Philip S. "Phil" Olsen

Phil is a tax attorney focusing on state and local tax consulting and litigation. He has over 30 years of experience litigating and resolving major tax controversies before state supreme and appeals courts and administrative boards. While he has a solid track record of litigating cases, he has also successfully and discretely resolved hundreds of cases short of trial. His experience spans just about every area of state and local tax, including corporate income, sales and use, personal income and estate tax. Phil also represents owners and tenants in real and personal property tax valuation and exemption cases.

Before entering private practice, Phil served as a senior trial attorney and litigation supervisor for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue where he represented the Department in many landmark tax cases. This experience gives him an broad perspective when representing his clients before tax authorities.

Recent Matters Include:

• Obtained manufacturing classification for energy client resulting in annual property tax savings in excess of $1 million.
• Successfully represented numerous high-net-worth individuals who changed their domicile from Massachusetts to other states.
• Eliminated a $30 million sales and use tax assessment against a financial services company by demonstrating that the Department of Revenue’s sampling methodology was flawed.
• Successfully defended multi-national pharmaceutical, technology, media and manufacturing corporations in income, sales and property tax disputes.
• Reversed a Department of Revenue denial and obtained a $1.5 million Brownfields tax credit for a real estate development client.
• Successfully appealed a $9 million innocent spouse tax assessment.
• Negotiated local property tax agreements and litigated reductions for owners of commercial, industrial, energy and hospitality properties.