Mr. Serchuk, a member of the firm’s Public Finance group, focuses his practice on tax issues as they relate to debt securities, particularly tax-exempt bonds.
Prior to joining Nixon Peabody, Mr. Serchuk worked in the Office of Tax Policy at the Treasury Department, and the Office of the Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service. While at the Treasury, he was an attorney-advisor responsible for drafting published guidance and providing legislative support for issues related to tax-exempt bonds and the low-income housing tax credit. While at the IRS, he was the senior technician reviewer in the Tax-Exempt Bond Branch, responsible for drafting published guidance and for drafting and reviewing private letter rulings and technical advice memoranda, including rulings regarding arbitrage, private activity bonds, and mixed-use allocations.
He participated in drafting a variety of guidance projects, including guidance relating to output facilities, refundings, the New York Liberty Zone, single and multifamily housing, and solid waste disposal facilities. He also participated in drafting a number of published guidance projects relating to the low-income housing tax credit. While at the IRS, Mr. Serchuk provided advice in connection with various enforcement matters (including the single largest settlement in the tax-exempt bond area), negotiated closing agreements, and trained IRS audit personnel.
In private practice, Mr. Serchuk has advised clients regarding the tax aspects of tax-exempt bond transactions, acting as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, special tax counsel, insurer’s counsel, and borrower’s counsel. He has participated in a wide variety of bond transactions, including financings for governmental facilities, single and multifamily housing, airports, stadiums, and nonprofit hospitals and universities.
Publications
Mr. Serchuk is a coauthor of “The Coming Changes in Tax-Exempt Health Care Finance,”
Journal of Health Care Finance, Volume 22:1, 1995.