State & Local Tax

Our state and local tax practice group is staffed by experienced attorneys having practiced extensively in the state and local tax area for many years. They have handled matters involving all types of state and local taxes, including corporate income and franchise tax, sales and use tax, property tax litigation involving real and personal property and the tax exempt status of real and personal property, intangibles tax, excise and license taxes and personal income tax. We have counseled clients on county and state tax incentives, have assisted them in negotiations to obtain tax incentives and have defended against efforts by the Department of Revenue to attack tax credits. Our state and local tax attorneys also collaborate regularly with our corporate attorneys on behalf of clients on multistate tax consequences of corporate structures and transactions. While we have represented businesses which are wholly based in North Carolina and Virginia in various tax matters, most of our clients have been large multistate and international clients with significant North Carolina and Virginia operations. 

Our state and local tax practice group is staffed by experienced attorneys having practiced extensively in the state and local tax area for many years. They have handled matters involving all types of state and local taxes, including corporate income and franchise tax, sales and use tax, property tax litigation involving real and personal property and the tax exempt status of real and personal property, intangibles tax, excise and license taxes and personal income tax. We have counseled clients on county and state tax incentives, have assisted them in negotiations to obtain tax incentives and have defended against efforts by the Department of Revenue to attack tax credits. Our state and local tax attorneys also collaborate regularly with our corporate attorneys on behalf of clients on multistate tax consequences of corporate structures and transactions. While we have represented businesses which are wholly based in North Carolina and Virginia in various tax matters, most of our clients have been large multistate and international clients with significant North Carolina and Virginia operations. 

Williams Mullen is the North Carolina contributor to the semiannual audit sessions of the Council on State Taxation (COST). The firm is also a member of the American Property Tax Counsel, the leading affiliation of independent law firms practicing property tax law. Admission to the APTC is by invitation only and is limited to the pre-eminent property tax law firm in each state and Canada.

Sample Representations 

• Litigation and negotiation of contested matters, corporate tax planning, transactional matters, lobbying and negotiation of tax incentive packages
  
• Challenges to a discriminatory state franchise tax, to discriminatory property taxes and to numerous other tax assessments
  
• Successfully trying the largest personal property tax appeal in North Carolina resulting in new valuation tables for computer and high tech manufacturing equipment
  
• Reducing the real property assessment of numerous manufacturing, commercial and office properties
  
• Advocating changes to tax statutes in the North Carolina General Assembly
  
• Defending class action lawsuits involving state tax issues in both Federal and state courts
  
• Extensive experience contesting state corporate income tax assessments involving holding companies, disputes over apportionment methodologies and defenses to combination of state corporate tax returns