LOCATION

3475 Piedmont Road NE
Suite 1640
Atlanta, GA 30305

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Stephen Klorfein
Of Counsel

Stephen Klorfein

Practice Areas

Stephen Klorfein
Of Counsel

Stephen Klorfein

  • Biography

    Stephen Klorfein has spent his career understanding and helping clients navigate tax matters. He takes pride in providing professional legal representation of his clients while taking a “common sense” approach to problems and issues that face the average business owner. He began his legal career practicing with the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was the Real Estate Tax Shelter Coordinator for the Southeastern United States.

    For the past 40 years, he has provided transactional business planning for corporations, nonprofits, charitable organizations, and individuals, and estate planning for both United States residents and non-residents.

    Steve represents individuals and businesses before the Internal Revenue Service, the Georgia Department of Revenue, and other state taxing authorities, including in civil and criminal investigations. He also assists clients with the Internal Revenue Service’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Compliance Initiative.

    In 2005, Steve developed the estate tax case of Namik v. Wachovia—the only Georgia Supreme Court case that deals with estate tax consequences of investments for non-resident aliens.

    He guides closely held companies and their owners in succession planning, as well as providing counsel in both taxable and nontaxable “capital events.”

    He is a current trustee and past president of the Atlanta Tax Forum, the oldest organization of tax professionals located in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chapter of the Exit Planning Institute, an international organization of professionals who assist business owners with exit strategies.

  • Credentials

    BAR ADMISSIONS
    • Bar Admissions
      • Georgia (1981)
      • Florida (1982)
      • Federal
        • United States Tax Court
      • Education
        • LL.M. in Tax, Emory University (1984)
        • J.D., University of Florida, with honors (1981)
        • B.A., Emory University (1978)
      • Professional Memberships
        • Atlanta Tax Forum
          • Member, Board of Trustee (2001 – Present)
          • Past President
        • Atlanta Bar Association
          • Past Member, Board of Directors, Tax Section
          • Past Chairperson, Liaison Committee with the Internal Revenue Service
        • American Bar Association
          • Past Contributing Author, Current Developments Section of the American Bar Association periodical, Real Property and Probate
        • State Bar of Georgia
          • Past Member, Tax Committee for Southeast Region
        • The Florida Bar
        • Georgia Chapter of the Exit Planning Institute
          • Past Member, Board of Directors
        • Friends of North Springs High School, Inc.
          • Past Member, Board of Trustees
        • The Seed Center of Atlanta
          • Past Member, Board of Trustees

  • Recognition

    • Top Estate Planning Attorney, Atlanta Metropolitan area, Atlanta Magazine
      • (2013 – present)
    • Georgia Super Lawyer
      • (2013 – present)

  • News & Insights

  • Representative Matters

    • Namik v Wachovia (see above) Handled settlement of an IRS case fraud case brought against a business owner in which the IRS was seeking a deficiency in excess of $5M. Case settled for $300,000.
    • Represented investors and partnership in several “conservation easement” cases brought by the IRS.
    • Lead counsel on the sale of Janus International Corporation to a private equity group for over $150M.
    • Represented the founders when Janus went public.

  • Publications

    • Various estate planning and tax seminars to attorneys and general public