Professor Ventry Discusses Tax Whistleblower Law at Conferences
Professor Dennis Ventry discussed the recently enhanced federal tax whistleblower statute at two conferences: the Taxpayers Against Fraud (TAF) annual conference in Washington, D.C., on September 10, 2008, and the American Bar Association (ABA) Joint Fall CLE meeting in San Francisco, on September 11. Ventry examined issues of confidentiality and attorney-client privilege facing attorneys, accountants, and employee insiders who want to blow the whistle on clients and employers engaged in abusive and fraudulent tax shelter activity.
At the TAF event, Ventry spoke alongside Stephen Whitlock, director of the IRS Whistleblower Office, Judge Peter Panuthos of the U.S. Tax Court, and Erika Kelton, a veteran tax whistleblower attorney whose representation of whistleblowers helped expose the underbelly of the tax shelter industry of the 1990s and early 2000s.
At the ABA meeting, Ventry appeared with Director Whitlock, Nicole Cammarota of the IRS Large and Mid-Size Business division, and Greg Lynam, a partner with the Ferraro Law Firm, which is currently handling the three largest tax whistleblower cases in history.
Ventry, an expert in tax policy, and has written many books and articles on the subject. His special interests include family taxation, legal ethics and professional standards, tax history, tax compliance and administration, and public finance.