Blips

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For brief promotional films used by the band Radiohead, see Kid A

Blips, or Bond Linked Issue Premium Structure, or Bond Linked Investment Premium Strategy, is a type of tax shelter. "It involves investors taking out bank loans, which the government contends are not legitimate, and then shifting them to partnerships to claim tax losses." (Lynnley Browning, Judge Rules a Tax Shelter in KPMG Case Is Legitimate, NY Times, July 21, 2006).

Never valid in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Blips was one of four abusive tax shelters that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 2003 found that KPMG had sold to at least 350 people from 1997 to 2001, earning fees of $124 million. Those shelters cost the Treasury at least $1.4 billion in unpaid taxes, according to the subcommittee. In the investigation, KPMG argued that investors knew they were taking a risk that the IRS might not accept the claims.

See also Becnel v. KPMG LLP, 387 F. Supp. 2d 984, 2005-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,573 (W.D. Ark. 2005) (Federal court had subject matter jurisdiction, based on "substantial federal question," in connection with controversy removed from Arkansas state court to Federal district court).