Overview

Kenneth R. Cohen’s experience in Federal and State taxation enable him to provide an extra level of service to his clients which includes asset protection, tax controversy, business law, and estate planning and administration.

Clients appreciate Ken’s practical experience and sound business and tax advice.  He is a dealmaker who finds practical ways to structure transactions, ranging from like-kind exchanges, business purchases and sales, licensing agreements, and employment compensation arrangements.  Clients know that their legal matters will be handled with a high level of care and expertise, with a view to minimize potential tax liability. 

Ken is familiar with sophisticated estate planning techniques including various forms of trusts, limited liability companies, residency issues and gifting techniques which can significantly reduce estate taxes.  However, he understands that estate planning also involves personal and inter-family issues.  He listens to his clients’ unique objectives and concerns.

Ken has developed a reputation for successfully helping clients who have tax related problems. He has successfully litigated sales tax, income tax and estate tax matters in federal courts including the United States Tax Court and in the New Jersey Tax Court.  He also assists clients in negotiating a reduction in the taxes owed including offers in compromise.

He is recognized for his expertise in providing assets protection on behalf of his clients.  Clients seek Ken’s guidance for providing asset protection for all sorts of potential liabilities including business creditors, IRS and New Jersey Division of Tax, marital claims, and Medicaid.  He knows the best asset protection techniques to apply based on the client’s specific needs, including asset protection trusts, limited liability companies, and retitling of assets. 

Ken has hosted the annual Asset Protection Seminar on behalf of the NJ Institute of Continuing Legal Education since 2013. He also serves as a part-time faculty member in the Rutgers Law School where he teaches Federal Income Taxation. He previously taught federal income taxation as an adjunct professor at Rutgers Business School and in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Graduate School tax program.

Ken has been active in the Tax Section of the New Jersey State Bar Society. He served as Chairman of the Estate Tax Section and as Chairman of the Income Tax Section.  He was a member of the Special Task Force on Partnership Taxation to ensure that the New Jersey partnership statute was in compliance with Internal Revenue Regulations.

Ken graduated from Rutgers College with a bachelor's degree in economics. He received his law degree from Rutgers Law School and has a master’s degree in taxation from New York University Law School.

Experience

Experience

Income Tax Planning

  • Successfully implemented a charitable remainder trust for a high-net-worth client, allowing her to defer taxable income while diversifying her investment portfolio, previously concentrated in a single highly appreciated stock. This strategy also provided her with an immediate income tax deduction.
  • Leveraged Nevada's Asset Protection Law to help a client avoid over $300,000 in New Jersey income tax during the sale of his laundry business by utilizing a Nevada trust structure.
  • Designed an innovative plan that enabled a key employee to receive equity in the employer's company through a profits interest, creating a tax-efficient pathway for compensation without immediate tax implications for the employee.

Asset Protection

  • Created Asset Protection Plans to shield clients from potential creditors, such as those arising from business and malpractice claims. The plans involved establishing a Delaware or Nevada asset protection trust, forming a limited liability company to hold assets, setting up a qualified retirement plan, and retitling assets.

Tax Litigation and Collection

  • Successfully represented a client in the United States Tax Court who owed millions of dollars in taxes and prevented the IRS from levying on his personal residence.
  • Achieved a decision in the United States Tax Court that entirely abated an IRS tax deficiency worth hundreds of thousands of dollars by demonstrating that the IRS assessment was made beyond the statute of limitations.
  • Successfully represented a client in the New Jersey Tax Court, leading to the full abatement of New Jersey Sales Tax imposed by the Division of Taxation on materials used to manufacture brass-plated lamps.
  • Assisted a taxpayer with significant tax debt exceeding $1 million by establishing an installment payment plan, allowing the taxpayer to pay only $200 per month toward the liability.
  • Successfully represented a taxpayer in the United States Tax Court who suffered millions of dollars in losses from investing in residential real estate. The IRS argued that the taxpayer should classify the investment as a capital loss, which would only allow a deduction of up to $3,000 per year. Effectively argued instead, that the loss was a trade or business loss, making it fully deductible in the year incurred and allowing for tax loss carryovers. This ultimately resulted in significant tax refunds for the client.

Estate Planning

  • Developed an estate plan in which the client sold assets to an irrevocable grantor trust. This arrangement provided the client with a steady income throughout his lifetime while removing the assets sold to the trust from his taxable estate upon death. The plan used up only a small portion of the client’s applicable exemption for estate and gift tax purposes.
  • Created Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs) that allowed a couple to gift their home, valued at $2 million, while reporting the value of the gift for federal gift tax purposes at approximately $600,000.
  • Established Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs) for a husband and wife, funded with equity from a family business. This structure removed appreciating assets from the couple’s taxable estate while still allowing them to receive income from the business as beneficiaries of the trusts.

Business Transactions

  • Successfully represented a client in the multimillion-dollar sale of his insurance agency to a prominent equity firm.
  • Expertly structured a 1031 like-kind exchange for a partnership, ensuring one partner could defer gains from the sale of the partnership’s investment real estate while accommodating the other partner's desire to cash out.
  • Facilitated the sale of a client’s business as a tax-free merger. In this transaction, the client received a strategic combination of cash and equity in the acquiring company, with the equity being non-taxable to him.

News & Insights

Speaking Engagements & Events

Associations & Organizations

Professional Affiliations

  • Member of the Estate Planning Council of Northern New Jersey

Civic Involvement

  • Part-time Professor in the Rutgers Law School, teaching Federal Income Taxation

Awards and Honors

Awards and Honors

  • Listed in "Who's Who of American Attorneys" 
  • Recognized as a "Best Tax Lawyer" by US News and World Report, 2020-2023

Get to Know Ken

Get to Know Ken

Ken is an avid gardener.  When he is not in the office, you will find him in his vegetable garden. He also loves teaching. He gets special gratification teaching tax law to the next generation of practitioners.

Education

  • Rutgers College, Bachelor’s Degree
  • Rutgers University Law School, J.D., 1979
  • New York University School of Law, LLM-Tax, 1982

Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • US Tax Court
  • Third Circuit Court of Appeals
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