James Barrett is chair of the Miami office tax department and is a senior editor of the North America Tax Practice Group’s Tax News & Developments. Based in Miami, his practice areas include general tax planning, global tax minimization, tax advice for M&A, e-commerce tax, and state and local tax. Mr. Barrett is consistently recognized in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, and Florida Super Lawyers. In addition, he is honored with the highest AV-rating in Martindale Hubbell.

Practice Focus

Mr. Barrett advises on United States federal income tax planning focusing on outbound and inbound international tax issues with a specific emphasis on the taxation of partners and partnerships. He also advises on state and local tax issues particularly relating to the state of Florida. He has extensive experience in: (i) structuring offshore investments and transactions by US multinationals; (ii) advising clients with regard to tax issues arising in the formation, operation and liquidation of partnerships; and (iii) addressing issues relating to debt and equity investments in the US.

Representative Legal Matters

• Advised on offshore investments for US multinational corporations. Advice included tax-efficient structuring of offshore investments, moving tangible and intangible assets offshore, mitigating foreign taxes and US taxes associated with offshore investments, facilitating movement of funds from a foreign subsidiary to its affiliates.
• Provided tax advice regarding partnerships and negotiated partnership agreements. Advice included addressing tax allocation issues, contributions to partnerships, partnership distributions and partnership mergers. Also included inbound and outbound tax planning associated with utilizing partnerships.
• Advised on offshore investments of US closely-held entities. Modified structures into more tax-efficient structures from a US and foreign tax perspective.
• Advised on investments in the US by foreign clients. Advice included utilization of debt and pass-through entities to minimize US taxes and minimizing US taxes from the sale of US real estate investments.
• Advised a Caribbean government on international tax legislation and statutes for business entities.
• Advised on state and local tax issues for clients.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Florida Bar Association - Tax Section - Long Range Planning Committee, 2010 - present
• Florida Bar Association - Tax Section - Secretary, 2010 - 2011
• Florida Bar Association - Tax Section - Treasurer, 2008 - 2010
• Florida Bar Association - Tax Section - Director, Federal Tax Division, 2005 - 2007
• American Bar Association - Director, Section on Taxation
• International Fiscal Association - Member
• Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA) - Member

Corporate Social Responsibility

• Co-founder and Legal Counsel to CasaBlanca Academy Inc., which provides a comprehensive program to address the unique sensory, perceptual and motor planning difficulties that many children with autism and developmental challenges have.
• Adjunct  Professor, University of Miami School of Law, "Taxation of International Transactions in Latin America"

Admission

Florida~United States (1984)

Education

New York University  (LL.M.) (1985)
University of Chicago  (J.D.) (1984)
Duke University  (A.B.) (1981)