Tax Court Awards $323k in Attorneys' Fees to Two Kersting Tax Shelter Investors Because of IRS Misconduct

The Tax Court on Wednesday awarded $322,693 in attorneys' fees (after a 33.3% reduction for "overlawyering") and $15,290 in expenses under § 6673(a)(2)(B) to two Kersting tax shelter investors (Kersting v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-197 (June 17, 1999)) for expenses incurred during the remand proceedings stemming from IRS misconduct. Hongsermeier v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-273 (Nov. 25, 2009). Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• IRS Attorneys Disbarred for Misconduct in Tax Shelter Case (Aug. 23, 2004)
• WSJ: Judge Orders Government to Repay $36 Million to Airline Pilots in Tax Shelter Cases Because of IRS Misconduct (May 24, 2006)
• Tax Court: IRS Attorneys Committed Fraud on the Court (May 2, 2008)
• Hartman: "137 Pages of Utter Scandal" (May 8, 2008)