Published on April 14, 2026 by Morgan Black  
Roberts Tracey

Samford University Cumberland School of Law Professor Tracey Roberts was recently cited in Bloomberg Law’s coverage of a pivotal tax enforcement case now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bloomberg’s article, “IRS Fraud Enforcement Changes Loom as Justices Consider Tax Case,” published April 6, examines how the Court’s decision in Hirsch v. U.S. Tax Court could reshape the government’s ability to impose civil fraud penalties.

The case centers on two couples challenging more than $15 million in IRS fraud penalties. They argue that, following the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy, taxpayers have the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial before the IRS can assess similar penalties. Currently, taxpayers have the choice of proceeding in Tax Court without paying their assessed deficiency and the “additional tax” assessed for fraud, or paying the two sets of taxes and proceeding to the U.S. District Court for a jury trial. If the Court extends Jarkesy’s logic to the tax fraud penalties, it would mark a major shift in how fraud penalties are imposed.

Roberts’ expertise is central to understanding potential implications, such as wealthy taxpayers becoming emboldened to evade tax in view of a government encumbered with a more time-consuming penalty process with even fewer resources on hand to combat income tax evasion.

Roberts’ 2025 article in the Florida Tax Review, “The Tax Trench Deepens,” outlines many of the arguments now surfacing in Hirsch. Roberts analyzes structural challenges facing tax enforcement, and the ways recent judicial decisions could further constrain the IRS’s ability to deter sophisticated tax evasion, false claims for tax subsidies and tariff avoidance. The article provides a framework for interpreting how a ruling in favor of the taxpayers could deepen existing enforcement gaps.

By drawing upon Roberts’ analysis, Bloomberg Law situates Hirsch within a broader conversation about the future of federal tax administration. The Supreme Court’s decision will determine whether the jury trial requirement recognized in Jarkesy extends to tax fraud—a development that could significantly alter the balance between taxpayer rights and the IRS’s enforcement authority.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.