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FRONTLINE
Tax Me If You Can: Inside the bogus tax shelter business - the companies involved, the schemes concocted, and how the ultimate victim is the American taxpayer
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Update (May 2004)		 introduction

With commentary by correspondent Hedrick Smith.

gimme shelter

Examining the 1990s tax-shelter explosion and whether the problem is likely to return.

uncovering the schemes

How they work and how they're sold -- with a closer look at KPMG's aggressive strategy and reports on sheltering in Germany and the Cayman Islands.

prospects for reform

Analysis by experts, the battle in Congress, and the challenges facing the IRS.


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introduction + gimme shelter + uncovering schemes + prospects for reform
interviews + links & readings + watch the full program
tapes & transcripts + press reaction + producer's chat + credits + privacy policy
FRONTLINE + wgbh + pbsi

Tax Me if You Can

The tax shelter was one of corporate America's biggest hidden profit centers in recent years. Shelters have become so lucrative that some experts estimate as much as $50 billion is lost to the U.S. Treasury each year. And ordinary taxpayers wind up footing the bill. FRONTLINE correspondent Hedrick Smith provides an inside look at how big corporations and wealthy individuals cut their taxes with intricate, hidden, and abusive tax shelters and investigates the role of blue chip accounting firms in these secret deals.

posted february 19, 2004

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