just did some quick searches about dea informants and it seems for some it's not a bad gig
The amount paid to a money motivated informant is usually calculated by the significance of the target (your client), the danger the target presents to the informant, and the amount of the actual or potential seizure realized by the government. The CI's payment is for information and/or active participation in a case.47 He is also reimbursed for expenses including but not limited to rental cars, hotel rooms, meals while with the target and telephone calls. Both sums are small change when compared to the award paid to an informant responsible for a seizure of real or personal property. The informant may become eligible for a percentage of the assets seized by the government. The award can be as much as 25 percent of the property seized or up to $250,000 per case.48
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an informant can definitely live that life plus it's tax free
There is no requirement for the paying agency (payor) to notify the IRS of the informant payment. The Code of Federal Regulations governs the area of payments for which no return of information is required to be made by the payor. Section 26CFR 1.6041-3(2)(n)50 does not require IRS notification for: "A payment to an informer as an award, fee, or reward for information relating to criminal activity but only if such payment is made by the United States, a State, Territory, or political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or any agency or instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing. . . ."51
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Inside The Informant File
for a lot of dudes it looks like it's better to be the snitch than the dope man