by a third-party taxpayer for tax years 1985 through 1996 and to assist in any criminal or civil investigation. The IRS agreed to pay plaintiff a sum of $25,000 once it decided to pursue the allegations by initiating a criminal investigation or civil examination against the taxpayer. Pursuant to this provision, the IRS made a payment of $25,000 to plaintiff on December 10, 1999. This initial payment is unrelated to the collection process of any underpayment of taxes and is credited against the total reward provided under the Agreement. Paragraph seven of the Agreement set out the terms under which plaintiff would receive any additional reward:

Further, the Service will pay the Informant a sum equal to ten (10) percent of the net taxes, fines and penalties (but not interest) collected from * * *, as a result of the information provided by the Informant, for the tax years 1985 through 1996. The total amount of all payments to the Informant shall not exceed $7,000,000.00 (seven million dollars). No payment shall be made if any of the conditions set forth in this Agreement are not met.

PL’s Submissions Ex. 1.

The Agreement specifies that payment of any reward will not be made until after the additional tax finally determined to be owed to the IRS has been collected from the taxpayer.2 Id. at 117(a). In calculating plaintiffs reward, any taxes collected from the taxpayer would be reduced by the amount of any corresponding reduction of the taxpayer’s taxes dining the period covered under the Agreement. Id. at H7(b). The Agreement provides that the IRS “will not disclose to the Informant the nature or amount of IRS adjustments or other tax information related to the Taxpayer.” Id. at H 7(c). Pursuant to the Agreement, plaintiff agreed that it would not disclose information about the taxpayer to anyone other than the IRS. Paragraph 14 provides:

The Informant shall not disclose any information regarding the taxpayer, the tax evasion scheme, or the investigation, regardless of the source of the information, to any person other than the IRS officials identified in paragraph 11 of this agreement or any other person designated by those officials. In particular, the Informant will not disclose any information protected under IRC Section 6103 except in accordance with the instructions of the Internal Revenue Service officials identified in paragraph 11.

Id. at If 14.

Paragraph eight of the Agreement states that plaintiff is not entitled to payment under any of the following circumstances:

(a) Information furnished by the Informant is of no value;
(b) Information furnished by the Informant was already known to the IRS or was available in public records, or if the Taxpayer identified by the Informant was already under criminal investigation or civil examination by the IRS with regard to the specific alleged scheme referred to herein;
(c) The Informant obtained, or is furnishing, the information while an employee of the Treasury Department, or if the Infor[574]*574mant is famishing the information on behalf of such an individual;
(d) The Informant obtained the information as part of the Informant’s official duties as an employee of any other federal agency, or if the Informant is furnishing the information on behalf of such an individual;
(e) The Informant obtained, or is furnishing, the information while a State officer or member of a State body or commission having access to federal returns, copies or abstracts, or if the Informant is furnishing the information on behalf of such an individual;
(f) Payment would be contrary to State or local law; or
(g) The recovery is so small as to result in a reward payment of less than twenty five dollars ($25.00).
(h) The Informant participated in the evasion scheme by designing, or assisting in the design, of the scheme or prepared the tax returns for the taxpayer-corporation with the knowledge that taxes were being evaded.

Id. at H 8.

Plaintiff contends that prior to execution of the Agreement, he met with two representatives of the IRS Criminal Division for approximately four hours and provided the IRS with documentation to support his allegations concerning the taxpayer. According to his calculations, plaintiff maintains that the alleged illegal activities of the taxpayer could have conservatively netted an additional tax liability of approximately $75 million. Plaintiff asserts that he was informed at that meeting that the IRS would need to determine whether there was already an investigation against the taxpayer before it entered into the Agreement.

In a letter dated March 17, 2000, the IRS informed plaintiff that no additional reward would be paid under the Agreement. According to this letter, the IRS stated that “[b]ecause of the disclosure restrictions of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, we cannot tell you the specific reasons that no additional reward money can be paid.” PL’s Ex. 12. On May 22, 2000, the IRS notified plaintiff that his services were no longer needed and that his status as an informant for the IRS was terminated. PL’s Ex. 13. On August 29, 2001, the IRS, citing section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, reiterated that it could not disclose the specific reasons why plaintiff would not receive an additional reward. However, the IRS stated that no award could be paid for one or several of the following reasons:

• The information furnished was of no value in the recovery of taxes.
• The IRS already had the information, or the information was available in accessible public records.
• The tax recovery was so small as to result in a reward payment of less than twenty-five dollars ($25).
• Payment would be contrary to State or local law.
• The information was obtained as part of your official duties as an employee of the Federal Government, or the information was furnished on behalf of such an individual.
• The information was obtained as a result of your participation in the evasion scheme by designing, or assisting in the design, of the scheme or prepared the tax returns for the taxpayer corporation with the knowledge that taxes were being evaded.

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Related

Confidential Informant 59-05071 v. United States
121 Fed. Cl. 36 (Federal Claims, 2015)
Terry v. United States
103 Fed. Cl. 645 (Federal Claims, 2012)
Amsinger v. United States
99 Fed. Cl. 254 (Federal Claims, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 Fed. Cl. 572, 91 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2485, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 140, 2003 WL 21395612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/conway-v-united-states-uscfc-2003.