Unfinished business on the taxpayer rights agenda: Acheiving fairness in transferee liability cases

This article advances a proposal to extend and complete one thrust of the taxpayer rights movement - reforming joint-and-several liability for federal taxes. Joint-and-several liability is an important, sometimes indispensible, device to preserve the integrity of tax collection, but it can lead to unfair results. Unfairness can arise when disproportionate collection is effected from one of the liable parties and that party lacks effective means to compel the other liable parties to make appropriate contribution. It is not proposed that the IRS be prohibited from engaging in disproportionate collection in multiple-transferee cases. Rather, it is submitted that an effective "right of contribution" remedy be enacted.