Michael J.A. Karlin

Michael J.A. Karlin advises individuals, families, closely held businesses and corporate clients on tax, estate planning and business matters that cross borders, helping them invest, relocate and operate internationally while managing complex U.S. reporting and compliance obligations. Based in Century City, he has concentrated on private client work for more than 45 years.

A central part of Michael's practice involves families on the move. He advises individuals and families from abroad who invest in or move to the U.S., as well as U.S. individuals and families who invest and move abroad, guiding them through the ever-increasing regulatory and reporting obligations associated with those activities. Pre-immigration and expatriation planning are an important part of this work.

Michael also counsels individuals and closely held businesses on the tax and business aspects of operating outside their home jurisdiction. He has helped establish corporations, companies, partnerships and joint ventures in many parts of the world and has worked extensively with foreign and domestic trusts.

Michael works closely with clients' counsel and other advisors in foreign countries and often helps clients locate those advisors through a wide network built over a lengthy career.

Michael helps clients who need to address and resolve past noncompliance. In recent years, Michael has helped many taxpayers deal with the tax and reporting consequences of foreign financial accounts and holdings, including through offshore voluntary disclosures, streamlined disclosures and other approaches.

He is also an active voice in tax policy. Michael has been involved in submitting many comments on tax legislation, regulations and tax reform, including leading a national group that obtained relief from the IRS on the application of U.S. tax residence rules for noncitizens stranded in the U.S. because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A regular speaker on tax, estate planning and business issues, he has contributed articles to professional publications including Tax Notes, Tax Lawyer, Journal of International Taxation, Tax Management International Journal and Major Tax Planning. Before joining Holland & Knight, Michael was a founder of and attorney at a boutique private wealth services law firm in Los Angeles. His decades of cross-border practice and policy engagement help clients anticipate the U.S. tax consequences of international lives and investments.