Whistleblower Award Calculator

Published by The Click Lab Agency LLC. Last reviewed September 2026. Not legal advice.

Federal whistleblower awards are a percentage of what the government actually collects, not of what the fraud was worth, and the percentage band depends on which program you are in. The SEC and CFTC pay 10–30% of monetary sanctions once an action crosses $1 million. The IRS pays 15–30% of collected proceeds once the amount in dispute exceeds $2 million; below that, awards are discretionary and capped. Under the False Claims Act, a qui tam relator receives 15–25% of the recovery if the Department of Justice intervenes and 25–30% if it declines and the relator litigates alone. This calculator asks which program applies, what the government is likely to collect, and where inside the band your facts fall.

Two cautions before you start. Most tips never produce an award, because most never lead to an enforcement action; the estimate assumes the case succeeds. And the amount that matters is the amount collected: a $40 million judgment against an insolvent defendant is worth nothing to the whistleblower.

Run the Estimate

Whistleblower Program SEC Whistleblower Program (securities fraud) CFTC Whistleblower Program (commodity/derivatives fraud) IRS Whistleblower Program (tax fraud) False Claims Act (qui tam — fraud against the government) Sanctions or recovery the government is likely to collect ($)

SEC/CFTC: fines, disgorgement, and penalties collected. IRS: taxes, penalties, and interest collected. FCA: the government’s total recovery after trebling and settlement.

Did the Department of Justice intervene? Yes — DOJ took over the case (15–25%) No — relator litigated alone (25–30%)

Contribution Level High — original, specific, credible tip that drove the case Medium — significant but partial contribution Low — helpful but not the primary basis for enforcement Cooperation Level Full — provided extensive assistance throughout Partial — some assistance provided Limited — minimal interaction beyond the initial tip Estimate Award

Worked examples

These use the calculator’s own bands so you can check the tool against a case that resembles yours.

Example 1 — SEC, mid-band, partial collection

A compliance analyst reports an accounting fraud with specific ledger entries. The SEC obtains $40 million in sanctions, but the company pays $12 million before entering bankruptcy. The award is a percentage of the $12 million collected, not the $40 million ordered. The tip was original and submitted before any investigation, and the analyst cooperated fully, but waited 18 months after learning of the fraud to report. Rule 21F-6 treats unreasonable delay as a downward factor. Estimated placement: about 20%. Award: roughly $2.4 million, paid from the Investor Protection Fund after the final order and any appeals.

Example 2 — IRS, below the mandatory threshold

A bookkeeper reports a business owner underreporting $1.4 million in income. The amount in dispute (tax, penalties, and interest) comes to about $700,000, under the $2 million threshold for the mandatory 15–30% program in IRC §7623(b). The claim falls under the discretionary §7623(a) program: an award of up to 15%, capped at $10 million, that the IRS may decline to pay at all. Realistic range: $0 to about $105,000, and only after the IRS collects, which routinely takes five years or more.

Example 3 — False Claims Act, DOJ declines to intervene

A billing manager files a sealed qui tam complaint alleging $6 million in Medicare overbilling. After investigating, DOJ declines to intervene. The relator’s counsel litigates and, with trebling and per-claim penalties on the table, the defendant settles for $9 million. Because the government declined, the relator’s share is 25–30% of $9 million: $2.25–$2.7 million before the contingency fee, which in declined cases typically runs 30–40% of the relator’s share. Had DOJ intervened and obtained the same $9 million, the share would have been 15–25%, but the relator would have borne far less cost and risk.

Program comparison

How Whistleblower Awards Are Calculated

Federal whistleblower programs use a percentage-of-sanctions model: the agency determines what percentage of the total enforcement recovery to award, based on both the statutory range and the factors relevant to the whistleblower’s contribution. Understanding both the statutory framework and the discretionary factors helps you assess where in the range your situation might fall.

The Statutory Ranges

• SEC (15 U.S.C. §78u-6): 10–30% of monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million in the covered action and related actions.
• CFTC (7 U.S.C. §26): 10–30% of sanctions exceeding $1 million. Mirrors the SEC structure.
• IRS (26 U.S.C. §7623(b)): 15–30% of collected proceeds where the amount in dispute exceeds $2 million. Reduced to a maximum of 10% where the information came primarily from public sources.
• False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §3730(d)): 15–25% if the government intervenes; 25–30% if the relator proceeds alone. No minimum threshold.

Factors That Affect the Award Percentage

Within the statutory range, agencies exercise discretion. Under SEC Rule 21F-6, factors that raise an award include the significance and specificity of the information, the assistance provided, the law-enforcement interest in the case, and participation in internal compliance systems. Factors that lower it include culpability in the violation, unreasonable delay in reporting, and interference with internal compliance. The IRS applies a similar list under its regulations at 26 C.F.R. §301.7623-4, and DOJ has published its own relator-share guidelines for FCA cases.

What the Awards Actually Look Like

The SEC program has paid more than $2 billion in total since 2012, with several individual awards above $100 million. The largest IRS award on record is the $104 million paid to Bradley Birkenfeld for information about offshore tax evasion facilitated by UBS. False Claims Act relator shares run from the tens of thousands to well over $100 million in major healthcare fraud cases. The common thread is that awards scale with what the government actually collects, and most successful cases are far smaller than the headline examples.

What this calculator does not do

It does not predict whether the government will act on a tip, which is the single biggest determinant of whether any award is paid. It does not model award reductions for a whistleblower’s own culpability, the allocation of one award among several whistleblowers on the same matter, related-action sanctions collected by other agencies, state false claims acts, the FCA’s first-to-file and public-disclosure bars, or the separate anti-retaliation damages available under Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and the FCA. Treat the output as an order-of-magnitude estimate for a case that succeeds.

Learn More

• How whistleblower awards work
• The SEC Whistleblower Program
• False Claims Act qui tam suits
• Common misconceptions
• Types of whistleblower cases
• Calculator methodology
• Frequently asked questions

Where to get help

SEC and CFTC tips can be filed directly on each agency’s online Tip, Complaint, or Referral portal at no cost, and the IRS accepts Form 211 by mail. Anonymous SEC or CFTC filing requires an attorney, and a False Claims Act case cannot be filed without one, because a qui tam complaint is a federal lawsuit brought in the government’s name. Whistleblower attorneys work on contingency and most offer a confidential initial consultation; the National Whistleblower Center and your state bar’s referral service are neutral starting points. If you would like The Click Lab to pass your details to an attorney in its network, the optional form below does that; it is a disclosed referral product, and our privacy policy explains what is shared. Do not include the substance of your allegations in that form.

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