Overview

Elizabeth "Liz" Young is a transactional tax attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Young focuses her practice on a variety of state and federal tax matters, particularly related to real estate industry clients.

Ms. Young has a significant background in handling complex tax structuring, planning and compliance for institutional investors, joint ventures, developers, lenders and private equity groups. She is connected to those who draft the tax laws and regulations that affect pass-through entities and tax-exempt organizations, and she also has in-depth knowledge of matters related to family-owned business structuring, tax controversy and business planning, including real estate transactions.

Tax Credit Finance and Syndication. Ms. Young works with clients to structure and syndicate complex community development transactions involving the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), historic rehabilitation tax credits (HTC), low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), renewable energy (solar) tax credits and similar state programs. Ms. Young has extensive experience structuring these transactions for investors and sponsors in an ever-changing legal landscape. These tax credits are leveraged to rehabilitate and preserve historic structures, expand the availability of affordable housing, install vital businesses such as healthcare facilities and schools in underserved communities, as well as develop renewable energy projects such as solar facilities. Ms. Young also analyzes financial models, issues tax opinion letters and crafts letter ruling requests that are necessary to close transactions.

LIHTC Transactions. Ms. Young has extensive experience counseling syndicators and investors in connection with the acquisition and disposition of affordable housing portfolios. She has advised several major syndicators and equity investors in connection with transactions that couple LIHTC with other community development tax incentives, including secondary market transactions.

Tax-Exempt Organizations. Ms. Young guides tax-exempt organizations with the formation process and helps them to obtain and maintain tax-exempt status. She also handles Form 990 reporting and disclosures, advises on sound governance policies, unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) issues, for-profit/tax-exempt entity structuring and compliance with regulations governing lobbying and political activities.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Young was an attorney at a global law firm in its Washington, D.C., office.

Credentials

Education
  • Boston University School of Law, LL.M.
  • Suffolk University Law School, J.D., cum laude
  • University of Richmond, B.A., magna cum laude
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • District of Columbia
  • Massachusetts
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Memberships
  • District of Columbia Bar, Taxation Community, Steering Committee, 2020-Present; Chair, 2020-2021; Passthroughs and Real Estate Committee, Chair, 2013-2017
  • American Bar Association, Section of Taxation
  • New Markets Tax Credit Coalition
  • Historic Tax Credit Coalition
Honors & Awards
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Tax Law, 2020-2025
  • Phi Beta Kappa