In a property tax refund case filed on behalf of the largest hotel in Rhode Island, we obtained a judgment for $2.44 million, plus interest, in December 2017 following a trial. The judgment represented the amount of excess property taxes paid by the hotel during 2013-2015 as a result of an inflated assessment of the hotel’s value.

We secured a favorable resolution for technology corporation in a tax dispute with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The appeal was settled two weeks before trial, saving the client in excess of $30 million of assessed sales and use tax, interest, and penalties. The Department of Revenue’s assessment was a result of our client’s failure to document or demonstrate, during a multi-year audit, that tax had been paid or that the transactions at issue were tax exempt. Working with the client, we retrieved archived documentation, located in-house and third party witnesses, and leveraged strong relationships with department attorneys to achieve a successful outcome.

Obtained full abatement at the administrative appeal level in Maine for telecommunications services provider of income tax assessment resulting from inclusion in tax base of dividends from a non-unitary partnership.

Our SALT team obtained an advisory ruling from Maine Revenue Services for an information services company that further clarified when subscriptions for services that include digitally transmitted publications will be subject to Maine sales or use tax.

Representation of Athens Energy and its sister company, Maine Woods Pellet Company, in connection with all aspects of the financing of a $38 million biomass electricity generation facility, including $31 million of new markets tax credit financing ($31 million of State of Maine allocation and $7.5 million of federal allocation) and the syndication of renewable energy investment tax credits (ITC).

Pierce Atwood advised BTU International, a publicly traded global supplier of thermal processing equipment, in a stock for stock, tax-free merger with Amtech (NASDAQ: ASYS), a global supplier of production and automation systems.

We advised Burgess Biopower on all aspects of financing the redevelopment of a shuttered paper mill into a state-of-the-art 75 MW biomass power plant located in Berlin, New Hampshire, which will burn waste biomass and sell power to the grid. The financing involved several sources of funds, including $63.5 million of new markets tax credit financing with allocation from six CDEs. The project also involved a $90 million section 1603 cash grant in lieu of an investment tax credit or production tax credits. The balance of the project was financed by $200 million of rated bonds provided by a consortium of financial institutions. We also advised with respect to EPC agreement, off-take power purchase agreement with PSNH and all project related agreements.

Designed, drafted and lobbied on behalf of manufacturers and other industrial clients a business property tax reimbursement program providing full reimbursement for most business equipment ("BETR"), and subsequently a property tax exemption for business equipment ("BETE"). Worked to achieve annual funding of these programs.

We achieved complete cancellation of a Maine income tax assessment against our nonresident client who was claimed to have been domiciled in Maine.

Represented several aircraft owners in defeating use tax assessments against aircraft. Succesfully advocated for new sales and use tax exemptions for aircraft and aircraft parts.

We obtained a favorable ruling from Maine Revenue Services on the Maine sales and use tax consequences of a number of hypothetical transactions involving leased equipment in Maine.

Represented Fox Islands Wind, LLC in the development of an innovative initiative supported by the island's consumer-owned electric cooperative, nonprofit institutions, and private investors, which included the receipt of federal production tax credits.

We achieved a favorable state income tax settlement for a multistate broadcasting firm.

On behalf of a New England industrial facility, we achieved a large abatement in a property tax appeal. We represented this industrial facility in their pursuit to contest recent years' property tax assessments from a town in New Hampshire. We appealed to the town Board of Tax and Land Appeals that tax assessments from 2008-2010 were disproportionately high or unlawful, resulting in the taxpayer's responsibility for a disproportionate share of property taxes. Alternate appraisals were presented which were also corroborated by separate appraisals prepared by the NH Department of Revenue Administration. The appeal for abatement was granted and the client is due a significant refund, plus interest.

Maine Beer Co. has grown from a small “nano” brewery producing 100 barrels of beer a year to a thriving microbrewery producing over 4000 barrels a year. To support the surge in production they expanded their staff from two to 12 full-time people and moved into a brand new 11,000 square foot production facility. As the company has grown so have its legal needs and Pierce Atwood has been there to help.

We obtained an industry-specific interpretation of the Maine Service Provider Tax for telecom contractors. We helped our telecom construction clients educate Maine Revenue Services on the nuances of their businesses and gain the ability to apply the tax in a way makes more sense in this industry.

Structured transactions involving transfers of watercraft and aircraft to minimize transfer taxes in Massachusetts and Maine.

Representation of two pulp/paper mills in seeking abatements of their municipal property tax assessments.

Representation of Capone Iron Corporation in a $10 million new markets tax credit financing for the construction of a manufacturing facility.

Assisting Cate Street’s subsidiary Newco Energy in development and $275 million new market tax credit and Section 1603 financing of its biomass plant in Berlin, New Hampshire.

Representation of a tax credit investor in connection with a new markets tax credit financing of a $10 million real estate development in Brunswick, Maine.

We have represented a nuclear power plant in New Hampshire on multiple property tax valuation matters, as well as on obtaining pollution control exemptions.

We have assisted several clients with successful disclosures of their offshore accounts and financial assets under the IRS’ offshore voluntary disclosure and streamlined disclosure programs.

We assisted the Farnsworth Art Museum, located in Rockland, Maine, with a combined state and federal new markets tax credit financing, helping the museum to secure capital needed for critical repairs and improvements to the building. The NMTC investment has allowed the museum, which opened in 1948 and boasts a remarkable collection of over 15,000 objects, to stay open and continue welcoming more than 100,000 visitors annually.

Pierce Atwood successfully represented, on a pro bono basis, an 800-acre nonprofit facility that cares for hundreds of abused and neglected animals in Maine, after the town in which the facility is located refused to grant the property tax exemption to which the facility was entitled.

Representing manufacturing facilities and electric and gas utilities in property tax abatement proceedings.

We achieved a property tax exemption for a valuable oceanfront property, used for charitable and religious purposes, in face of challenge by the Town where the property is located.

We represent a public utility in some 30 local property tax appeals pending in state courts and administrative bodies.

We assisted our client in securing a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to further support the growth of the company in Maine. Administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the CDBG program provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.

We successfully advocated for the enactment of legislation to improve the Business Equipment Tax Exemption and avoid cuts to the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement and Pine Tree Zone programs.

Our Tax Group successfully represented a corporate client before IRS appeals where the IRS auditors had determined that the executives' compensation was unreasonable.

In the 2012-2013 Maine Legislative Session, we represented the aviation industry in successfully lobbying to extend the airplane sales & use tax exemption 20 years. This single sentence in an extensive state budget provides relief for aircraft purchasers, pilots flying into Maine and maintenance of aircraft while in Maine. In 2011 Maine lawmakers approved a temporary sales and use tax exemption for aircraft and aircraft parts, but that exemption was scheduled to expire in 2015. With this exemption, Maine will be on a level playing field with other New England states in the aviation community.

Represented a multinational pipeline on achieving property tax abatements.

We assisted a Massachusetts-based retailer with a 35-state voluntary compliance initiative, reducing sales and use tax exposure through negotiated settlements.

In a favorable decision for our client, Maine Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy refused to grant the State Tax Assessor’s motion to compel deposition testimony relating to the taxpayer’s tax accrual (FIN 48) work papers and related documents. State Tax Assessor v. Kraft Foods Group, Inc. et al, BCD-AP-16-02 (Business & Consumer Ct., Jun. 7, 2017, Murphy, J.). Justice Murphy sits on the Business and Consumer Court (a division of the Superior Court), which hears most tax cases in Maine.