602.277.2010
602.277.2010
Doug John
Doug John

Senior Partner

    Overview

    Doug John’s law practice focuses on tax controversy and state and local taxation, with an emphasis on property tax counseling and litigation.

    A senior partner in the firm and a Best Lawyers® honoree, Doug works with individuals and companies to navigate Arizona’s and Nevada’s complex state and local tax systems in order to minimize their income tax, sales and use tax, and property tax liability.

    In 2020, Doug was named a representative for the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys (NAPTA). NAPTA members are selectively chosen professional tax members who have been recognized as among the best in their jurisdictions, offering effective property tax representation on a local, state, and national level throughout the U.S. and Canada.

    Over the past six years, Doug has reduced his clients’ property tax values by over $2 billion, through a sound knowledge of property tax law, valuation theory and tax assessment practices.

    Doug represents clients in all phases of state and local tax litigation, from administrative appeals to court litigation, as well as in appellate matters. He also advises clients on a wide range of state and local tax matters, including multistate income tax issues, nexus issues, and sales and use tax issues.

    In the area of property tax, in addition to valuation appeals, Doug represents clients regarding exemptions, tax abatements, tax credits, real property transfer tax, and the real estate tax implications of acquisitions, mergers, development and dispositions, as well as assisting companies with property tax projections.

    His state and local clients include individuals and small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. In property tax matters, his clients represent nearly every segment of the real estate market, including apartments, casinos, department stores, electric cooperatives, golf courses, hotels, industrial warehouses, LIHTC housing, malls, master-planned residential communities, mining operations, office buildings, pipelines, possessory interests, residential developments, senior care/assisted living facilities, and shopping centers.

    Practice Areas

    Honors & Awards

    • The Best Lawyers in America®: Tax Litigation and Controversy, 2018-present

    Bar & Court Admissions

    • Arizona, 2001
    • Minnesota, 2003
    • Nevada, 2003
    • New Mexico, 2017
    • U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, 2001
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2003
    • U.S. Tax Court, 2015
    • U.S. District Court, District of Nevada, 2016

    Education

    • J.D., University of Arizona 2001
    • M.A., Economics, University of Arizona, 1997
    • B.A., University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 1986

    Professional Memberships

    • State Bar of Arizona
    • State Bar of Nevada
    • State Bar of New Mexico
    • Minnesota State Bar Association (inactive)
    • National Association of Property Tax Attorneys
    • Appraisal Institute: Affiliate Member
    • Institute for Professionals in Taxation®
    • Arizona Representative for the National Property Tax Group (NPTG), 2024

    Articles & Presentations

    Presentations

    • “A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity to Reduce a Property’s Taxes,” Arizona Society of CPAs, September 2023
    • “Advanced Arizona Property Tax,” State Bar of Arizona, December 2021
    • “Property Tax in Arizona,” Lorman Education Services, March 2013
    • “How Low Will It GoRepresentative Matters? Strategies for Reducing Property Tax Liability in Distressed Commercial Real Estate Markets,” American Property Tax Counsel (APTC), October 2011

    Articles

    Representative Matters

    In recent years, Doug has represented:

    • The owner of one of the largest solar power facilities in the United States before the Arizona Tax Court and Arizona Court of Appeals successfully overturning the Arizona Department of Revenue’s interpretation of the renewable energy valuation statute resulting in a $335 million reduction in value.
    • A tribal-member-owned Yakama corporation in striking down the Arizona Department of Transportation’s multi-million-dollar fuel tax assessments
    • The owner of the third-largest concentrated solar power tower facility in the world in its appeal before the Nevada State Board of Equalization, achieving a more than $300 million reduction in taxable value
    • An owner of a Phoenix-area LIHTC apartment development in a successful Arizona Court of Appeals challenge to Maricopa County’s method used to value LIHTC housing
    • The owner of the Summerlin Master Planned Community, achieving a $950 million reduction in tax assessments
    • A developer before the Nevada Supreme Court in the leading case on Nevada’s partial abatement property tax law
    • Multiple owners of LIHTC properties in error correction litigation that resulted in over $1 million of property tax refunds
    • A manufacturer of body armor products against a multimillion-dollar sales and use tax assessment that resulted a 97% reduction of the assessment
    • A consortium of power companies in litigation, reducing the taxable value of a decommissioned power plant by $90 million
    • An auto auction company in tax court litigation that resulted in a 95% reduction of a multimillion-dollar sales tax assessment
    • A consortium of national homebuilders in litigation of the Park Highlands development in North Las Vegas that resulted in a $95 million reduction in taxable value
    • Car rental companies at the McCarran Consolidated Car Rental Center in Las Vegas in litigation concerning the assessment of a possessory interest tax, which resulted in over $1.5 million in refunds and a permanent elimination of the possessory interest.

    Professional Activities

    • Task Force of the Arizona Tax Court Rules of Practice, Member, 2024
    • Arizona State Board of Equalization, Member and Administrative Law Judge, 2007-2017
    • University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law, 2002-2007

    Publications

    • Guide to Multijurisdictional Admission to Practice Requirement for State and Local Tax Lawyers (chapter author, Nevada and New Mexico), 2021-22, American Bar Association
    • Arizona Legal Forms: Arizona Commercial Transactions Forms, Vols. 5, 6, & 6A (Thompson Reuters 2004 – 2024)
    • “Nevada Sales and Use Taxes” (co-author), Sales and Use Tax Desk Book, 2005-2006 to 2011-2012 (D.M. Young & G Barton eds., American Bar Association)

    Appeals

    • Agua Caliente Solar, LLC v. Arizona Dep’t of Revenue, 2024 WL 2149990 (Ariz. App. May 14, 2024)
    • RockAuto, LLC v. Arizona Dep’t of Revenue, 2024 WL 1403063 (Ariz. App. Apr. 2, 2024)
    • Maricopa Cty. v. Viola, 251 Ariz. 276, 490 P.3d 385 (Ariz. App. 2021), as amended (May 20, 2021), review denied (Dec. 7, 2021)
    • SWAT Training Facilities LLC v. Arizona Dep’t of Revenue, 251 Ariz. 269, 490 P.3d 378 (Ariz. App. 2021), review denied (Apr. 5, 2022)
    • Sky Ranch Operations, LLC v. Yavapai County, 2020 WL 2393785 (Ariz. App. 2020)
    • Loma Mariposa, L.P. v. Santa Cruz County, 2017 WL 6613342 (Ariz. App. 2017)
    • Loma Mariposa II, L.P. v. Santa Cruz County, 2016 WL 6871421 (Ariz. App. 2016)
    • Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative v. Arizona Dep’t of Rev., 2015 WL 773335 (Ariz. App. 2015)
    • County of Clark v. LB Properties, Inc., 315 P.3d 294, 129 Nev. 909 (2013)
    • Excell Agent Services, LLC v. Arizona Dep’t of Rev., 221 Ariz. 56, 209 P.3d 1052 (Ariz. App. 2008)
    • Ledvina v. Cerasani, 213 Ariz. 569, 146 P.3d 70 (Ariz. App. 2006)

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