Bloomberg Quotes Christopher Rizek on Tax Shelter Enforcement

In an article by Bloomberg, Christopher S. Rizek is quoted concerning the current enforcement atmosphere surrounding tax shelters.  For the complete article, please visit Bloomberg's website.

Excerpt taken from the article.

Ripe Conditions

In addition to the tech boom, conditions were ripe for tax shelters in the 1990s because the IRS had eased off enforcement after agency reform legislation, said Christopher Rizek, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale, a Washington-based law firm that specializes in tax matters.

"They spent about two years re-organizing themselves," he said. "They were intimidated."

By the mid-2000s more aggressive enforcement resumed.

Wealthy individuals who purchased POPS and other tax shelters were often identified by the IRS and Justice Department in probes of the accounting firms and law firms that sold them.

The uproar in Congress over IRS scrutiny of political groups seeking nonprofit status could curb challenges to tax shelters again, Rizek said.

Tax lawyers are watching how the IRS responds to "this month's use as a pinata by Congress," he said.
"They could be cowed again," Rizek said. "We'll see."