New IRS Office of Promoter Investigations: Avoiding and Preparing for Examinations
Conservation Easements, Micro-Captive Insurance, and Other Abusive Schemes

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Tax Preparer
- event Date
Thursday, August 26, 2021
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
110 minutes
-
BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.
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BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
This course will discuss the IRS' newly created Office of Promoter Investigation established to combat abusive tax avoidance transactions. Our panel of tax litigators will prepare tax professionals and taxpayers for these audits and offer steps that taxpayers can take to mitigate chances of selection.
Faculty

Mr. Stein specializes in tax controversies, as well as tax planning for individuals, businesses and corporations. For more than 25 years, he has represented individuals with sensitive issue civil tax examinations where substantial penalty issues may arise, and extensively advised individuals on foreign and domestic voluntary disclosures regarding foreign account and asset compliance matters. Mr. Stein is well respected for his expertise and judgment in handling matters arising from the U.S. government’s ongoing enforcement efforts regarding undeclared interests in foreign financial accounts and assets, including various methods of participating in a timely voluntary disclosure to minimize potential exposure to civil tax penalties and avoiding a criminal tax prosecution referral. Mr. Stein is a frequent lecturer at national and regional conferences on topics including tax compliance sensitive issues, IRS examinations, State and Federal worker classification issues, etc.

Mr. Davis joined the firm in 2016 after more than 20 years in the public sector as a trial lawyer with extensive civil and criminal trial and appellate experience in both federal and state courts. He and his cases have been profiled by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, as well as national legal publications such as Tax Notes and Law360. Mr. Davis represents individuals and closely held entities in criminal tax investigations and prosecutions, civil tax controversy and litigation, sensitive-issue or complex civil tax examinations and administrative tax appeals, and federal and state white-collar criminal investigations. He represents numerous cryptocurrency clients worldwide on civil and criminal tax matters, speaks frequently on cryptocurrency, criminal tax, and Bank Secrecy Act issues, deals with civil and criminal cannabis-related tax issues, and handles civil and criminal unreported foreign account and foreign-entities investigations and disclosures. In the appellate arena, Mr. Davis has argued cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as both a prosecutor and defense counsel and was trial and appellate counsel on the attorney-client privilege case In re Grand Jury, which the U.S. Supreme Court heard in 2023. Mr. Davis frequently lectures on many topics throughout the country both in the private sector and as a federal prosecutor.

Mr. Perez has extensive experience in the representation of clients in civil and criminal tax litigation and in tax disputes and controversies before the Internal Revenue Service and all the California taxing agencies. He was formerly a senior trial attorney with District Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Perez is a Certified Tax Specialist, California State Bar Board of Certification and is also a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. He frequently lectures on advanced civil and criminal tax topics at seminars and before national, state and local bar associations and accountancy groups. He is a co-author of the BNA Portfolio, Tax Crimes, has served as the Chair of the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine Editorial Board and is the first recipient of the Los Angeles Lawyer Sam Lipsman Service Award for outstanding service to the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. He is past Chair of the Tax Procedure and Litigation Committees of the Taxation Sections of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Mr. Perez is past President of the Alumni Board for the UCLA School of Law and has served as an Adjunct Professor, Golden Gate University, Graduate School of Taxation.
Description
Established in April 2021, the Office of Promoter Investigation intends to detect and deter the activities of promotors profiting from abusive tax avoidance transactions. Conservation easements, micro-captive insurance arrangements, and other tax avoidance transactions will be targeted.
Located within the Small Business/Self-Employed division of the IRS, the Office will coordinate investigations with Large Business & International, Tax Exempt/Government, and other divisions of the IRS, including Criminal Investigations because many of these examinations will have criminal implications. The IRS will likely increase its pursuit of criminal prosecutions, requiring tax practitioners and taxpayers to be ready for these serious inquiries.
Listen as our panel of tax experts explains the role of the new office, specific activities that are being targeted, and how to prepare for these upcoming audits.
Outline
- Background
- IRS structure
- Targeted transactions
- Conservation easements
- Micro-captive insurance
- Other transactions
- Handling the examination
- Criminal investigations
- Proactive steps to avoid selection
Benefits
The panel will review these and other critical issues:
- Which conservation easement transactions are being targeted?
- When should a taxpayer be concerned that they may be referred to Criminal Investigations?
- What penalties could be charged for participating in tax avoidance transactions?
- How should practitioners prepare for these upcoming examinations?
NASBA Details
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Identify taxpayers participating in conservation easement transactions that could be considered abusive
- Determine proactive steps to avoid specific promotor schemes
- Ascertain when an examination is likely to be referred to criminal investigations
- Decide when a taxpayer participating in micro-captive insurance arrangement might be targeted for audit
- Field of Study: Taxes
- Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
- Advance Preparation: None
- Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
- Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
- Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
- Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers or accountants. Specific knowledge and understanding of individual income taxation, including itemized deductions, individual income tax credits, net operating loss limitations including carrybacks and carryforwards.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
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