Tax Planning

Katten provides proficient, creative tax advice and planning that coincide with our clients’ business plans and fiscal goals, and we structure business transactions with careful attention to the resulting tax consequences.

Katten's clients are involved in a variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, sales and purchases of businesses, international transactions, tax-free reorganizations, spinoffs, liquidations, real estate purchases, developments, financing for sales and purchases and sales of financial derivatives. Following are some of the areas in which companies and individuals can benefit from our knowledge and experience in structuring transactions.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The ability to create an efficient structure for a merger or acquisition is critical to the buyer’s and seller’s cash flow, reportable earnings and ultimate investment return. Tax planning must be coordinated to take into account business needs, any reporting required for generally accepted accounting principles, corporate and securities law issues and regulatory matters.

Private Equity and Venture Capital (Management Compensation)

Investing in new and growing businesses often provides great opportunities for financial gain. When a business seeks outside investors, or when investors seek businesses in which to invest, tax considerations are paramount. Katten’s tax attorneys become involved in private equity and venture capital transactions at an early stage, and our experience and creativity add considerable value to these transactions. Tax laws offer tremendous advantages to properly structured growing businesses, giving founders, management and outside investors the opportunity to save millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Katten has extensive experience representing both founders and investors in structuring domestic and multinational start-up businesses and venture capital investments to take advantage of the many benefits offered by tax laws.

Banking and Finance

Almost daily, our clients in the capital markets are presented with new financial products that are offered with yield, tax or other benefits. The tax issues associated with any capital market or finance endeavor will have a major impact on its economic viability. Katten is well positioned to efficiently address these issues to help ensure that capital market structures work for our clients. One of the ways we assist clients in evaluating these products is by assessing their potential tax consequences and risks—both intended and unexpected—and then developing creative solutions that complement otherwise sound investments. Katten frequently acts as lead counsel and special tax counsel for mutual funds, money market funds, investment banks and other investors with regard to the tax aspects of complex financial products. We assist business managers and in-house lawyers by coordinating the timely delivery of a comprehensive range of legal services related to financial products.

Real Estate

In real estate transactions, tax considerations have historically been extremely important with respect to the acquisition, ownership, operation and disposition of real estate interests. Although the era of the real estate tax shelter may be over, most real estate transactions have substantial tax benefits. Katten tax attorneys frequently provide value in structuring real estate transactions, including partnership tax allocation provisions which often have substantial impact on the after-tax results of an investment. Katten tax attorneys also have substantial experience in structuring like-kind exchanges, UPREITs, REITs and REMICs and real estate workout transactions.

Tax Litigation

In the area of tax litigation, we work to minimize our clients’ tax liabilities by contesting the IRS’s proposed deficiencies at the investigating agent level before the Appeals Office of the IRS, or, if necessary, litigating the issues in the United States Tax Court, the United States District Court or the Federal Court of Claims. Our litigation attorneys have had major successes in saving clients from large proposed tax liabilities by winning tax issues at trial. We also have had success in preventing charges from being filed against our clients involving allegations of fraud and other civil or criminal accusations as well as in the defense of tax fraud indictments.