Jon Skelton

Jon P. Skelton focuses his practice on providing exceptional legal services to clients in the areas of general tax, corporate/business, and wealth management. Individuals, corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, other business entities, and trusts and estates with interests in a broad range of industries draw on Jon’s more than 10 years of experience handling corporate and business matters, including business succession planning and tax planning.

He is especially skilled at finding long-term solutions designed to address the often complex individual, business and family goals involved with:

• Estate planning
• Estate and trust administration
• Charitable giving and planning

Furthermore, Jon represents a wide range of taxpayers in connection with audits and other controversies with federal, state and local taxing authorities, including the Internal Revenue (IRS) Service and Florida Department of Revenue.

Education:

• LL.M., Taxation, University of Florida Levin College of Law, 2008
• J.D., cum laude, University of Florida Levin College of Law, 2007
• B.A., cum laude, Business Administration, University of Florida, 2004

Bar and Court Admissions:

• Florida, 2008
• United States Tax Court, 2010

Representative Matters:

• Acting as counsel to a regional development company in all aspects of its business, including the negotiation of joint venture and other agreements between the client and its partners, as well as advising on tax structuring and business succession planning matters with respect to the business and its owners.
• Assisting in complex business and estate planning with respect to high net-worth clients, including the consolidation of business assets into family limited partnerships or other similar structures.
• Assisting a large athletic training facility in a sales tax audit with the Florida Department of Revenue, and successfully arguing the client’s position with the Department to avoid the imposition of significant sales taxes on the client.
• Acting as tax counsel for a large multinational client’s purchase of an offshore business enterprise, including conducting due diligence with respect to United States and international tax issues and negotiating complex tax provisions in the relevant purchase agreements.
• Representing a wide range of clients, both high net-worth and lower net-worth, in general estate planning and tax matters, including basic estate planning and more complex generational estate planning.

Professional and Community Affiliations:

• First Tee of Tampa Bay, Advisory Board
• John’s Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Committee Member, Estate, Tax, Legal and Financial Planning Seminar