The IRS says the credits do not exist and warns taxpayers about unnamed “promoters.” Congressional investigators and SEC filings have been considerably less shy.
The Internal Revenue Service has a warning for taxpayers: Someone is selling fake “Tribal Tax Credits.”
The agency’s September 18 alert says promoters are marketing nonexistent federal tax credits under names including “Tribal Tax Credits,” “Native American Tax Credits” and “Sovereign Tribal Tax Credits.” The IRS says no such federal credits exist and warns that taxpayers who claim them could face penalties, interest and even criminal consequences. IRS warning.
There is just one conspicuous omission from the IRS warning.
Names.
The IRS repeatedly refers to “promoters” without identifying the companies or individuals involved.
Fortunately, other parts of the federal government have been less mysterious.
In April 2025, Senate Finance Committee investigators publicly identified White River Energy Corp., Nepsis Inc., Nepsis Tax Advisors LLP, Quartermaster Tax, E3 Family Office, Lifetime Advisors and Lifetime Navigators in connection with the promotion or distribution of purported tribal tax credits.
The committee said the IRS had already confirmed to its investigators that the credits did not exist. Senate Finance Committee.
That makes the IRS’s decision to issue an anonymous scam warning more than a little curious.
The Numbers Are Not Small
White River’s own filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission provide a window into just how ambitious the operation became.
In December 2023, White River told investors that it had received another $5 billion in federal income tax credits supposedly issued to a Native American tribe. The company claimed the credits had been placed under White River’s name and taxpayer identification number at the U.S. Treasury. SEC filing.
By February 2024, White River reported an agreement contemplating the acquisition of another $13 billion in purported credits in exchange for $3 million in cash and 10 million restricted shares of White River stock. The company said it had already paid a $1.25 million deposit. SEC filing.
Then came the sales operation.
In April 2024, White River announced plans to sell $5 billion of purported credits in three tranches. The first $2.5 billion would sell for 50 cents on the dollar. Another $1.5 billion would go for 55 cents. The final billion would cost 60 cents on the dollar.
White River also said it possessed a legal opinion from an unidentified law firm supporting the validity of the credits. The company deemed the opinion a “trade secret” and said it would disclose it only to certain prospective purchasers and representatives who signed nondisclosure agreements. SEC filing.
The IRS now says references to unverifiable legal opinions and demands for nondisclosure agreements are themselves warning signs of the scheme. IRS warning.
The People Behind the Sales
White River’s SEC filings also identify executives who stood to benefit directly from selling the credits.
In April 2024, the company’s board increased annual base salaries for CEO Randy May and CFO Jay Puchir to $1 million each. Both executives also became eligible for royalties equal to 1 percent of gross proceeds from tax-credit sales. SEC filing.
Six months later, White River doubled those royalties to 2 percent each. Directors James Cahill, Danny Hames and Greg Landis were each granted royalties equal to 0.33 percent of gross proceeds from future sales. SEC filing.
The distribution network extended beyond White River.
Senate Finance investigators said a whistleblower identified Lifetime founder Jon LaCasse and his daughter, Payton LaCasse, as personally pitching the credits. Investigators also independently confirmed that Lifetime’s website hosted Nepsis promotional materials concerning the credits. Senate Finance Committee.
The Senate investigation later obtained a recording of a call between Puchir and more than 100 investors. According to the committee, White River could not provide investors with a definitive government document or government contact capable of authenticating the credits. Senate Finance Committee.
By January 2026, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden said White River was under a DOJ criminal tax investigation involving its sales of the purported credits. The committee also accused the company of failing to disclose that investigation in required SEC reports. Those are congressional allegations; a criminal investigation itself is not a finding of guilt. Senate Finance Committee.
So Why Doesn’t the IRS Name Them?
That brings us back to September 2026.
The IRS warns taxpayers that promoters may claim secret government agreements exist. It warns about credits sold at steep discounts. It warns about unverifiable legal opinions. It warns about nondisclosure agreements. And it warns that previously accepted tax returns do not prove the credits were legitimate.
The agency even provides instructions for reporting abusive promoters.
What it doesn’t provide is the identity of any promoter.
That might be understandable if federal investigators were still trying to determine who was selling these products. But the public record tells a different story.
Congress publicly identified companies connected to the promotion of the credits in April 2025. SEC filings identify White River executives and directors who received compensation tied to their sale. Congressional investigators identified individual sales activity. And by January 2026, a Senate committee was publicly discussing a Justice Department criminal investigation.
Yet when the IRS issued its nationwide scam warning eight months later, the people it warned Americans about became simply “promoters.”
There may be a legal, investigative or procedural reason the IRS declined to identify them. The agency’s alert does not explain one.
The IRS has now told taxpayers what to look for.
The public record tells them where some of those warning signs have already appeared.
Bureaucracy Times will continue examining that record.
