Legislative Tax Practice

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included the widest-ranging changes to the Internal Revenue Code since 1986. Holland & Knight was active during the Act's development and passage, garnishing significant wins for many of our clients. As we look toward the 117th Congress, we are intently focused on forthcoming legislative and regulatory tax changes and how they might affect our clients, as well as identifying opportunities that the changes bring.

Holland & Knight has a deep bench of advocates who held policymaking positions under both Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington. This gives us bipartisan insight into the legislative and rulemaking processes – no matter which party wins an election. Chambers USA praises our government relations practice as "bipartisan" and "thriving," with experience in "the full range of legislative and federal appropriation processes." Holland & Knight also has deep knowledge and experience in the regulatory process being undertaken at the Treasury Department and IRS.

In addition, our team is well-situated to handle tax-related congressional investigations. We work closely with Holland & Knight's Congressional Investigations Team, which consists of professionals who have led congressional investigations as committee chairpersons, have served as investigative staff on both the House Ways and Means and the Senate Finance committees, have served as senior attorneys at the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division, and have a record of success as white-collar litigators.

We are positioned to monitor developments and respond quickly to assert our clients' interests.

Comprehensive Legislative Tax Services

Our Legislative Tax Team represents a range of businesses and industries. These include national nonprofit organizations, trade associations, cooperatives, Native American tribal governments, multinational enterprises and businesses in almost every industry.

Holland & Knight's services include the following:

• advocating proposed tax law changes
• assisting with the development of legislative proposals
• monitoring legislative activities
• advocating for and analyzing the impact of guidance by the Treasury Department and the IRS
• assisting with technical submissions, such as comment letters, statutory drafts and congressional hearing testimony
• providing technical analysis of existing tax statutes
• representing clients in tax-related congressional oversight and investigations

Bipartisan Experience in Congress and the White House

Key members of our Legislative Tax Team include:

• four former members of Congress, including a former Republican congressman who was a senior member of the powerful, tax law-writing House Ways and Means Committee
• a former senior White House adviser and many congressional staff members
• a former chief of staff for the House Republican Conference who has been named a "Top Lobbyist" by The Hill congressional newspaper for seven consecutive years
• a former Treasury executive and senior adviser to the IRS Commissioner
• a former counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee and chief oversight counsel to the Senate Finance Committee
• a former Senate and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lawyer with strong industry connections in the chemical, forest and paper, auto, food and energy sectors

Representative Engagements

Holland & Knight is committed to achieving positive outcomes for our clients. Some highlights of our accomplishments in the legislative tax arena include the following:

• advocated for appropriate guidance under the new deduction available to pass-through entities – met with Treasury and IRS officials, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Joint Committee on Taxation
• assisted numerous clients in understanding guidance on the new international tax provisions and met with Congressional members regarding the need for statutory corrections
• obtained federal excise tax relief for medical inhalers
• resolved a cooperative tax issue for a national hospital group purchasing organization
• secured a special exemption from the federal unemployment tax for Indian tribal governments and tribal enterprises
• created a coalition advocating for tax law changes that would encourage donations of conservation easements and ensure that audits by the IRS are conducted fairly and efficiency
• advocated for tax law changes that would facilitate clean coal and alternative renewable energy technologies
• analyzed and advocated against various proposals to stiffen the tax filing, disclosure, corporate governance and community benefit requirements imposed on tax-exempt organizations
• advocated for technical and policy changes to an excise tax simplification provision, defeating an attempt to apply the unrelated business income tax to tribal government enterprise revenue
• helped enact favorable tax treatment of the income and expenses of Alaska Native subsistence whaling
• served as counsel to industry advocacy groups, including those for the low-income housing tax credit and rural housing developers