Kathleen Nilles joins Holland & Knight as tax partner

Ms. Nilles will focus her practice on the unique federal and state tax issues faced by non-profit and governmental entities. Over the course of her career, she has advised clients on appropriate structures for business and economic development activities, alternative risk financing vehicles, the tax-efficient design of governmental programs, and compliance with federal reporting and tax withholding requirements. Her client base includes tax-exempt hospitals and health care organizations, charitable foundations, trade and professional associations, insurance entities and tribal governments from around the country.

“Ms. Nilles is a fine lawyer whose in-depth experience handling tax issues and IRS audits for governmental and non-profit organizations will be a valuable resource to our clients,” said Jerome Levine, head of the firm’s Indian Law group and Executive Partner of the Los Angeles office.

Ms. Nilles also helps clients navigate the halls of Congress when they are seeking or opposing statutory tax law changes. In the legislative arena, she has worked to obtain federal excise tax relief for medical inhalers, clarification of the federal unemployment tax treatment of tribal employers, and provision of a specific tax exemption for charitable risk pools. In addition, she assisted tribal governments in their successful defense against the imposition of a UBIT-style tax on tribal their economic development activities. She is currently involved with efforts to clarify the tax treatment of certain government pension plans, to reform the standards for tax-exempt hospitals and other charitable organizations and to provide a federal framework for simplified state sales tax collection.
“Kathleen will be an asset to all our clients. Her expertise in federal legislative tax issues for governmental, non profit and for-profits clients is unmatched,” said Gerry Sikorski, former Member of Congress and head of the Government Section.

Ms. Nilles received her J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1985, her L.L.M. (Tax), with distinction, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1992, her M.A. in Religion, Tew Prize, from the Yale Divinity School in 1976 and her B.A. magna cum laude from Santa Clara University in 1973. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court.

She has authored and co-authored numerous publications, including Tax Exempt Status of Health Care Organizations (BNA Health Law and Business Portfolio: 1996), Giving with Honor: A Legal Reference on the Charitable Activities of American Indian Tribes (Council on Foundations: 1998), “Tribal Bonds Under Scrutiny” in American Indian Report (December 2002), and the chapters on offshore captives and the foreign insurers excise tax in Alternative Risk Financing Options for Health Care Organizations (American Health Lawyers Association: 2005).