Economic Incentives - Japan

Alston & Bird’s economic incentives team includes attorneys with backgrounds in public finance, state and local tax, real estate, and land use and regulation. The public finance attorneys have taken the lead role in assisting our clients to obtain the often more difficult negotiated incentives from local governments. Many local government incentives (and many state grants) are available only if the local government or public development authority agrees to take record title to the project. State grants often can only be made to such a local government or development authority and only with respect to property owned of record by such governmental entity. Thus, many of these transactions are structured as traditional industrial development revenue bond financings. We are extremely familiar with the state and local laws and procedures affecting the participation of such local governmental bodies in economic development transactions, including open records and open meetings laws, filing and reporting requirements and other similar regulations applicable to governmental bodies.

In addition, our incentives team includes state and local tax attorneys who have counseled many clients on how to qualify for the state tax credits and state tax exemptions offered in connection with their projects. We have worked extensively with representatives of various state revenue departments and other state and local officials involved in interpreting statutory credits and exemptions and are familiar with the written, and sometimes unwritten, administrative policies that determine whether or not such credits and exemptions can be obtained.

We are at the forefront in assisting clients in maximizing the benefits of property tax and other economic incentives and advising them on the most efficient and economical methods of procuring these benefits. We know the players – the representatives of state and local government – involved in this business and have worked with a wide variety of clients, including manufacturers, office, retail and commercial developers, and other businesses in negotiating economic incentives packages for their capital projects.