Experience at Work
Laura Al-Shathir counsels clients ranging from individuals and small business owners to multi-national corporations, limited liability companies, S corporations and non-profits. She provides tax and business planning advice in various corporate transactions, including selection and formation of business entities, acquisitions, expansions, employee benefits and executive compensation, redemptions of ownership interests, and dissolutions and terminations of businesses. She also serves as special tax counsel to corporate tax clients in IRS exams.
Laura has an extensive background in international tax and frequently advises and represents clients in resolving issues relating to tax and reporting non-compliance with respect to foreign source income and assets, such as by making an offshore voluntary disclosure to the IRS.
Furthermore, generally in her tax controversy practice, Laura represents clients’ interests in resolving disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and the Missouri Department of Revenue, whether guiding them through an income tax audit or representing them in an IRS appeal or tax litigation.
She also negotiates and implements mergers and acquisitions, real estate deals, including Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 transactions, and executive compensation plans, providing a particular emphasis on relevant tax considerations and requirements, such as Internal Revenue Code Section 409A.
Laura has experience assisting companies with understanding and planning for changes in health care legislation and advising employers with respect to various employee benefit and executive compensation issues.
Laura is a frequent speaker at national American Bar Association Tax Section conferences, speaking on the topic of S Corporations, and she is a co-columnist in the Tax Controversy Corner of the Journal of Passthrough Entities.
In the Community
Laura is devoted to a variety of non-profit and pro bono work, including forming and providing legal advice to non-profit corporations and helping organizations obtain and maintain their tax-exempt status.
She serves pro bono clients through St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts and Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Laura is a member of the Board of Directors of Girls in the Know as well as Downtown Children’s Center, where she serves as chair of the Scholarship Committee. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Missouri–Columbia Tax Law Society. She is the past-chair of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) Tax Section, and she is the current chair of the BAMSL Audit Committee.
Laura is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, teaching Basic Business Principles for Lawyers.