Mary B. “Handy” Hevener helps US and multinational enterprises minimize corporate payroll taxes and maximize benefits–related tax deductions. She focuses her practice on the tax treatment of employee and independent contractor benefits outside qualified retirement plans, including stock options and other stock-based compensation; executive income deferrals; golden
parachutes; and fringe benefits that range from health and life insurance, to employee loans, cars, planes, and prizes.

Handy also advises on executive benefits triggered by corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and spinoffs, including golden parachute issues and stock option deduction allocations. She counsels on the design of compensation and benefit programs, as well as employment and consultant contracts. She handles corporate and payroll tax audits at both the US federal and state levels, penalty abatements, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruling requests.

She also is a lead attorney in tax litigations of first impression, including the payroll taxation and deduction of employee meals; corporate aircraft deductions; stock option taxation; the FICA taxation of tipped employees’ compensation; and the tax treatment of payments (including termination and settlement payments) to former employees made outside qualified retirement
plans.

Handy is part of a group handling audits and appeals involving payroll tax, airline excise tax, and corporate deduction issues for companies in the healthcare, airline, and technology industries where the proposed taxes and penalties, in the aggregate, total more than $1 billion. These cases affect US and overseas employees receiving stock options, reimbursements for travel costs and
moving expenses, tax return preparation, and meals in company cafeterias.