Services Federal Tax

Kean Miller tax attorneys provide clients with full-service federal tax representation covering tax compliance, planning, audits, and controversies. We offer federal tax advice to clients at all stages of an enterprise’s life cycle, from creation to liquidation, merger, or disposition. Kean Miller clients are among the world’s largest businesses across multiple industry groups, including, healthcare, energy, financial institutions, manufacturing, retail, consumer goods, health care, gaming, entertainment, and utilities. Our clients count on us for insightful advice and effective solutions to complex tax issues.

Kean Miller’s federal tax lawyers combine extensive legal knowledge and experience, strategic thinking, and effective communication to navigate complex tax laws and regulations to assist clients. Our attorneys have expertise in tax compliance, reporting, and financial planning and are authorized to appear before the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Tax Court, the Court of Federal Claims, and other federal courts. We routinely represent clients before the IRS and are experienced in defending clients during audits, appeals, and court proceedings. Our attorneys have an in-depth understanding of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and Treasury regulations, and significant expertise in federal tax compliance, planning, and controversy matters. We also are experienced in unique areas such as estate planning and taxes, employee benefits, corporate and high-net worth individual tax issues, and international tax issues and tax treaties.

Our federal tax team is well known for its analytical and strategic skills, including the ability to interpret complex tax regulations and identify legal strategies to minimize liability, strong research capabilities, and relationships with taxing authorities in order to stay current on changes in tax law and are skilled in anticipating potential risks and resolving disputes proactively. Our team works closely with our clients’ financial advisors, accountants, and internal legal teams to ensure cohesive strategies and use a multi-disciplinary approach integrating legal, financial, and business perspectives.

When controversy arises, our team provides expert representation and advocacy are experienced in handling IRS audits, appeals, and negotiations. Our lawyers have proven experience in tax court and federal appellate courts when matters must be litigated and have strong advocacy skills to protect client interests.

Kean Miller tax lawyers offer federal tax advice to clients at all stages of an enterprise’s life cycle and routinely counsel business and company leadership with regard to financing transactions, contributions to capital, the issuance or redemption of stock and debt instruments, buy-sell agreements, executive compensation, and employee benefits. We frequently work with business owners to optimize the federal income tax consequences of a prospective business purchase or sale. Our attorneys have extensive experience in dealing with the federal tax implications in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spinoffs and other dispositions, and financing arrangements.

Additionally, our tax attorneys often work closely with clients in planning to minimize federal estate and gift taxes and estate planning including sophisticated estate planning strategies.

One of the most important things to know about Kean Miller’s tax team is our client-centric approach.  We work hard to tailor solutions that align with client goals, whether for individuals, corporations, or nonprofits. We prioritize transparent communication and clear explanations of complex tax matters. Our clients find us responsiveness to client needs with a focus on confidentiality and trust.

Areas of Expertise

• Acquisition and disposition of real property and installment sales
• Conservation easement issues
• Design, operation, and compliance for employee benefit plans
• Employee benefits and accountable plan issues
• Entity formation, stock and asset sales, and tax-free and taxable reorganizations of business entities
• Formation, operational, liquidation, and redemption issues of subchapter S corporations and partnerships
• Organizational and operational issues of tax-exempt organizations
• Private letter rulings
• Tax-free like-kind exchanges
• Tax compliance

Representative Experience

• Representation of an international energy company in tax compliance matters, including the creation and implementation of a system to handle certain federal and international tax issues relating to domestic and foreign tax withholdings.
• After advising a large services business client regarding a complicated accounting method change, with very little published guidance on point, represented the same client in an IRS audit which resulted in a “no change”.
• Successful litigation of a complicated partnership basis issue for a real estate partnership in the United States Tax Court.
• Obtained abatement of a significant penalty and a large refund on an expedited basis on behalf of a large banking institution client after seizure of a customer trust account.
• Assisted in the restructuring and sale of a national emergency fuel and water supply group to one of the leading full-service construction management and disaster recovery firms in the world. The sale positioned the purchaser as a global leader in emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, and community resilience. Kean Miller handled all tax-related matters with the sale for the sellers, including federal income tax, Louisiana income tax and Louisiana sales and use tax issues, as well as led the negotiation and closing.
• Successfully assisted a client in a contentious will contest involving a large estate and a holographic will.
• Advised a nonprofit healthcare client with respect to a multi-million-dollar joint venture project.
• Assisted client with making the case for inclusion and non-inclusion in the cash position of a specified foreign corporation for the purpose of the transition tax at IRS Office of Appeals.
• Successful litigation in the United States Tax Court on a partnership issue for exclusions to net earnings from self-employment.
• Advised client regarding complicated computational issues involving a large oil and gas company and subsidiaries’ excise tax liability and fuel tax credit computation.
• Advised the client regarding bonus depreciation deduction for a liquefied natural gas plant.