Practices: Taxation (Public Finance)

When your governmental entity or other tax-exempt organization turns to the bond market for its financing needs, the national public finance reputation of Ungaretti & Harris can help you to minimize tax consequences, maximize collateral value and achieve the public purposes of tax-exempt financing. We have advised tax-exempt organizations and state and local governments on billions of dollars in financing, and have worked to maintain the tax-exempt status of issuing agencies as well as the financings themselves. Whether you need a letter of determination or the structuring of a sophisticated financing arrangement to maximize tax advantage, turn to Ungaretti & Harris for the assurance of maximum tax advantage with full tax compliance.

Exempt Organization Counsel

Governmental entities, as well as public and private foundations, charitable organizations, hospitals and educational institutions, seek our help to secure and maintain their tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code. Because many tax-exempt organizations have operations that generate taxable revenue, an important part that counsel involves the tax treatment of unrelated business income. By the same token, exempt organizations get the help they need on the tax treatment of divesting for-profit subsidiaries and divisions, and on mergers or joint ventures with for-profit organizations. Other services to tax-exempt clients include:

• Representation before the IRS in letters of determination and private letter rulings with respect to tax-exempt status of bonds.
• Responses to federal and state audits and inquiries.
• Creation of 501(c)(3) organizations and maintenance of tax-exempt status.
• Bond counsel for issuing of tax-exempt securities.

Financing Sophistication

Our financing sophistication for exempt organizations and entities includes derivatives, swaps and pooling transactions. You can secure the most advantageous terms, including a rate lock, through our experience with rate swaps. If you undertake a swap transaction, rely on us to review the swap documentation, prepare the appropriate resolutions for approval authorizing the swap transaction, and issue the required opinions. Pooling is another innovative tax-exempt financing technique at which we excel, and we can help you create a pooling arrangement that allows you to expand your financing capacity by undertaking a joint tax-exempt financing transaction with another exempt organization.

Tax Credit Innovation

Investors, syndicators, developers and lenders have a big stake in the effective tax structuring of low-income housing and tax increment financing projects. In more than half of the states across the country, Ungaretti & Harris has handled tax, real estate, bond financing and lending concerns from numerous tax credit transactions. You get help with all of the multi-disciplinary issues that these projects can involve:

• Historic preservation credits.
• Tax-exempt financing.
• Tax analysis and structuring.
• Investor due diligence.
• State-allocated 9% transactions.
• Tax-exempt bond 4% tax credit transactions.

Whether your project is an inner-city low income housing development, a mixed-income project or senior housing, you get a dedicated team that can quickly and cost-effectively handle all aspects of implementation.

Maximum Advantage

Because every level of government has its own tax objectives, organization and statutes, the rules change constantly, and interpreting them takes skill and insight. We will work with you to minimize the tax code’s impact and maximize its advantages so that you can achieve your exempt financing objectives efficiently and effectively, while maintaining all aspects of your exempt status.