TAX LAW

The bedrock of Berry Moorman’s excellent reputation was founded in tax law, starting with Raymond H. Berry, a renowned estate tax lawyer, who founded our Firm to represent Horace and John Dodge in recovering taxes on the profit from the sale of their shares of Ford Motor Company. Through the years, we have been involved in a number of noteworthy tax matters, including our successful representation of Mr. Clarence P. Chamberlin in the first preferred stock bailout case, which resulted in the adoption of Section 306 of the Internal Revenue Code; our representation of the American Automobile Association before the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the IRS’s taxation of subscription payments in the year received; and our role as appraiser of the shares of Hudson Motor Car Co. in connection with that company’s merger into American Motors Corporation.

More recently, we obtained one of the first favorable IRS rulings that authorized the tax-free distribution of stock of a subsidiary under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code for the business purpose of spinning off a subsidiary with non-risky operations from a parent with operations carrying substantial risk of liability exposure.

Today, we continue that tradition of skillful tax counsel to individuals and businesses by providing a number of services and legal representation in matters including:

Michigan Corporate Income Tax
Michigan tax clearance requests for businesses,
Michigan Treasury Department audits and appeals before the Hearings Division,
Michigan tax litigation (Michigan Tax Tribunal, Michigan Court of Appeals, and the Michigan Supreme Court)
Federal and state individual tax returns (form 1040),
Federal and state fiduciary tax returns (form 1041),
Federal gift tax returns (form 709),
Federal estate tax returns (form 706),
Partnership and limited liability company tax returns (form 1065),
S-Corp tax returns (form 1120 & 1120S),
Private foundations and non-profit tax returns (form 990),
IRS private letter rulings,
IRS audits and appeals, and
Federal tax litigation (U.S. Tax Court, Federal District Court, and U.S. Court of Claims)

Our Michigan tax attorneys regularly provide assistance in tax matters involving structuring the purchase or sale of businesses, tax-free reorganizations and liquidations, tax deferred exchanges, choice of entity matters, employee benefits and executive compensation. We have formed and consult with a number of private charitable corporations and private charitable foundations on tax matters. In addition, our attorneys regularly provide advise and counsel on all aspects of Michigan business taxes, sales and use tax and Michigan tax planning.