James Matthews concentrates his practice in the area of taxation law, with an emphasis on federal and state income and sales/use tax matters representation for proprietary businesses and nonprofit entities. His practice includes substantial involvement in corporate, partnership and transactional tax, estate and gift tax, insolvency and business tax planning, as well as client representation in tax controversies, tax compliance and tax enforcement defense.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Matthews gained practical experience as a Tax Law Specialist in the Corporation Tax Branch of the Internal Revenue Service’s National Office in Washington, D.C. Since entering private practice, Mr. Matthews has served as chairman of both the Taxation Committee of the Missouri Bar Association and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and was as an original appointed member of the Missouri Director of Revenue’s Advisory Group. Mr. Matthews regularly appears as a speaker at federal and state tax seminars, and has authored several chapters and articles on federal and state tax topics that have appeared in prominent professional tax periodicals as well as deskbooks and newsletters published by the Missouri Bar Association.

Select Representations

• Represented a Missouri-based residential housing developer and its owners in a multi-entity, multi-issue appeal of $1 million in IRS audit adjustments involving installment sale reporting, S corporation and LLC distributions and liquidations, debt discharge, LLC purchases, sales and distributions, tax accounting, Roth IRA prohibited transactions, capitalization, tax basis calculation and property valuation and other income and deduction recognition issues and obtained a reduction of over 90 percent of the adjustment proposed on audit.
• Represented the controlling owner of a group of related entities in his IRS appeal of a business bad debt deduction claim for his personal payment of guaranteed entity debts. Also assisted in developing a plan to restructure and compromise the entities’ debts in a manner through which the owner was able to avoid additional federal income taxes of more than $2 million on "cancellation of debt income".
• Represented a high net worth client in connection with income and estate tax planning involving numerous trusts created by older generations, along with the various stages of historic rehabilitation of “home place” structure, the funding and education of children through creative trust strategies and restructuring finances and insurance products to harmonize client’s needs and expectations.
• Represented a former executive of a telecommunications company in an appeal of an $850,000 “responsible person” assessment for the company’s unpaid Mississippi sales and use taxes and secured a 100 percent discharge from liability for the executive.
• Represented a Missouri-based national transportation company in a multi-issue appeal of a $500,000 IRS audit adjustment involving credit, accounting, capitalization, income and deduction recognition and valuation issues.
• Represented purchasers of minor league baseball and hockey franchise teams in Georgia, Texas, Iowa, Montana and Washington with respect to capital and debt structure and seller payment formats; book asset allocations and amortization; and federal payroll tax compliance and simplification through common paymaster procedure.
• Representation of a multi-state franchisor and its franchisees with respect to IRS appeals of worker classification disputes, federal payroll tax compliance and refund claim procedures and state sales/use and workers compensation matters; secured 100 percent success on IRS challenge to treatment of the largest class of workers.
• Simultaneously represented Kansas City-based health maintenance organization before IRS, Missouri, Jackson County and city of Kansas City in federal income, state sales/use and county and city property tax exemption appeals and successfully obtained all three exemptions.
• Representation of numerous nonprofit organizations located throughout the Nation in connection with their formation, operation and application for their federal income tax determination letters from the IRS.
• Represented a Missouri film editing facility in the settlement of a $75,000 Kansas use tax assessment and obtained a reduction of over 90 percent. A private letter ruling covering (and exempting) the controversial transactions at issue in the audit also will be received as a part of the settlement.
• Represented numerous for-profit and nonprofit entities in connection with Missouri and Kansas sales/use and property tax matters in negotiations, hearings and litigation before the applicable state agencies and before the Missouri Supreme Court

Bar and Court Admissions

Missouri, 1974

United States Tax Court

Education

Georgetown University, LL.M., 1976

Saint Louis University, J.D., 1974

Washington University, B.A., 1970

Languages

English

Publications

• Author, “Legislative Reversal of ICC Management and Music City ‘Clarifies’ Missouri’s Resale Exemption,” 20 Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives 12 (Oct. 2010)
• Author, “Sales and Use Taxes – Procedural Aspects,” II Missouri Taxation Law and Practice, Chapter 11 (Missouri Bar 4th ed. 2009)
• Co-Author, “Adopting More Good Policies Is Good Policy,” 21 Taxation of Exempts 21 (Jul/Aug 2009)
• Co-Author, “Having Good Policies Is Good Policy,” 20 Taxation of Exempts 19 (Mar/Apr 2009)
• Co-Author, “Physician Office Management: Employment and Medical Waste Disposal Matters,” Physician’s Survival Guide: Legal Pitfalls and Solutions, Chapter 13 (National Health Lawyers Association & American Medical Association, 1991)
• Author, “Common ERISA Issues Affecting Group Health Care Plans,” 1990 Health Law Handbook, Chapter 8 (Clark Boardman Company, Ltd. 1990)
• Author, “Sales/Use Tax Transferees: The Revenue Department Takes Aim,” 41 J. Missouri Bar 11 (1985)

Civic Involvement and Honors

• Corporate Counsel Edition® - July 2009
• Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2008
• Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2007
• Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2006
• Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2005