Allison Ahern Fillo, Phil Olsen, and Taylor Lovejoy

Our experienced ERISA and tax attorneys:

  • design and implement tax-qualified 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), cafeteria, and health and welfare benefit plans
  • design compliance programs for company executives who serve as plan fiduciaries
  • support plan sponsors during government audits
  • develop creative equity, performance and 409A deferred compensation programs for senior executives, and using “rabbi” and “secular” trusts when appropriate
  • assist senior executives in coordinating their estate plans with all of their compensation and benefits considerations, including split-dollar life insurance arrangements
  • develop insider-trading policies precisely keyed to equity arrangements and corporate goals
  • file for and obtain IRS relief under the Employer Plan Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) procedures
  • provide tax compliance opinions for plans where appropriate
  • address and defend benefit claims made by participants or beneficiaries
  • assist clients and third-party administrators with plan design, amendment, and qualification and compliance questions
  • advise clients concerning plan amendments and terminations
Results

Our strong track
record of success.

  • Represented an exempt organization in making an IRS EPCRS anonymous filing to obtain IRS retroactive relief for various plan document and operational failures, and which relief was obtained.
  • Advised a U.S. subsidiary of a European parent company on taxpayer self-correction of tax-qualified plan operating failures, with a tax opinion letter provided pursuant to EPCRS and IRS opinion rules for various plan qualification questions.
  • Secured added cash payouts for a group of executives when their employer company was sold by successfully avoiding a significant golden parachute federal excise tax.
  • Resolved complex federal tax compliance issues arising in a business acquisition under §409A and with respect to the alternative loan or economic benefit regime income tax rules involving split-dollar life insurance agreements between a corporate employer and an executive.
  • Resolved a “deemed modification” of stock options prior to closing a corporate acquisition where multiple classes of equity were modified and were deemed modified under §409A, which resulted in §409A option non-compliance.
  • Resolved prohibited transaction issues facing a tax-qualified, private employer pension plan in connection with private equity investments.
  • Addressed offshore investor use of Blocker Corporations for pension plan investments to avoid unrelated taxable business income issues and tax withholding Federal tax issues for the pension plan.
  • Obtained §457(b) plan qualification relief from the IRS for a §501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization’s plan with payment of a negotiated sanction fee to the IRS.
  • Advised and resolved multiple IRS tax or U.S. Department of Labor EBSA fiduciary audits by the respective agencies.
  • Advised and assisted state and local government pension plans with respect to their investment of plan assets in illiquid private equity, venture capital and real estate investment entities.
  • Advised § 501(c)(3) and other types of tax-exempt entities on their dealings with tax-exempt pension plans maintained by such tax-exempt or by third-party entities.

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Publications

January 31, 2024

Massachusetts Taxation and DOR Practice Guide

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Publications

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Adult-Use Cannabis Licensing (MA)

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Speaking Engagements

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Business Immigration Fundamentals

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Firm Announcements

December 19, 2023

Davis Malm Attorneys Serve as Contributing Authors for ILN’s 2023 Edition of “Establishing a Business Entity: An International Guide”

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Speaking Engagements

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2023 Massachusetts State Tax Update

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Alerts

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Be Prepared as the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Takes Effect January 1, 2024

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Alerts

November 29, 2023

Highlights of the New Massachusetts Rules Implementing the Cannabis Act

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Publications

November 1, 2023

Massachusetts State and Local Tax Update – Third Quarter 2023

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Speaking Engagements

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Forming a Company

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