Henry J. Birnkrant

Henry Birnkrant focuses his practice on transfer pricing matters and U.S. federal income taxation of domestic and cross-border business transactions. Henry advises multinationals on structuring cross-border transactions and operations to minimize the associated tax burden.

Examples include planning for acquisitions and dispositions of U.S. and foreign business operations; structuring the financing, development and ownership of intellectual property; and reorganizing cross-border business operations.

He also advises on all aspects of transfer pricing, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has invited him to participate in its Transfer Pricing Experts consultations.

Henry also represents taxpayers in disputes with the IRS, including in IRS examinations, appeals and competent authority proceedings. He has represented taxpayers in proceedings that resulted in the IRS withdrawing adjustments that were proposed for Tier 1 issues and withdrawing adjustments that would have resulted in substantial compliance penalties.

In addition, he has helped multinationals secure innovative APAs that satisfy both their business objectives and the requirements of the relevant tax authorities. Henry has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA and International Tax Review.

Bar Admissions :  District of Columbia

Education:

•  Columbia University (J.D., 1979)
•  New York University (LL.M., 1983)
•  University of Rochester (B.A., 1976)

Memberships:

• United States Council for International Business, Taxation Committee, Tax Treaty Subcommittee, chair
• Thomson West Tax Advisory Board
• Washington International Tax Study Group
• American College of Tax Counsel, Fellow

EXPERIENCE:

• Secured the first bilateral advance pricing agreement to cover all of the imports of a U.S. subsidiary of a major Japanese multinational; in addition to specifying the methodology for examining the pricing in the subsequent years, it resolved contentious disputes for six prior open years.
• Represented a U.S. multinational in securing unilateral advance pricing agreements that provided transfer pricing certainty for transactions with its Irish manufacturing subsidiary and European distribution subsidiaries.
• Represented a variety of multinationals based both inside and outside of the United States in securing bilateral advance pricing agreements for transaction flows between the U.S. taxpayer and its affiliates in other countries, including Japan, Germany, Mexico and Canada.
• Persuaded an IRS appeals officer to withdraw the entire $240 million adjustment that the IRS exam team proposed with respect to proprietary technology made available pursuant to the implementation of a cost-sharing agreement between United States and European affiliates.