Taxation
The attorneys of Stites & Harbison’s Tax Group assist a variety of clients (corporations, estates, exempt organizations, individuals, limited liability companies, partnerships, trusts and universities) with tax planning and litigation on the federal, state and local levels. The attorneys include a former United States Tax Court law clerk and a former attorney for the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel (Tax Court). Many of the attorneys have master-of-law degrees in taxation.
The attorneys of Stites & Harbison’s Tax Group routinely serve clients in a range of matters that include:
- Aircraft Acquisition and Leasing
- Aircraft Fractional Interests
- Alternative and Renewable Energy Tax Planning
- Business Acquisitions
- Business Contracts
- Business Formations
- Business Liquidations
- Business Mergers
- Business Planning
- Business Restructurings
- Cafeteria Plans
- Captive Insurance Companies
- Charitable Contributions
- Corporate Spin-Offs, Split-Offs and Split-Ups
- Corporate Tax
- Divorce Tax Planning
- Elder Law
- Employee Benefits
- Employee Plans Voluntary Compliance Program
- Employee v. Independent Contractor
- ERISA (fiduciary, prohibited transactions, etc.)
- ESOPs
- Estate & Gift Planning
- Estate & Gift Tax (including tax return preparation)
- Executive Compensation
- Federal Excise Taxes
- Fiduciary Income Tax Returns (preparation and planning)
- FIRPTA (foreign investment in US real property)
- Georgia Income Tax
- Georgia Sales & Use Tax
- Georgia Tax Litigation
- Incentive Stock Options
- Income Tax Planning
- Individual Tax
- Interest Rate Swaps
- International Tax Planning (Inbound and Outbound)
- Investment Fund Formation (Structuring, LP or LLC Agreements, PPMs)
- IRS Appeals
- IRS Audits
- IRS Ruling Requests
- Kentucky Income Tax
- Kentucky Inheritance Tax
- Kentucky Retirement System
- Kentucky Sales & Use Tax
- Kentucky Tax Litigation
- LLC Operating Agreements
- Local Taxes
- Low-Income Housing Credit
- Medicaid Planning
- Multistate Tax
- New Markets Tax Credits
- Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
- Nonqualified Stock Options
- Partnership Tax
- Penalty Abatement
- Pre-Nuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements
- Private Foundations
- Probate (including litigation)
- Purchase & Sale of Assets
- Qualified Opportunity Zones
- Qualified Retirement Plans (401(k) and defined benefit)
- Regulated Futures Contracts
- REITs and RICs
- REMIC Defeasance Tax Opinions
- Restricted Stock Plans
- S Corporations
- Shareholders’ Buy-Sell Agreements
- State Tax Incentives (including PILOT incentives)
- Stock Purchase Agreements
- Stock Redemption Agreements
- Tax Court Litigation
- Tax Exempt Organizations (Formation, Exemption Applications, Intermediate Sanctions, and IRS Audits)
- Taxfree Exchanges (Code Section 1031)
- Tax Opinions
- Tax Return Review and Analysis
- Tax Settlements
- Tax Treaty Analysis and Planning
- Tennessee Business Tax
- Tennessee Franchise and Excise Tax
- Tennessee Indebtedness Tax
- Tennessee Miscellaneous Taxes
- Tennessee Sales & Use Tax
- Tennessee Tax Litigation
- Transfer Pricing
- Trust Administration (including litigation)
- Trust Agreements
- Unrelated Business Income Tax
- Voting Trusts
- Welfare Benefits (health, disability and life insurance)
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"Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes."
—J. Learned Hand, Helvering v. Gregory, 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934), citing United States v. Isham, 84 U.S. (17 Wall.) 496, 506, 21 L.Ed 728 (1873).
Sixth Circuit Wrestles with Meaning of “Weekly Basis” Under the FLSA
On April 1, 2025, in Lynwood Pickens v. Hamilton-Ryker IT Solutions, LLC, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified what it means to pay a salary on a “weekly basis” under federal regulation 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(a) for purposes of classifying an employee as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In a divided opinion, the Sixth Circuit held that to be paid on a “weekly basis” means that an employee is paid for “a regular week’s worth of work.” As a result, the court held that an employer did not pay an employee on a “weekly basis”—and therefore owed the employee overtime—when the weekly guaranteed pay to the employee was only the equivalent of one day’s pay and the employee was paid an hourly rate for every hour worked beyond the first eight hours in the week.
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 not enforce the CTA until new rules are finalized. Stites & Harbison's Corporate Transparency Act Committee takes a look at the update in this Stites & Harbison Client Alert.
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 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).
GaBiz Magazine Honors Bill Joseph as a 2025 Top Lawyer
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.