Federal & International Tax

Alston & Bird’s tax group has the broad range of tax skills necessary to help you manage your domestic and global businesses in an ever-changing business world. We have extensive experience providing business transaction, dispute resolution, tax legislation, and regulatory services, both domestically and overseas. Honored as “Law Firm of the Year” in Tax Law in the 2020 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” we provide efficient and innovative strategies to appropriately manage and minimize the impact of U.S. and foreign taxation to your business.

The strength of our practice group is borne of the depth of its collective, substantive knowledge, coupled with our attorneys’ knowledge of industry and business norms, strong client relationships, and historically sophisticated deal flow and controversy work. We provide practical advice to your challenges, and through our leadership positions, we gain access to current tax developments and tax officials on behalf of our clients. We also maintain strong global relationships with tax firms in all major countries, enabling us to provide our clients with on-the-ground international tax developments, as well as sophisticated tax insights and advice on matters of foreign tax law affecting our clients’ cross-border transactions and operations.

Many of our tax attorneys serve on industry boards and are relied on by publications to provide insight on breaking developments. We are consistently rated among the best tax counsel in the U.S. A significant number of our lawyers have been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisors, Chambers Global, and Chambers USA. Several of our team members have been elected fellows of the American College of Tax Counsel.

Inbound Taxation

• Advised a major foreign multinational group in the financial services area on its internal restructurings and treaty tax planning.
• Advising a major foreign banking association on the IRS Qualified Intermediary system and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA).
• Provided tax opinions on a foreign investment in a master limited partnership in both physical and derivative form.
• Advising on structuring of U.S. operations to avoid “permanent establishment” issues under relevant tax treaties.
• Tax advice for U.S. restructuring by foreign family offices and high-net-worth private clients.

Outbound Taxation

• Significant structuring/planning for a private investor’s activities in numerous jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, and South America.
• Advised a U.S. group on a new tax-advantaged supply chain structure.
• Tax planning to mitigate adverse tax problems under the CFC and PFIC regimes.

Tax Controversy

• Representing a U.S.-based company on a multimillion-dollar refund action in federal court.
• Handled a tax audit for a U.S. multinational resulting in a 100 percent concession by the IRS of a proposed multimillion-dollar assessment.
• Handling a matter at IRS appeals involving the highly complex dual consolidated loss rules.
• Handling a $250 million debt/equity classification case before the IRS.
• Representing a number of high-net-worth clients in the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program on their offshore accounts and assets.

Financial Services

• Advising on the restructuring of a $300 million PIK note for a U.S. public company.
• Advising on cross-border financing transactions for major U.S. banks.
• Represented a major independent energy company in the tax aspects of unwinding a complex, hybrid bond structure.
• Representing a major hedge fund and private equity funds with their structures and strategies, including tax advice on behalf of foreign and tax-exempt investors.
• Advice provided to securitization and trustee clients, as well as to banks, on REMICs, offshore CDOs, commercial lending, and other financing structures.
• Provided advice to a U.S. company in structuring, designing, and implementing a highly tax-advantaged deferred compensation “long-term incentive plan” for senior executives.

Real Estate

• Structured U.S. real estate funds on behalf of foreign investors and global private equity funds on behalf of U.S. investors.
• Handling a $40 million issue arising in an IRS audit of a REIT.
• Representing significant public REITS in qualification issues, including the handling of a multimillion-dollar audit.

M&A

• Advising on a $30 million tax-sharing agreement dispute arising out of a spun-off subsidiary of a U.S. multinational company.
• Represented a publicly held German biotech company in a spin-off transaction.
• Advised on the implementation of an acquisition structure involving a recapitalization and management rollover.
• Represented a U.S. company in the tax-free combination of its two U.S. consolidated groups.
• Advised a U.S. group on a complex restructuring of its capital structure in anticipation of an IPO.
• Represented a U.S. multinational company in a large asset/interest sale.
• Handled the acquisition of a $600 million manufacturing facility through a Chapter 15 bankruptcy, with attention paid to carryover of tax attributes to the buyer.

Transfer Pricing

• Highly sophisticated transfer pricing advice for major Asian and European manufacturing companies, including the securing of bilateral and multilateral advance pricing agreements.
• Represented a foreign multinational client in connection with a proposed IRS transfer pricing assessment of $800–900 million, which resulted in a complete withdrawal by the IRS of its proposed assessment.