Contacts

Craig Zaim

Business Tax Partner

“I like to sit down with my client and ask questions to understand their goals and business priorities, without bringing in my own preconceived ideas. Once I understand my client, I can develop a personalized plan that best suits their objectives. At all times, my goal is to be a trusted adviser to my clients.”

Craig is a business tax planning adviser focusing on cross-border structuring and M&A.  Prior to joining Frank, Rimerman, Craig was the global tax planning lead for a large US multinational firm.  He has expertise in all areas of US international business taxation, including anti-deferral rules (e.g., Subpart F and GILTI), foreign tax credits, expense allocation, new anti-hybrid rules, transfer pricing, permanent establishment issues, and treaty benefits. He also has an extensive background in M&A structuring, including structuring alternative dispositions and joint ventures to optimize tax effects. Likewise, Craig worked to advise US-based investment funds in structuring non-US investments to maximize tax efficiency based on the individual profile of the fund and portfolio company. In addition, he has substantial experience planning inbound investment to the US by both corporations and investment funds.

Craig has a broad background in domestic corporate and partnership tax planning. He has worked to preserve tax attributes such as loss carry-forwards through acquisitions, and has worked with alternative public market structures such as the UP-C. Craig has also used derivative instruments such as tax receivable agreements to help structure deals that more accurately allocate business value among the parties. He has significant experience working with tax-advantaged corporate forms such as REITs and RICs, and his experiences across a wide variety of industries enables him to bring new ideas to a given industry or geography.

  • J.D. University of California, Berkeley School of Law
  • LL.M Northwestern University
  • Member of the Bar in the states of California and Illinois