New York — A federal judge has granted an Internal Revenue Service petition to enforce nine summonses against Big Four firm KPMG LLP, ordering it to disclose the identity of participants in tax shelters promoted by the firm. The ruling by the District Court for the District of Columbia also ordered KPMG to turn over documents related to the shelters.
KPMG had argued that the information was subject to a number of special privileges that protected its confidentiality. The court, rejecting the accounting firm’s claims, said, “KPMG appears to have withheld documents summoned by the IRS by incorrectly describing the documents to support dubious claims of privilege.”
IRS Commissioner Mark Everson commented, “Slowly but surely, we are unmasking the false claim of privilege made by those who are merely promoting generic abusive tax products.”
