COVID-19 Interest and Penalty Recovery and Abatement: Kwong, Abdo, and Section 7508A

Gray Proctor, Counsel | Kostelanetz LLP

Gray Proctor is a board-certified appellate specialist and seasoned federal litigator whose practice sits at the intersection of appellate advocacy, tax controversy, and administrative law. As one of fewer than one percent of active Florida Bar members to hold board certification in appellate practice, he brings a rare combination of procedural rigor and substantive depth to every case he handles. His published scholarship on the constitutional implications of SEC v. Jarkesy for tax penalty procedure has been cited by courts and practitioners as a leading analysis of the administrative law shifts reshaping federal regulatory enforcement.

• Education & Credentials

Gray earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was named to the Dean’s List and received the Book Award for Criminal Procedure. He also holds a B.S. from the University of Texas at Dallas and an M.A. from the University of New England. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Tax Court, the First through Sixth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, multiple federal district courts across Florida and Georgia, and the state bars of Florida and Georgia. He has been board certified in appellate practice by the Florida Bar since 2021.

• Recognition & Leadership

Gray has earned distinction at every stage of his career. He completed three prestigious federal clerkships — on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas — a breadth of judicial experience that sharpened his appellate instincts and procedural command. He is AV Preeminent rated by MartindaleHubbell, the highest peer-review rating available, and has been recognized by Florida Trend magazine as a Florida Legal Elite in Appellate Practice. His amicus work on behalf of the Center for Taxpayer Rights — spanning briefing before the U.S. Tax Court, the Eleventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court — has positioned him as a thought leader in the constitutional questions now transforming federal tax enforcement.

• Professional Involvement

Gray is an active voice in the tax controversy and appellate communities. He has spoken on the ongoing impact of Jarkesy on tax penalty adjudication and has presented at forums including the IFA North America Trilateral Current Developments Webinar. He is a published author on topics including Eighth Amendment excessive-fines challenges to tax promoter penalties and due process limitations on refund jurisdiction. Beyond his private practice, Gray demonstrates a strong commitment to access to justice. He accepts court-appointed representations under the Criminal Justice Act in the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, advocating for indigent defendants in direct criminal appeals. He has also represented clients in death row clemency proceedings and contributed to post-conviction relief efforts, including the successful reversal of a high-profile Tennessee murder conviction.

• Experience

Gray’s appellate practice encompasses the full lifecycle of federal tax controversies — from preserving constitutional and statutory challenges at the U.S. Tax Court level, to developing appellate strategy as cases advance to the circuit courts, to briefing and oral advocacy before the circuits and the Supreme Court. He has played a central role in coordinating Jarkesy-based Seventh Amendment and Article III challenges across multiple Tax Court proceedings and has provided briefing support in large-scale consolidated trials involving conservation easement partnerships facing substantial federal tax and penalty exposure. He also serves as appellate co-counsel to trial teams in matters beyond tax, particularly cases involving federal agency action and APA procedure, where his background adds a dimension of expertise that few appellate generalists can match. His broader appellate practice includes commercial litigation, insurance coverage disputes, and criminal appeals in both state and federal courts.

SESSION 1 – Understand Disregarding Periods Under Sections 7508 and 7508A | 1:00pm – 1:15pm

Explore the statutory framework of Sections 7508 and 7508A, including how these provisions suspend tax deadlines during declared disasters and their critical application during the COVID-19 emergency period.

SESSION 2 – Limits on §7508A: Treasury Failures & Reform | 1:15pm – 1:30pm

Analyze how Treasury regulations attempted to narrow Section 7508A’s mandatory relief during COVID-19, why courts invalidated those limits in Kwong and Abdo, and how subsequent congressional amendments prevent similar relief for future disasters.

SESSION 3 – Raising the Claim in Admin or CDP | 1:30pm – 1:45pm

Learn the procedural steps for filing administrative refund claims using Form 843 and raising Section 7508A relief in Collection Due Process hearings to preserve client rights before critical deadlines expire.

SESSION 4 – Calculate §7508A Relief Using AI | 1:45pm – 2:00pm

Master practical techniques for computing refundable interest and penalties across the COVID-19 postponement period, including leveraging AI tools to analyze IRS transcripts and accurately quantify client refund amounts on Form 843 claims.