In addition to providing tax compliance services, our organization's Tax practice comprises a complete range of tax planning and consulting services, including in-depth knowledge of property tax, sales tax, state and local taxes, and international taxation. At Urish Popeck, we strive to uncover every legitimate means of saving tax dollars with sound advice and creative strategies.

BDO's Washington, D.C. office maintains continual contact with the Treasury Department, which enables Urish Popeck clients to obtain rulings from the national office of the Internal Revenue Service. Moreover, current tax developments are distributed to our clients through several newsletters published by the National Tax practice.

Most companies are subject to state income and franchise taxes. Regulations governing these vary by state. As a result, companies with locations in multiple states may be under-paying or over-paying substantial amounts of income or franchise taxes.

Federal tax expense was once the primary target for reducing your tax burden. However, new tax regulations and court decisions have created many savings opportunities in the state and local area. Urish Popeck can help businesses lessen the impact of state taxes through innovative tax planning techniques.

Our organization's tax professionals apply their sophisticated knowledge to help uncover possible means of reducing or eliminating state income/franchise tax liability in a given state(s). We utilize legal recourse, including combined return filing planning, passive income planning strategies, pass-through entity structuring, divisional accounting strategies, relocation studies, nexus studies, merger and acquisition review, state tax incentive programs, tax credit availability, and apportionment factor review.

Sales and use taxes are imposed on U.S. businesses in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and thousands of local jurisdictions. Because laws vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another, managing sales and use taxes can be burdensome. On the other hand, failure to collect and remit sales and use taxes may lead to substantial assessments and penalties.

In BDO's Multi-State Tax Consulting practice, seasoned sales and use tax professionals with many years of experience are adept at:

• Helping to reduce sales and use tax exposure
• Nexus issues and tax collection matters
• Questions of transaction taxability
• Complete audit examination and appeals representation
• Helping to uncover refunds of overpaid sales and use taxes
• Helping to design sales and use tax management systems
• Helping to deliver prospective savings through creative planning

We offer a variety of services in the personal financial planning area to help improve after-tax compensation, reduce the after-tax cost of debt obligations, and plan for family financial security.

In this regard, we can help with income planning and preparation of Federal and state tax returns, as well as with estimated tax requirements. Urish Popeck can assist with:

• Helping to lower Federal and state transfer taxes
• Gift strategies
• Effective utilization of charitable trusts and private foundations
• Business succession plan for closely held businesses
• Planning for retirement income or education
• Structuring or funding buy/sell agreements
• Valuation of a closely held business for estate tax and charitable contribution purposes
• Planning for family members with special needs, including long-term healthcare
• Income tax planning for estates and trusts
• Family limited partnerships for gift giving and family succession strategies
• Insurance and wills to help minimize taxation of executives' heirs

A property tax study can assess the value of your properties and identify areas of significant savings. A determination of a proper and reasonable valuation basis for a property tax assessment will be based on a combination of local property tax law, local assessment practices, and a presentation of proposals to assessing authorities. The presentations will encompass a reasonable calculation of values and comparable assessments, written appraisals for personal property, and formal appeals and representation during informal negotiations through non-judicial levels of appeal.

The professionals in the State and Local Tax group (SALT) of BDO understand the nuances of various taxing jurisdictions across the country, and have represented properties in virtually every state. In addition to serving client's real and personal property tax needs in our footprint, Urish Popeck's tax professionals work closely with the SALT group on our multi-state client's needs. The SALT group's distinctive approach to property tax assessments has resulted in tax reductions for the majority of the clients served. Many of the Property Tax professionals are certified appraisers and actively participate in the Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT), International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), and American Society of Appraisers (ASA).

International taxation issues have arisen more frequently for our clients in recent years due to the increasing globalization of domestic and foreign economies. Almost anywhere in the world business takes you, our organization's tax advisers are there to advise on local laws, pitfalls and opportunities.

Mismatches in U.S. and foreign tax laws can help lead to opportunities to reduce effective worldwide tax rates to well below those suffered by domestic counterparts. In many ways, U.S. companies suffer a disadvantage in this area due to the restrictive nature of the U.S. tax system compared to the systems that apply to foreign competitors. However, methods developed by our organization may help U.S. multinationals of all sizes significantly reduce their taxes.

Whether a company's tax issues are inbound or outbound, Urish Popeck's International Tax professionals provide comprehensive tax consulting. When indicated, they work in conjunction with BDO's network of International Tax professionals throughout the United States and the world.

Outbound services and consultation to U.S.-based multinationals include:

International tax opportunities to help reduce the taxes paid by U.S.-based multinationals worldwide might include:

Inbound services to foreign-based multinationals operating, or planning to operate, in the U.S. relate to:

Inbound or outbound, in almost every aspect of your international operations, Urish Popeck's International Tax services can help you with your business' after-tax net income worldwide.

Urish Popeck's compensation and benefits professionals work hand in hand with the national practice of BDO Seidman. We provide our clients with strategic compensation arrangements for taxable and tax-exempt businesses. Compensation and Benefits services include:

• Tax and Regulatory Enforcement
• Benefits Advisory Services
• ERISA Assurance Services
• Performance and Compensation
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans
• M&A Consulting Services
• Physician Compensation

Tax and Regulatory Enforcement

• Diagnostic reviews of plans which provide risk assessments for tax and labor law rules, government retirement and health and welfare plans
• Submitting qualified retirement plans under IRS Closing Agreements and programs that may allow plans with defects to be sanitized
• Preparing and submitting delinquent IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) filings and negotiating settlements

Benefits Advisory Services

• Tax consulting for taxable and tax-exempt entities such as:
• Qualified and non-qualified deferred compensation plans
• Stock options and other forms of equity-based compensation
• Fringe benefits and other payroll reporting
• Golden parachutes
• Plans for tax-exempt entities
• 401(k) plan vendor search
• Health and welfare consulting related to taxation of benefits, use of VEBAs, and cafeteria plans

ERISA Assurance Services

• ERISA audits for pension and welfare plans
• Preparation of Form 5500s, summary annual reports, and summary plan descriptions
• Response to IRS and DOL inquiries regarding reporting and disclosure requirements
• Compliance review with respect to ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements

Performance and Compensation

• Design of total compensation arrangements for executives and management for taxable and tax-exempt entities: base salary structure, annual incentive plan, long-term incentive plan design and fringe benefits
• Total competitive compensation analysis for executives, management and broad-based employee groups for taxable and tax-exempt entities
• Preparation of compensation committee proxy disclosure as it relates to executive compensation
• Review of pension disclosure for audited financial statements
• Assistance in drafting plan documents and communication materials for compensation programs

M&A Consulting Services

• Review of ERISA considerations of pre- and post-M&A activity, including the effect on qualified plans of each entity involved and diagnostic review of qualified plans of each entity
• Tax considerations of stock options and other equity-based compensation
• Tax planning and calculations with respect to golden parachute excise tax rules

The global BDO organization has been a national leader in accounting and tax services for the expatriate corporate executive and high net worth individual for more than 90 years. Urish Popeck leverages BDO's global network of 600 member firms in 100 countries to assist clients with the differing tax laws and language issues. Service team members around the globe are unified in adherence to BDO Seidman's rigorous tax policies. As to standards, the team is dedicated to a four-week turnaround time for US Tax Return preparation.

Additionally, the expatriate services include support from a full-service benefits practice and complete administration services. In summary, expatriate employees and employers benefit from: reduced compliance burdens; improved employee morale; reduced complaints; reduced costs; and, improved executive mobility.

The Cost Segregation practice utilizes an engineering-based methodology to help real estate owners increase cash flow. The national practice group of BDO performs hundreds of studies each year, and has distinguished itself on a national basis. It has analyzed more than $9 billion in construction and acquisitions since 1997. Clients receive studies that are based on sound engineering principles and are supported by IRS regulations, rulings, and case law. The tax positions recommended by the engineers and architects are well documented and supported in the report that is provided as part of the analysis.

In addition to new construction projects and building acquisitions, the methodology applies to taxpayers who have either constructed or acquired buildings in prior years. The classification of assets placed into service in past years can be corrected without the need to amend prior year's tax returns, and the total depreciation adjustment identified for all prior years can be fully recognized in the year of change.

A brief review of some basic project information allows our engineers to estimate the benefits to be gained from a study. It is important to note that the preliminary review and resulting proposal for services is provided at no cost to you.