Harris Beach Murtha’s tax attorneys assist businesses of all sizes with developing federal, state, local and international tax strategies to manage tax costs and remain compliant with the ever-changing tax laws.

We counsel corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and other types of business entities in planning and executing strategies designed to meet business goals, minimize tax cost and comply with tax rules and regulations. Our tax attorneys assist with corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, stock and asset acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, refinancing, leveraged buyouts, incorporations, restructurings in workouts, bankruptcies, spin-offs, tax-free corporate reorganizations, public offerings and private placements.

Our tax attorneys are very familiar with tax laws in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and states and cities throughout the Northeast. We support businesses and individuals in navigating the multitude of complex regulations, and strategically advise on compliance, minimizing tax liability and maximizing tax credits and incentives.

In today’s globalized economy, many clients need tax attorneys who understand international tax rules. We help our U.S. clients doing business abroad, as well as foreign institutions doing business in the United States, with cross-border tax issues, including the application of international tax treaties, withholding taxes, transfer pricing and the minimization of double tax through foreign tax credits.

For U.S. citizens living and working abroad, we advise on expatriate and impatriate tax issues under U.S. tax law, such as dual tax residency, the U.S. foreign earned income exclusion, the U.S. foreign tax credit and compliance with U.S. reporting requirements for foreign assets. Working together with our immigration attorneys, we also assist foreign individuals with pre-U.S. tax residency planning, which can result in substantial U.S. tax savings with no foreign tax costs, and we advise employers on U.S. tax implications of employing workers abroad.

We also advise clients on benefit and compensation structures, including cafeteria plans, health and welfare benefits plans, phantom equity, stock option, restricted stock, restricted stock unit and other equity-based plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, and other employee and executive benefit and compensation arrangements, including compliance with and implications of relevant provisions of U.S. federal and state tax law.

Our attorneys are knowledgeable and experienced in guiding clients on qualification for, and utilization of, a variety of tax credits and tax-based incentives, such as U.S. federal and state historic rehabilitation tax credits and energy credits. Among other services, we represent clients with respect to agreements for the purchase and sale (via syndication or direct transferability) of tax credits, where relevant, and advise them on structuring and other implications of the same.

Harris Beach Murtha’s skilled tax attorneys have a proven track record of successfully representing private and public sector clients in disputes with local, state and federal tax authorities. We’ve worked cooperatively with corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates, tax-exempt organizations and individuals in civil and criminal tax disputes initiated by the federal Internal Revenue Service and state agencies throughout New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and the United States.

Harris Beach Murtha tax law attorneys provide strategic advice and advocacy throughout the entire tax dispute resolution process. We handle a full range of audit defense and tax dispute matters, including business tax, employment tax, franchise tax, sales and use tax, personal and fiduciary income tax, estate tax, residency tax, and challenges to local, state and federal tax incentives and credits.

On a regular basis, we proactively counsel clients to help ensure their transactions are carefully planned to minimize tax costs and avoid potential tax controversies.

Should you face a tax audit, we guide you through the audit process, ensuring all necessary documentation is provided and your rights are protected. We’ll work to favorably resolve misunderstandings between clients and tax officials at the audit and appeals levels. We regularly negotiate with tax authorities, aiming to resolve disputes in a favorable manner with no, or reduced, penalties. If necessary, we leverage our deep knowledge of tax law and expansive litigation experience to earnestly represent you in court or through an alternative dispute resolution method.

Harris Beach Murtha attorneys are well-prepared to offer effective income, gift and estate tax strategies. This includes creating trusts, drafting wills and advising on charitable giving.

We assist families, business owners, executives and other professional advisors with development of personal estate plans and business succession plans to meet client objectives such as tax efficiency, multi-generational wealth transfer planning, asset protection planning, minimization of interruption to operating businesses due to death or incapacity, charitable planning and fiduciary income tax planning.

We advise clients in minimizing negative tax consequences in transactions such as selling property, investment activities, divorce, retirement and transfers of assets, including leveraged gifting techniques. We also help with post transaction tax compliance and reporting, including gift, estate, generation-skipping transfer tax and fiduciary income tax return preparation.

Our estate planning work involves preparing and filing estate tax returns, valuing assets and addressing any tax issues that arise during the administration process.

We also advise clients on the tax benefits of charitable contributions, helping them structure their gifts in a way that maximizes tax savings while supporting their philanthropic goals. This includes setting up charitable trusts, foundations and donor-advised funds.

Harris Beach Murtha’s tax attorneys represent nonprofit organizations with incorporating and securing tax-exempt status; qualifying for, and maintaining, exemptions during operations; structuring activities that produce both exempt and taxable income; and handling the dissolution or termination of exempt entities.