Former Head of Tax at Baxter International, Heléna Klumpp, joins Ivins, Phillips & Barker

Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Chartered has announced that Heléna Klumpp has joined the firm as a partner in its Washington D.C. office. Ms. Klumpp, who brings to the firm over 20 years of broad-based tax experience, joins the firm’s Corporate Tax and Federal Tax Policy groups.

“Helena brings to Ivins a wealth of technical knowledge and practical experience in cross-border transactions, spin-offs and other complicated corporate tax situations, as well as leadership skills necessary to help the firm efficiently move projects along successfully and achieve the results our clients have come to value,” said Ivins partner Jeffrey Moeller. “Helena’s extensive experience as a successful corporate tax executive adds an important practical dimension to the Ivins advisory team,” added Ivins attorney Hank Gutman.

Prior to joining Ivins, Ms. Klumpp was vice president and head of tax for Baxter International, a U.S.-based medical device and services company with operations in over 70 countries. While at Baxter, Ms. Klumpp co-led the internal team responsible for the tax structuring and functional division of resources related to the 2015 spin-off of Baxter’s bioscience division, Baxalta Inc. (subsequently acquired by Shire PLC). She worked extensively on the post-acquisition integration of Gambro AB, a $4B Sweden-based dialysis company, and advised on numerous repatriation planning, supply chain, and business development initiatives throughout her tenure with the company. Initially serving as tax counsel to Baxter, Ms. Klumpp was for eight years primarily responsible for managing the company’s relationship with the IRS, and she was heavily involved in crafting the company’s positions and strategy on tax legislative issues and liaising with aligned industry groups.

Ms. Klumpp, a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, spent the first eight years of her career as a tax and project finance attorney in the Washington D.C. office of Chadbourne & Parke, where she advised clients in the energy industry on cross-border transactions and in obtaining governmental rulings on tax credit structures. An avid writer, Ms. Klumpp has also served in senior editorial roles with leading tax publishers Bloomberg BNA and Tax Analysts, where she was editor of the company’s flagship publication, Tax Notes.

Ms. Klumpp attended Illinois Wesleyan University on a full-tuition talent scholarship for her work as a violinist, graduating in 1993 with a B.A., magna cum laude, in music and political science.