Many in illegal tax shelter turn selves in

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2004 | by Sandra Block

More than 1,500 taxpayers who participated in a widely used tax shelter have turned themselves in, handing over millions of dollars in back taxes and penalties, the IRS said Thursday.

The taxpayers had invested in a tax shelter known as "Son of Boss," a scheme designed to create artificial tax losses to offset profits from the sale of a business or other large transaction.

The IRS estimates the shelter cost taxpayers more than $6 billion.

In the past, the IRS has allowed tax-shelter participants to settle for less than the full amount of their back taxes. But this tax-avoidance strategy was "clearly one of the very worst abusive tax shelters," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said. "That's why we took such a tough stance."

The IRS' enforcement arsenal...