Paul G. Marcotte, Jr.

Paul G. Marcotte, Jr. co-chairs the firm's Tax practice group and is a member of the Estate Planning, Estate/Trust Administration, Business/Commercial Transactions and Mergers/Acquisitions groups. He concentrates on federal, state and international tax matters, estate planning, probate and trust administration, business succession planning, business sales, acquisitions and reorganizations, and executive compensation.

A significant part of Mr. Marcotte's tax and estate planning practice focuses on special estate planning considerations for multinationals employed by international organizations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and affiliated organizations. This type of planning—often required in situations in which a multinational owns property both inside and outside the U.S.—involves the review of international tax conventions to ascertain whether relief may be available in conjunction with the adverse changes resulting from the 1988 enactment of tax legislation commonly known as TAMRA.

Mr. Marcotte's international tax practice also includes advising a wide spectrum of clients on cross border investment matters. He counsels multinationals on the structuring of foreign investment in U.S. real estate or establishing new business ventures in this country with a view to minimizing the potential impact of U.S. income taxation on the profits/gains from such activity. The converse involves assisting U.S clients (including dual nationals) that hold interests in offshore entities, including foreign trusts, to comply with highly specialized and complex U.S. tax reporting requirements for such holdings.

From an estate planning perspective, Mr. Marcotte designs sophisticated strategies for high net worth clients, including successful business entrepreneurs. He minimizes the adverse impact of federal wealth transfer taxes and preserves and perpetuates family wealth for future generations using the latest planning techniques.

In addition to planning and compliance matters, Mr. Marcotte's tax practice includes the representation of both individuals and business organizations before the Internal Revenue Service and state and local tax authorities in conjunction with taxpayer examinations (non-compliant taxpayers including non-filers), appeals and other tax controversy proceedings. He also works with clients in establishing tax-exempt organizations including private foundations.

Mr. Marcotte's practice also involves acting as corporate or outside counsel to various small and mid-sized business organizations (both corporate and unincorporated) with respect to a wide variety of business related matters, including new business start-ups, structuring and completing business acquisitions, divestitures, mergers and reorganizations, corporate buy-sell agreements, employment matters and structuring executive deferred compensation and stock option plans. He also provides business succession planning for owners of closely held businesses--an area often inextricably linked to his estate planning practice--and counsels executives on special tax aspects/planning for executive compensation including non-qualified stock options and incentive stock option issues.

Over his 25 years in practice, Mr. Marcotte has been directly involved in some major merger and acquisition transactions, including two acquisitions in recent years by Fortune 500 companies of closely held businesses which were clients of the firm. Those transactions involved consideration exceeding $250 million in each case.

A frequent speaker to various professional organizations and a published writer who contributes articles to legal publications on selected tax and estate planning topics, Mr. Marcotte has been quoted in The Washington Post and other local media outlets on significant tax developments. He made a presentation to the Estates and Trusts Section of the Montgomery County Bar Association in October 2003 on the status of family partnerships in the aftermath of the Tax Court's latest Strangi decision. He also made a presentation to L'Association Démocratique des Français à l'Etranger at the French Embassy in November 2006, addressing special tax and estate planning concerns of French nationals working in the U.S., including special features in the Protocol to the existing U.S.-French estate and inheritance tax convention which had just recently entered into force.

Mr. Marcotte has been an instructor (part-time), teaching various tax courses for paralegal studies at area universities. Prior to starting his legal career, he worked as a Certified Public Accountant for an accounting firm in Silver Spring, Md.

After earning his B.S. degree in Accounting (member Beta Alpha Psi accounting fraternity) as well as a Masters in Business Administration (with a concentration in international finance) from the University of Maryland, Mr. Marcotte received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore where he was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for Study of Agency & Partnerships, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. He is admitted to the bar in Maryland and the District of Columbia and is a member of the American Bar Association, State of Maryland and District of Columbia Bar Associations, as well as the Tax, Estate and Trust, Business and International Law Sections of several of these organizations.

Education

LL.M. in Taxation, Georgetown University Law Center, 1983
J.D., Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award for Study of Agency & Partnerships, University of Baltimore School of Law, 1981
M.B.A., University of Maryland, 1981
B.S., University of Maryland, 1976

Publications

"Section 482: Reallocation of Personal Service Corporation Income to Shareholders," 12 University of Baltimore Law Review 40, 1982

Contribution of case note to Trusts and Estates (January 2004) on a judicial decision involving family partnerships in the context of the federal estate tax laws

Business Gazette, "Tax Legislation offers small business incentives," Dec. 17, 2004

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