Tax Policy

One aspect that distinguishes Jones Walker's Tax & Estates Practice Group is in the area of tax policy and regulation. With strong transactional tax, tax controversy, and tax planning practices, as well as with our legislative and government advocacy skills, the members of the Tax & Estates Practice Group skillfully handle the regulatory and legislative needs of our clients in crafting, negotiating, and navigating tax policy. Our attorneys have established relationships with elected, appointed, and career officials at the federal, state, and local levels. We understand the substantive tax issues and the complex political and regulatory issues involved in major tax reform initiatives. Our clients benefit from the experience of our attorneys who have served in the executive and legislative branches of both federal and state government. Notably, the group includes a former General Counsel and Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department who is well-versed in the legislative and regulatory process associated with the development and enforcement of federal tax policy.

Our attorneys are active in numerous organizations that are engaged in the development of tax law and policy with federal and state governmental bodies, including the American Bar Association's Section on Taxation, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), the Louisiana Association of Industrial Development Executives (LIDEA), the Alabama State Bar, the Alabama Retail Association, the Business Council of Alabama, and the Business Association Tax Coalition (BATC). Through these organizations and associated individual efforts, our tax attorneys, many of whom are certified by various organizations, have developed legislative, regulatory, and administrative solutions on a wide range of client tax issues. For example, following Hurricane Katrina, our team of tax attorneys guided new and far-reaching legislation, the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) Act of 2005, to provide tax relief and incentives to businesses, individuals, and others to spur recovery and rebuilding efforts throughout the Gulf Coast region.

We represent large Fortune 500® and privately held companies, as well as small businesses, nonprofit entities, and individuals in various tax advocacy and policy matters. Furthermore, we engage actively in tax reform efforts on a wide range of tax policy matters, such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), Sarbanes-Oxley, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Jones Walker has represented our clients in recent tax policy initiatives, including:

• Development and implementation of the GO Zone Act of 2005
• Louisiana Tax Amnesty Program of 2009
• Tax increment financing
• New Markets Tax Credit Program (federal and state)
• Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program (federal and state)