The three-day annual meeting of the European Association of Tax Law Professors concludes today in Uppsala Sweden. Henry M. Ordower (St. Louis) presents Tackling Tax Abuse – A Problem of Burden of Proof?:

This paper addresses the interplay of the economic substance clarification under § 7701(o) and the shift of the burden of proof to the Commissioner under § 7491 (added by the IRS Restructuring Act). The presentation also discusses the relationship between the strict liability penalty provisions and the threshold inquiry of whether economic substance is at issue at all.

Henry also prepared the United States report for the meeting, The Burden of Proof in Tax Matters:

This United States report responds to a questionnaire that the general reporters prepared for the 2011 meeting of the European Association of Tax Law Professors in Uppsala, Sweden, June 3-5, 2011. The report describes and analyzes the U.S. law on burden of proof and burden of production in tax matters in the context of tax law procedure, including the settlement function of appeals and information reporting, uncertain tax positions (Form UTP) and foreign accounts of U.S. taxpayers. This report also addresses the interplay of burden of proof and the anti-abuse provisions, including the “economic substance” clarification in § 7701(o) and its related strict liability understatement penalty. A separate section of the report concerns itself with transfer pricing.