Tax lawyer Lynn A. Gandhi, a 1986 alumna of Wayne State University Law School, first was drawn to her field of expertise by the sophisticated analysis it required.
And today, nearly 30 years later, she continues to find tax law a fascinating domain.
“I learn something new each month, and what constitutes practice in the subject is never repetitive,” said Gandhi, a West Bloomfield resident who holds a master of laws degree in taxation from New York University School of Law and is a partner at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP. “The most interesting aspect is applying the law to the ever-changing world of business transactions. Our statutes do not keep up with today’s economies and offerings.
“For example, in the area of sales tax, the laws were last revised in the 1970s when we were still a manufacturing economy and service businesses were just on the rise. Now, most products are digitalized and offered in the Internet marketplace. Applying the statutes is challenging. Where do you source the sale of a service when the buyer is in one jurisdiction, the seller in another, servers in yet another and the ‘product’ is really the use of information accessed via the web? How do you determine what jurisdiction is entitled to tax that sale? How does this impact your client’s global business?”
She teaches Multistate Taxation in the Digital Age at Wayne Law as an adjunct professor and has been honored many times by her peers for her exemplary practice. She was named as one of the “best in the profession” in 2014 by State Tax Notes and has been listed as a top tax lawyer by Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers and DBusiness.
Gandhi, who advises clients nationwide, also is a registered lobbyist in Michigan who is engaged in initiatives to enact tax legislation.
“Tax is the vector of public policy, public finance and building our state and nation with an eye toward the future,” she said. “What we tax and how we tax is an issue of public policy and changes from decade to decade. What I believe is most important is to strive to be a fair, efficient and transparent system. Most of my lobbying efforts have been to simplify the system, make it more efficient and to ensure that taxes are levied aligned to our constitutional parameters.
“For example, I was involved in legislation that requires the Department of Treasury to provide taxpayers with information regarding their audit findings, creation of an offer-in-compromise program at the state level and the creation of an appeals process for unclaimed property issues.”
Gandhi, a certified public accountant, has many professional affiliations. She serves as an officer of the State Bar of Michigan Section of Taxation, on the State and Local Tax Committee for the American Bar Association and is a past president of the Michigan Women’s Tax Association. She also has served as a volunteer attorney for Community Legal Resources.
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