Tax Shelters and the Code: Navigating Between Text and Intent

Written by: Steven A. Dean and Lawrence M. Solan I. INTRODUCTION Tax shelters raise difficult problems of statutory interpretation. In her interesting article, Of Lenity, Chevron, and KPMG,[1] Kristin Hickman explores one of them: the recent tendency of courts to apply the rule of lenity in civil cases, potentially leading to a narrow interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that would undermine efforts to collect the taxes that Congress…