Concerned about corporate abuse of tax shelters, the U.S. Treasury Department and the American Bar Association are urging Congress to impose penalties on attorneys and accountants who advise companies to participate in tax avoidance schemes. The recommendations represent a desire on the part of the Clinton Administration and the ABA to impose liability upon those who participate in illegitimate tax shelters.
The Treasury Department says that corporate tax shelters — transactions designed largely to minimize tax liability rather than generate profits — cost the government billions of dollars per year in lost revenue and add little value to the nation’s economy. It has proposed a multi-pronged plan to attack abusive tax shelters.
