Note: The following is an excerpt from the introduction to the article as published in The State and Local Tax Lawyer, 2006 Symposium Edition. Author citations have been omitted for brevity.

How Can Advisors Provide Useful Opinion Letters in the Absence of Uniform Statutory Rules and Uniform Application of Common Law Doctrines?
Hollis L. Hyans and Amy F. Nogid*

I. INTRODUCTION

The shift from blithely giving opinions without investigating the facts to distanc­ing oneself from even the remote prospect of having written something deemed to constitute an opinion illustrates the metamorphosis of tax opinions in recent years. As discussed below, the shift is largely due to a perceived threat seen by federal and state taxing authorities from opinions written to insulate tax shelters by some practitioners, and the severity of the potential implications—criminal, civil, and moral—should give all lawyers pause before we undertake the responsibility of issuing a legal opinion on a tax transaction. Issuing opinion letters on state tax questions can be even more challenging, given the multitude of jurisdictions, dis­tinctions in tax systems, and the varying levels of administrative aggressiveness.

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Published by
Section of Taxation, American Bar Association
With the Assistance of
Georgetown University Law Center