Our tax planning serves two purposes: first, it saves you money. There are a variety of ways to structure your business and your transactions, and some ways carry less tax burden than others. Second, just as the best defense is a good offense, proactive tax planning reduces the chance of expensive tax litigation down the road.
We analyze our clients’ businesses to fix areas of tax exposure and expense. When there is a problem, we know how to take advantage of federal and state programs that allow you to voluntarily disclose tax issues, often resulting in reduced tax, penalties, and interest. Fixing a tax problem now rather than once it is discovered by the tax authority can mean the difference between a minor financial set back and a tax problem that threatens bankruptcy.
Sometimes our analysis of a business identifies taxes remitted to the government that were not due, and we help obtain a refund of those payments. Further, we may identify alternative forms to common business transactions that minimize taxation, potentially creating additional margin to drive profitability
We also help with important tax considerations when starting, buying, or selling a business. For example, the form of entity you choose for your business has important tax implications, and if key tax provisions are omitted from entity documents the tax burdens may not follow the intended arrangements between you and your business partners.
If you are considering a purchase of a business, you should have representation to ensure that the transactions is best structured for tax purposes (often a source of conflict between the buyer and seller) and that the necessary diligence has been performed to avoid inheriting tax problems of the target business. Sellers of businesses must evaluate these same issues, and have the additional task of tax planning to make sure that profit from the sale stays with the sellers and is not unnecessarily paid to the tax collector.
Please find below a list of the many tax planning issues we regularly handle for our clients:
Tax Aspects of Transactional Planning
- Business Formation/Choice of Entity and Tax Consequences
- Deciding between Corporation, S Corp, LLC or Partnership
- Tax Allocation Provisions for Partnerships
- Reverse Audits / Refund Claims
- Buying or Selling a Business
- Stock Sales vs. Asset sales
- Tax Indemnity Clauses
- Tax Allocation Agreements
- Section 338(h) transactions
- Section 1031 Like Kind Exchanges
- Tax Due Diligence and Proactive Compliance when Buying or Selling
- Tax Clearance Certificates
- Nexus Studies
- Voluntary Disclosure Agreements
- Private Letter Rulings