Attorneys

Member

William M. Joseph (Bill)

Atlanta, GA

404-739-8823

Bill Joseph is a member of the firm’s Business and Finance Practice Group. Bill focuses his practice on transactional tax matters, counseling clients on domestic and international corporate mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and joint ventures. He also regularly represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service and state departments of revenue. Industries in which Bill has represented clients include airlines, telecommunications, food manufacturers, insurance, banking and financial services, health care, technology, commercial and residential real estate development and venture capital.

Capabilities

Practice Areas

Business Services

Charitable & Non-Profit Organizations

Corporate Finance & Securities Offerings

Corporate General Services

Corporate Governance & Disclosure

Health Care – Business Transactions & Finance

Joint Ventures

Mergers & Acquisitions

Real Estate

Real Estate Development & Finance

State & Local Tax Litigation

Taxation
Recent News, Articles & Speaking Engagements

UPDATE: FinCEN and Treasury Department Announce They Will Not Enforce CTA Despite March Deadline

with Edward H. Burrell III, Rachel Owsley, Walter S. Robertson and Alison M. Zeitlin,

Stites & Harbison Client Alert, March 6, 2025

UPDATE: Corporate Transparency Act Back on as Potential Changes Loom

with Edward H. Burrell III, Rachel Owsley, Walter S. Robertson and Alison M. Zeitlin,

Stites & Harbison Client Alert, February 20, 2025

Future of the Corporate Transparency Act is Uncertain

with Edward H. Burrell III, Rachel Owsley, Walter S. Robertson and Alison M. Zeitlin,

Stites & Harbison Client Alert, December 5, 2024

The Corporate Transparency Act: Is Your Business Prepared For Sweeping New Federal Reporting Requirements?

with Edward H. Burrell III, Brian A. Cromer and Alison M. Zeitlin,

Stites & Harbison Client Alert, October 12, 2023

7th Annual Accounting Risk Management Seminar

presented by Stites & Harbison's Accounting Defense Team, Atlanta, GA, October 26, 2022

with Brian A. Cromer and Shannon M. Sprinkle

Recent Assignments

Obtained a revenue ruling from the IRS designating a U.K. commodities exchange as a “qualified board or exchange” under IRC Sec. 1256(g)(7)(C), the first such ruling issued in more than 20 years.

Represented U.K. group in investments in insurance businesses in the U.S.

Responsible for tax planning, tax disclosure and tax opinions in connection with the sale of a credit card processing company to a major bank for $2.1 billion.

Responsible for tax issues, negotiation and documentation of the sale of a privately held food products company to a Dutch public company for more than $300 million.

Provided tax counsel to a paper manufacturing company in connection with its tax-free spinoff from a large consumer products company.

Bar Admissions

Georgia

Massachusetts

New York

U.S. Tax Court

Memberships

American Bar Association

,

Tax Section

Atlanta International Tax Study Group

Education

J.D.,

1984

cum laude

Boston University School of Law

Org / Honor

Boston University International Law Journal, Staff Editor

Edward F. Hennessey Distinguished Scholar

G. Joseph Tauro Scholar

American Jurisprudence Award for Corporations

LL.M., Taxation,

1989

Boston University School of Law

B.S., Economics,

1981

cum laude

Concentrations in Accounting and Political Science

University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School

More Than Stites & Harbison

Bill lives in Sandy Springs, Georgia with his wife, Helene and their Shetland Sheepdog, Cooper. Although Bill is a New York native and started his legal practice with a large firm in Boston, Massachusetts, Bill is an avid Atlanta sports fan, having raised his family in Atlanta. Since moving to Atlanta, Bill has been an active University of Pennsylvania alumnus, interviewing high school students applying to Penn. For many years, Bill spent most of his free time following his three sons’ exploits in baseball from youth baseball to college. Now that their baseball careers are over, he is looking for new hobbies (tennis and hiking being current contenders).

Accolades

Martindale-Hubbell® AV-Preeminent® Peer Review Rated

Best Lawyers in America®, Tax Law (2021-25)

GaBiz Magazine, Top 2025 Lawyers (Tax Law)

Georgia Trend Magazine Legal Elite (2012, 2014, 2016-21)

Georgia Super Lawyers® (2019-22)

Contact Resources

William M. Joseph (Bill)'s PDF William M. Joseph (Bill)'s Contact VCF

See more related to William Joseph

Client Alerts

UPDATE: FinCEN and Treasury Department Announce They Will Not Enforce CTA Despite March Deadline
There is yet another update with respect to the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”). Less than two weeks after the U.S. Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) set a new deadline for CTA compliance, both FinCEN and the U.S. Department of Treasury issued separate press releases announcing their intent to...
by Edward H. Burrell III, William M. Joseph (Bill), Rachel Owsley, Walter S. Robertson and Alison M. Zeitlin

March 06, 2025

Client Alerts

UPDATE: Corporate Transparency Act Back on as Potential Changes Loom
Compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) is no longer voluntary. Businesses subject to the CTA, which includes the majority of entities formed or registered to do business in the United States, will have until March 21, 2025, to file their beneficial ownership information reports with the U.S. Treasury...
by Edward H. Burrell III, William M. Joseph (Bill), Rachel Owsley, Walter S. Robertson and Alison M. Zeitlin

February 20, 2025

Press Releases

GaBiz Magazine Honors Bill Joseph as a 2025 Top Lawyer
ATLANTA —GaBiz magazine names Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Bill Joseph as a 2025 Top Lawyer in Tax Law. The annual list of Atlanta’s top lawyers is based on a peer-review survey of attorneys within the state of Georgia conducted by Professional Research Services. Joseph is a Member (Partner) based...
by Stites & Harbison, PLLC

January 24, 2025

Client Alerts

Future of the Corporate Transparency Act is Uncertain
With the January 1, 2025, deadline for beneficial ownership information filings pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) for entities formed prior to 2024 rapidly approaching, Judge Amos L. Mazzant III of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas preliminarily enjoined the enforcement of the CTA...
by Edward H. Burrell III, William M. Joseph (Bill), Rachel Owsley, Walter S. Robertson and Alison M. Zeitlin

December 05, 2024

Press Releases

Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2025 Best Lawyers® Publications
Honorees Include 12 as “Lawyer of the Year,” 98 in Best Lawyers in America® and 31 in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 98 of its lawyers are included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®....
by Stites & Harbison, PLLC

August 16, 2024

Client Alerts

The Corporate Transparency Act: Is Your Business Prepared For Sweeping New Federal Reporting Requirements?
Background On January 1, 2021, with bipartisan support, Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“NDAA”) when it overrode former President Trump’s veto of the NDAA. As part of an effort to combat money laundering, the financing of...
by Edward H. Burrell III, Brian A. Cromer, William M. Joseph (Bill) and Alison M. Zeitlin

October 12, 2023

Press Releases

Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2024 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 101 of its lawyers are included in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence according to the publication....
by Stites & Harbison, PLLC

August 24, 2023

Events

7th Annual Accounting Risk Management Seminar

Date: October 26, 2022 -

Time: 11:45 a.m. -

6:00 p.m.

City Springs Conference Center, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs, GA 30328

Presented by Stites & Harbison, PLLC Please join Joe Kingma and the Stites & Harbison Accounting Defense Team for the 7th Annual Accounting Risk Management Seminar. Speakers Brian Cromer, Member, Business & Finance Service Group Chair, Louisville office John deMoulpied, Member, Torts & Insurance Practice Group, Atlanta office Matt Gass,...
by Brian A. Cromer, William M. Joseph (Bill) and Shannon M. Sprinkle

September 21, 2022

SEE MORE