International Tax

The increasing global footprint of today’s public and private enterprises and individuals, in an era of unprecedented tax changes driven by digital innovation and governmental skepticism of traditional tax planning strategies, demands an agile and deep international tax expertise. Sullivan’s international tax attorneys have deep experience in managing the complex interplay between and among U.S. tax rules, non-U.S. tax rules and double-taxation treaties, and in developing practical tax-risk mitigation strategies for businesses engaging in cross-border transactions and operations.

Sullivan has one of the largest international tax practices in the Northeast. From our own specialists to leveraging our closely monitored global network of foreign tax firms and advisors, we are well-positioned to assist clients with their worldwide tax needs. We have the experience and expertise to act as a single point of contact for in-house tax departments and coordinate tax advice from multiple jurisdictions, all to ensure that inconsistencies between jurisdictions are resolved early and that important issues are not neglected.

Our annual Worldwide Tax Update and client alerts keep our clients up to date on important international tax developments. Our lawyers are frequent speakers at industry events and have been recognized in Chambers, Best Lawyers in America®, The Legal 500 U.S. and other guides to top-ranking law firms and tax practitioners.

Our tax specialists have extensive experience in strategic tax planning and implementation for a wide range of international business activities and taxes, including:

• Planning for cross-border M&A transactions, financings, licensing arrangements, and joint ventures
• Tax-efficient structuring and restructuring of multinational businesses, including to address BEPS and MLI initiatives
• Global effective tax rate minimization, tax attribute utilization planning, tax-efficient IP and value chain management
• International tax planning for REITs and other types of real estate funds/investments
• Advising sovereign wealth funds, foreign governmental pension plans and other foreign governments as to their U.S. investments, including real estate investments
• Structuring for private equity and other alternative investment funds
• Planning for fintech and crypto businesses and investments
• Cross-border lending and distressed debt transactions
• International trust and estate planning for high-net-worth families, corporate executives and investment managers, including pre-U.S. residency planning and succession and exit planning for owners of privately held businesses
• Global compensation and mobile workforce planning
• Global tax reporting and compliance, including tax return mapping, assistance with FATCA, FBAR, ASC 740 documentation, DAC 6, E.U. Mandatory Disclosure Regime, country-by-country and other tax reporting requirements
• Global tax controversy, litigation, voluntary disclosures related to offshore activities, and private letter rulings  

Representative Client Work

• Assisted a large private equity fund with managing the impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts on its portfolio companies, including controlled foreign corporation and passive foreign investment company determinations, transitional tax on accumulated offshore earnings, Global Intangible Low Tax Income calculations, and mapping of related U.S. income tax reporting requirements, including Form K-1 disclosures, Form 5471, Form 965, and Form 8621, among others
• Led a worldwide team of attorneys and other advisors to restructure foreign operations in 20 countries for a $2 billion public manufacturing company
• Represented multiple credit fund managers in developing and documenting an approach to managing their effectively connected income exposure; structured multiple credit, distressed debt and infrastructure credit funds to mitigate U.S. net income taxation for multiple classes of investors
• Advised on set up of investment management companies for private equity, venture capital, and hedge fund managers, including providing advice on structuring seed investments, incentive fee arrangements, carried interest, and related estate tax planning matters
• Advised U.S. and non-U.S. clients on structuring cross-border real estate investments ranging from $10 million to $10 billion
• Advised numerous biotech and technology companies on cross-border withholding taxes, anti-deferral/controlled foreign corporation rules, cost sharing agreements, and transfer pricing issues in connection with their worldwide operations
• Represented Irish sponsors in the structuring and formation of private, externally advised, blind pool U.S. REITs to raise capital in Ireland and invest in U.S. commercial real estate
• Provided international tax and legal advice related to the running of the inaugural European Games held in June 2015 in Baku, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Olympic bid by Los Angeles
• Converted several public C corporations to REITs, including thorough reviews of the company’s worldwide operations and assets and various structuring strategies as well as tax and securities advice related to the possible implementation of these strategies, in particular obtaining private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service in connection with the proposed REIT conversion
• Advised a U.S.-based public multinational designer, producer, and marketer of a wide range of mechanical power transmission products in the transfer of its U.K. group to a Netherlands holding company, and later advised the same company in its $80 million acquisition of a  Danish group, including the design of the financing strategy
• Designed a tax-favored international financing strategy involving hybrid debt and then advised on the cross-border tax planning for a public Finnish company in the minerals and metal processing business on its stock acquisition of a U.S. company
• Represented a $400 million publicly traded multinational company that designs, manufactures, and distributes valves and related products in the restructuring of its energy products segment through the formation of a Luxembourg holding company and a series of internally leveraged transactions using hybrid instruments
• Represented a large group of private investors in obtaining private letter rulings going back decades and related to various U.S. tax issues of their foreign investments
• Performed a global tax risk study for a large private equity group with the focus on workforce related issues, changes in tax nexus rules in multiple jurisdictions, developments related to challenges of hybrid debt/equity structures, and holding companies located in low-taxed jurisdictions
• U.S. tax counsel to the first pure-play U.S. office REIT to be listed in Asia for its Singapore IPO, initial and subsequent investments, and ongoing U.S. tax compliance matters, including critical global restructuring in response to the shifting U.S. tax landscape