Zuber & Taillieu

Jacob Lager chairs Zuber & Taillieu LLP’s tax department. His areas of focus include domestic tax, international taxation, and trust and estate matters. 

Mr. Lager is an experienced tax lawyer, seasoned in the structuring of business transactions as well as in advising clients on the tax implications of ongoing activities.  He regularly counsels clients on tax issues pertaining to corporate mergers, asset acquisitions, spin-offs, and debt exchanges; drafts tax information disclosures for proxy statements, public filings, and private offerings; advises clients regarding the inception and maintenance of special status entities, such as S corporations, disregarded limited liability companies, partnerships, REITS, and tax-exempt charitable organizations; and counsels corporate clients pertaining to stock option and other forms of deferred executive compensation.

Mr. Lager often advises as to tax implications of cross-border matters, drawing upon his familiarity with the international aspects of the Internal Revenue Code and his knowledge of the workings of international treaty networks and the tax treatment of various jurisdictions outside the United States.  He frequently advises international and domestic clients bringing their services and products to new jurisdictions.  Such advice often encompasses the US treatment of domestically-held foreign interests, including whether such interests might trigger Subpart F income and/or an entity’s Passive Foreign Investment Company status.  Mr. Lager counsels clients on Tax Treaty benefits and corresponding withholding obligations related to international loan agreements, royalty arrangements, and dividend payments.  Mr. Lager frequently assists Non-US clients in making tax-efficient investments in US corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships.

Mr. Lager provides estate planning services to high net-worth individuals. His practice involves handling basic and complex issues related to estate taxation, generation-skipping taxation, fiduciary income tax and post-mortem tax planning. Mr. Lager has experience settling basic and complex estates, both through probate proceedings and private trust administration. His special expertise in meeting his clients’ unique generational needs ranges from drafting living trusts to more involved GRATs, QPRTs, family limited partnerships and LLCs, ILITs, charitable trusts, and other manners of deferred giving.  Mr. Lager regularly advises foreign clients wishing to make cross-generational gifts to their US heirs.

Mr. Lager also has extensive experience in tax litigation, having advocated for clients at all levels of tax dispute resolution, from state and federal administrative hearings to the federal appellate level.

Prior to joining Zuber & Taillieu LLP, Mr. Lager practiced in the tax department of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.