Should Attorneys be Punished for Aiding and Abetting Tax Evasion?

Should attorneys be punished for aiding and abetting tax evasion? The impulsive reply, as well as the politically correct answer, is “yes.” However, closer reflection reveals that the answer is not so cut and dried. This paper reviews the major ethical arguments that take the position that tax evasion is unethical and finds them less than convincing. The logical conclusion, then, is that attorneys should not be punished for aiding and abetting an act unless the act is unethical, and even if an act is unethical, it does not logically follow that an attorney should automatically be punished