FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Treasury and the IRS are committed to stopping abusive tax avoidance transactions.  These transactions undermine the fairness of our tax system and impose a tremendous burden on the resources of the IRS.  It is critically important that the IRS act to resolve promptly as many of these issues as possible.  The settlement initiatives the IRS is releasing today will allow taxpayers willing to work with the IRS to resolve the issues, pay their liabilities, and move on.

The complexity of the issues covered by the settlement initiatives today illustrates again the importance of simplifying the tax law.  We must eliminate the shadows in which those who would avoid tax can hide.