Scott Susko is an experienced tax lawyer with a primary focus on all aspects of state and local tax matters. Scott maintains an active administrative tax dispute and negotiation practice that includes audit defense, ruling requests, voluntary disclosure, and business incentives advisory. Scott has extensive experience in multistate tax planning.
Scott works with clients on financial reporting issues related to state and local taxes, including providing opinions for FIN 48 and FAS 5 purposes. Scott is a regular contributor to the Journal of Multistate Taxation and is a frequent speaker at tax conferences, including programs offered by the Committee on State Taxation (COST).
In addition to his state and local tax practice, Scott does a substantial amount of transactional work that involves tax planning for private equity transactions, venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, sales, recapitalizations, leveraged acquisitions, and reorganizations.
Prior to joining the firm, Scott worked in “Big 4” accounting, which included a two-year rotation in a firm’s national tax office in Washington, DC. Scott was also formerly an adjunct professor of state and local taxation at Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management.
Representative state and local tax controversies
- Strategic advisor to an Internet retailer in anticipation of litigation from “Amazon Tax” legislation in New York, Connecticut, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Minnesota
- Represented a manufacturer before the Massachusetts Department of Revenue in a dispute involving the add-back of intercompany expenses
- Represented an individual before the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services involving the treatment of pass-through entities
- Represented an individual before the California Franchise Tax Board involving the sourcing of gain from an Internal Revenue Code Section 338(h)(10) transaction
- Counseled a retailer in a controversy with the New York State Department of Tax and Finance involving an intangible holding company
- Represented a utility before the Massachusetts Office of Appeals in a dispute involving sales/use tax exemptions
- Coordinated pre-assessment settlement negotiations with tax authorities from Connecticut, Tennessee, Indiana, South Carolina, and Minnesota on behalf of a retailer involving a Nexus dispute
Publications
- “Massachusetts Delivers a Year's Worth of Various Tax Decisions,” Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, October 2010 (WG&L)
- “Representation in State and Local Tax Controversies: Choosing the Right Professional,” Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, August 2010 (WG&L)
- “States’ Jurisdiction to Tax: Some Random Musings on Nexus,” Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, May 2010 (WG&L)
- “Massachusetts Challenges Town Fair Tire—Not Just Another Nexus Case,” Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, January 2010 (WG&L)
Presentations
- Boston Bar Association, Tax Section, Massachusetts Tax Update, June 2010
- 6th Annual Georgetown Law State and Local Tax Symposium: “Managing the Stages of a State Tax Controversy: Practice, Procedure & Helpful Advice,” May 2010