Taxation Practice Group

The Taxation Practice Group assists clients with a broad spectrum of issues involving federal and state taxation including individual, fiducuiary, and corporate income tax, sales and use taxes, local property tax issues, and issues involving specialized Maine state tax programs such as real estate transfer taxes, petroleum and special fuels taxes, tobacco taxes, and the like.

We represent clients in disputes before federal and state and local tax authorities and also handle appeals of tax related matters in federal and state courts. We provide general tax advice to clients relating to personal and business transactions and work with clients' accountants and tax return preparers in connection with tax and business planning. The firm does not prepare individual tax returns.

Phil Hunt, the Group's Chair, is a graduate of Lehigh University and the Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Maine Bar and the U.S. Tax Court. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (copyright 2007 by Woodward/White, Inc. of Aiken, S.C.), Maine Tax Law Section, is AV Peer Review Rated for Ethical Standards and Legal Ability by Martindale-Hubbell, and is a member of the American College of Trusts and Estates Council. He is also Adjunct Faculty Professor on Estate Planning at the University of Maine Law School (2007), Author of the legal treatise, Maine Probate Law, co-author of Maine Probate Procedure, and author of Maine Code Comments for Part IV of the Uniform Trust Code.

Mr. Hunt is a frequent presenter of seminar programs in matters involving income and estate tax issues. He has broad experience in income and estate tax audits appeals before the Internal Revenue Service and Maine Revenue Service. He is admitted to the U.S. Tax Court and has handled individual tax cases and refund claims. Mr. Hunt has extensive experience with state sales and use tax audits and appeals and other specialized state tax issues. Working with the Municipal Law Group, he also has experience with handling local property tax abatement appeals.

Tim Benoit is a graduate of the University of Vermont and the University of Maine School of Law. He has a LLM degree in taxation from Boston University School of Law. Mr. Benoit has a background in taxation and accounting having several years experience in a major Maine accounting firm.

He is a member of the Maine Bar and the U.S. Tax Court. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (copyright 2007 by Woodward/White, Inc. of Aiken, S.C.), Maine Tax Law Section, and is AV Peer Review Rated for Ethical Standards and Legal Ability by Martindale-Hubbell.