State and Local Tax (SALT)
The depth of Ober|Kaler’s Tax Group is enhanced with attorneys whose experience and background in state and local tax (SALT) matters stretches from coast to coast. Serving accountants, financial planners, businesses and individuals – with a particular focus on entrepreneurs – this practice provides valuable counsel regarding state and multi-state tax issues, incorporation and tax structures, as well as counsel regarding the tax implications of estates and trusts and financing arrangements.
Our SALT practice represents hundreds of clients whose needs are as broad as their geographic and industry diversity. Some may have international business interests while others are focused on a single state or region; some are established companies looking to invest in new opportunities while others are start-up ventures looking for capital; some are in biotechnology and health care disciplines while others come from the construction or transportation sectors.
A substantial area of our SALT representation involves evaluating the various state and local tax structures and incentives, and determining which state’s structure is best suited to each individual client’s requirements. We have identified opportunities allowing our clients significant cost savings while ensuring they are in regulatory compliance.
We offer SALT tax counsel regarding:
- Articles of incorporation and corporate structures
- Real property recordation and transfer taxes
- Sales taxes
- Personal property taxes
- Income taxes
- Piggyback taxes
- Admission and amusement taxes
- Tax controversies
- Audits
- Civil and criminal tax matters
- Tax shelters
- Identification of tax advantages and credits
- Enterprise zones and Planned Unit Developments (PUDs)
- Trusts and estates
- Multi-state nexus
- Compliance issues
- Tax liability issues for foreign nationals
- Intellectual property taxation crossovers
Ober|Kaler works hand-in-hand with clients at each stage of the business lifecycle. By understanding their business, their operations and their goals, and ascertaining each client’s risk tolerance, we help craft practical business tax strategies to match their objectives. Through careful evaluation of multi-state tax exposure and the nexus within various states, we can help guide clients in deciding whether a particular state’s business potential justifies their company’s presence. In some cases, we may advise clients to completely avoid states with business-adverse tax structures.
In Maryland, our Tax Group attorneys are known and respected throughout the business community, as well as inside the Office of the Comptroller, state government and the state’s various county and local jurisdictions. We have been on the front line for decades – taking charge of rewriting the state’s tax laws, serving as co-chair of the Maryland Advanced Tax Institute and heading up the Maryland State Bar’s Tax Section. We are also active on the taxation committee of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland Tax Court’s rules committee.
