One aspect that distinguishes Jones Walker's Tax & Estates Practice
Group is in the area of tax policy and regulation. With strong transactional
tax, tax controversy, and tax planning practices, as well as with our
legislative and government advocacy skills, the members of the Tax &
Estates Practice Group skillfully handle the regulatory and legislative needs
of our clients in crafting, negotiating, and navigating tax policy. Our
attorneys have established relationships with elected, appointed, and career
officials at the federal, state, and local levels. We understand the
substantive tax issues and the complex political and regulatory issues involved
in major tax reform initiatives. Our clients benefit from the experience of our
attorneys who have served in the executive and legislative branches of both
federal and state government. Notably, the group includes a former General
Counsel and Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department who is
well-versed in the legislative and regulatory process associated with the
development and enforcement of federal tax policy.
Our attorneys are active in numerous organizations that are engaged in
the development of tax law and policy with federal and state governmental
bodies, including the American Bar Association's Section on Taxation, the
Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), the Louisiana
Association of Industrial Development Executives (LIDEA), the Alabama State
Bar, the Alabama Retail Association, the Business Council of Alabama, and the
Business Association Tax Coalition (BATC). Through these organizations and
associated individual efforts, our tax attorneys, many of whom are certified by
various organizations, have developed legislative, regulatory, and
administrative solutions on a wide range of client tax issues. For example,
following Hurricane Katrina, our team of tax attorneys guided new and
far-reaching legislation, the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) Act of 2005, to
provide tax relief and incentives to businesses, individuals, and others to
spur recovery and rebuilding efforts throughout the Gulf Coast region.
We represent large Fortune 500® and privately held
companies, as well as small businesses, nonprofit entities, and individuals in
various tax advocacy and policy matters. Furthermore, we engage actively in tax
reform efforts on a wide range of tax policy matters, such as
Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), Sarbanes-Oxley,
the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), and the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Jones Walker has represented our
clients in recent tax policy initiatives, including:
- Development and
implementation of the GO Zone Act of 2005
- Louisiana Tax Amnesty
Program of 2009
- Tax increment financing
- New Markets Tax Credit
Program (federal and state)
- Historic Rehabilitation Tax
Credit Program (federal and state)
