This article, highlighting a recent National Whistleblower Center educational event, was sent as part of NWC’s “Sunday Read” series. For more information like this, please join our mailing list.
On Feb. 9, 2026, National Whistleblower Center (NWC), in partnership with International Whistleblower Advocates (IWA), hosted a prescient virtual panel discussion on the new whistleblower rewards program enacted by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the UK government’s primary tax authority.
Modeled after the IRS Whistleblower Program in the United States, HMRC’s Strengthened Reward Scheme is a breakthrough in global tax evasion enforcement. The Scheme will take effect on April 6, 2026, and aims to incentivize individuals to report tax avoidance and fraud by offering a significant monetary reward.
In this Sunday Read, NWC will explore the depths of the program and highlight what whistleblowers need to know about the new protections. We will also provide key insights from the webinar’s UK- and U.S.-based panelists.
The UK Has Crossed a Historic Cultural Line on Paying Whistleblowers
Moderated by NWC Chairman and Co-Founder Stephen Kohn (who is also a senior advisor to the IWA), the session first tackled the broader cultural significance of the HMRC program.
For decades, the UK resisted the idea that people who report financial crime should be paid, but that will change with HMRC’s new scheme. As Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) researcher Eliza Lockhart explained during the webinar, the shift is not just technical—it is cultural.
“The UK has historically been quite against these types of schemes … and that is a combination of some misconceptions around how these programs operate,” said Lockhart, reflecting a belief that “you shouldn’t be paid for doing the right thing.”
This outdated view ignores the reality that whistleblowers face in the UK. Lockhart described how UK whistleblowers often declined compensation because they feared being labeled “gold diggers,” even as they lost careers, income, and reputations. The new HMRC program signals that policymakers finally understand what U.S. experience has shown for decades: financial crime cannot be exposed without compensating those who take the risks.
Lockhart said she was excited for the change because it acknowledges that whistleblowers provide a service, not just a moral act. Paying informants aligns the law with the real costs of coming forward.
HMRC Targets Large-Scale Tax Fraud
HMRC’s Strengthened Reward Scheme is not symbolic, but instead is financially powerful and sharply targeted. Anthony Rogers, HMRC’s operational lead, explained that informants can earn “between 15 and 30%” of the tax recovered when their information leads to collections of more than £1.5 million, with no upper limit on the potential rewards. This is reminiscent of the IRS Whistleblower Program in the U.S., which collects sanctions based on whistleblower information.
“This scheme targets serious non-compliance involving large corporates, wealthy individuals, offshore and avoidance schemes,” Rogers said, reminding the audience that it is not designed for small tips or disgruntled complaints. He also noted that not all reports will become workable cases. “The criteria is designed to ensure that only credible and high-value intelligence is considered.”
Once HMRC decides a case qualifies, it enters into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the informant, a step that Kohn highlighted because it signals that the case has strong merit and moving forward. This structure closely mirrors U.S. tax whistleblower programs that have generated tens of billions in recoveries.
The Program Rewards Information, Not Motives
One of the most important design choices of the HMRC scheme is that it evaluates the insight a whistleblower provides—not why they came forward. Lockhart described this as a decisive break from traditional UK whistleblower law.
“Reward programs… put the focus on the value of the information,” she said, rather than forcing whistleblowers to prove they are pure, altruistic actors. That matters in economic crime, where insiders are often the only people who know what is happening. “The people with the best information are usually the people inside,” she explained, even if they have some level of culpability.
By shifting the lens from character to intelligence, the scheme treats whistleblowing as a professional service. “It changes the idea of coming forward from this altruistic act to the provision of an intelligence service,” Lockhart said, adding that this perspective is what tax enforcement needs in a world of complex offshore and corporate secrecy. “Having that intelligence-first mindset is crucial to actually achieving positive enforcement outcomes.”
Lawyers and Confidentiality are Central to the System’s Success
All four speakers stressed that professional representation and identity protection are critical to the program’s success. Lockhart noted that many successful programs allow anonymity, as long as the whistleblower is represented by counsel. “The attorney provides a critical service to the whistleblower and actually facilitates whistleblowing,” she said.
NWC Senior Policy Expert Dean Zerbe, who helped build the U.S. IRS whistleblower law delved further into this point, explaining how regulators need more than raw allegations, but facts and legal analysis. “We’re walking you through the legal memorandum saying: Here’s the violation of law, here’s where it is,” he said.“It’s really designed so that the practitioner serves as the initial gatekeeper for [someone] who’s going to submit. This is incumbent for us, as practitioners.”
Zerbe also praised HMRC’s protection of informants. “They take it extremely seriously… protecting these identities,” he said. Together, legal representation, confidentiality, and rewards create a system that makes it possible—and safer—for insiders to come forward.
The on-demand webinar is publicly available courtesy of the IWA and NWC.
Resources For Whistleblowers
The decision to come forward is not one to be taken lightly, nor should selecting a whistleblower lawyer. NWC provides resources that can connect you with the right legal professional.
The NWC, IWA nor the Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund can provide legal advice as part of the LAP intake process. Always remember an attorney does NOT represent you until and unless you have a signed written representation agreement with an attorney. Fill out the secure intake form.
You can also learn more about the type of whistleblower lawyer needed for your claim in Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What’s Right, written by NWC Founder and Chairman of the Board Stephen M. Kohn.
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This story was written by Justin Smulison, a professional writer, podcaster, and event host based in New York.
