Practice Areas & Industries: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Practice/Industry Group Overview

The Buchanan Ingersoll Tax Section is a tax group whose more than 40 attorneys have experience in many aspects of federal tax planning, controversy, legislative and regulatory work. The section includes the Silverstein and Mullens division of Buchanan Ingersoll, which brings to the section over 40 years of experience and a worldwide reputation for excellence in the tax field.

Reflecting the increasingly detailed regulation of business and personal tax matters, the section is organized into five groups:

:: Business and International

:: Employee Benefits

:: Estates and Trusts/Exempt Organizations

:: Real Estate Tax

:: Tax Management and Related Services

All of our attorneys have experience with a broad range of tax issues. Most have knowledge in several diverse areas that cover the spectrum of the tax field. We approach problems and issues by listening to the client's objectives, addressing all of the potential tax considerations at once, and fashioning an overall solution that minimizes tax consequences or maximizes tax benefits consistent with the client's business goals.

Practice Areas
Members of the Business and International Group provide counsel as to the form of business entity and ownership structure of corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), joint venture relationships and partnerships. Our attorneys have experience in the areas of business combinations, mergers and acquisitions, business separations and business contractions, including the cross-border aspects of these transactions. The group also structures financial instruments and products and provides advice on operational tax issues, including income timing, tax accounting and foreign tax credit matters. For United States businesses expanding abroad, we devise and implement strategies to minimize U.S. tax consequences on "outbound" transfers of property and to maximize deferral of U.S. tax on foreign earnings. For non-U.S. businesses seeking to expand into the U.S., we have experience in devising strategies for repatriation of U.S. earnings to minimize U.S. taxation.

Attorneys in the Employee Benefits Group provide a comprehensive range of services covering tax-qualified retirement plans, nonqualified retirement plans, welfare benefit plans, executive compensation matters, stock options and employee stock ownership (ESOP) tax planning. The group prepares and implements qualified plans and amendments to those plans, reviews ongoing compliance of such plans with IRS rules, and assists in the review and integration of the plans in connection with business restructurings and acquisitions. We concentrate on devising and implementing stock options, incentive compensation and ESOP arrangements both for emerging companies and more established businesses.

Attorneys in the Estates and Trusts/Exempt Organizations Group have experience in devising creative and innovative planning strategies and techniques to preserve wealth and transfer property both during lifetime and at death to individuals and charities. We do so in a manner that will lessen the impact of wealth transfer taxes while also reflecting accurately the client's personal planning desires. Our lawyers often are retained by charitable institutions, private foundations and other non-profit organizations, not only to advise them on tax compliance and assist day-to-day operational matters, but also to assist them in structuring and implementing innovative methods for donors to transfer funds to charity. The group has been at the forefront of reshaping the health care industry through the consolidation of for-profit and not-for-profit entities, both regionally and nationally.

Members of the Real Estate Tax Group provide a broad range of advice in the formation, acquisition, disposition, and financing of real estate, closely held real estate business and the structuring of entrepreneurial real estate investments. In particular, we focus on the implementation of like-kind exchange strategies and the structuring of real estate investments by foreign persons and entities to minimize Foreign Investors in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) consequences.

Tax-Related Services
A unique aspect of the Tax Section is its special services relationship with Tax Management and the Tax Management publications. For the past 40 years, Tax Management, in association with Silverstein and Mullens, has produced more than 300 portfolios, monthly journals and periodicals, providing tax professionals and advisors with a sophisticated analysis, application and interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code. In conjunction with their practices, members of the section participate as editors of the Tax Management portfolios and journals, assuring not only that the Tax Management publications address the most current issues arising in practice, but also that our attorneys are thoroughly familiar with the most current thinking and pronouncements on tax issues.

Tax Controversy Capabilities. For clients faced with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) challenges, we have experience in many aspects of tax litigation in the United States Tax Court, the United States Claims Court, the federal district courts, the federal courts of appeals and the United States Supreme Court. In addition, we represent clients on a regular basis in proceedings before the various IRS Appeals Offices. Our experience in federal tax controversies extends to substantive issues, including section 482 allocations, tax accounting issues, unreasonable compensation, valuation disputes and reorganization issues, as well as procedural matters, including summons enforcement and defense of tax collection enforcement actions.

Legislative, Regulatory and Administrative Capabilities. For clients on whom proposed tax legislative or regulatory actions may have a significant adverse impact, we provide technical assistance on tax policy issues. Our lawyers have high level Treasury Department, IRS and congressional staff experience. For more than four decades, many of our lawyers have participated in the development of federal tax legislation, Treasury regulations and IRS administrative rulings.

Services Available