In this article, Joseph Rillotta* and Ian Herbert examine the trend of state attorneys general getting increasingly involved in tax enforcement through False Claims Act (FCA) cases. Most white collar defense attorneys have done at least some work in the FCA area. Most tax controversy attorneys, thus far, have not. This could be changing. Several states — and, most recently, the District of Columbia — are leading the charge to bring FCA claims based on evasion of tax. These efforts have introduced a new creature into the tax enforcement ecosystem: the state attorney general's office. And, like ecologists studying the introduction of an invasive species, tax practitioners are trying to get their arms around how exactly the arrival of attorneys general will change the enforcement environment we know.

*Former Miller & Chevalier attorney