Are attorney fees paid from an SEC or CFTC whistleblower award taxable?

Under 26 U.S. Code § 62(a)(21), as amended by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, an SEC or CFTC whistleblower receiving an award from the SEC whistleblower program or CFTC whistleblower program can claim the attorney fee as an above-the-line deduction. You should seek advice from a tax lawyer to apply this tax provision to your specific circumstances. This website should not be relied upon as legal advice.

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Qualifying for an SEC Whistleblower Award

We have assembled a team of leading whistleblower lawyers to provide top-notch representation to SEC whistleblowers. Recently Washingtonian magazine named two of our attorneys top whistleblower lawyers. U.S. News and Best Lawyers® have named Zuckerman Law a Tier 1 firm in in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

Matt Stock is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner and former KPMG external auditor. As an auditor, Mr. Stock developed an expertise in financial statement analysis, internal controls testing and fraud recognition, and he uses his auditing experience to help whistleblowers investigate and disclose complex financial frauds to the government and obtain damages for retaliation. He is lead author of SEC Whistleblower Program: Tips from SEC Whistleblower Attorneys to Maximize an SEC Whistleblower Award.
Recently the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners published a profile of Matt Stock’s success working with whistleblowers to fight fraud:

Jason Zuckerman was recognized by Washingtonian magazine as a “Top Whistleblower Lawyer” in 2020, 2017, 2015, 2009, and 2007 selected by his peers to be included in The Best Lawyers in America® in the category of employment law (2011-2021), and selected by his peers to be listed in SuperLawyers (2012 and 2015-2021) in the category of labor and employment law. is rated 10 out of 10 by Avvo, based largely on client reviews, and rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell based on peer reviews.
Zuckerman served on the Department of Labor’s Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the Secretary of Labor to improve OSHA’s administration of federal whistleblower protections.
The firm has published extensively on whistleblower rights and protections, and regularly speaks nationwide at seminars and continuing legal education conferences. We blog about new developments in whistleblower law at the Whistleblower Protection Blog.