Founding Partner

Location: Needham, Massachusetts
Phone: 781-239-8900
Fax: 781-658-2203
E-mail: erothenberg@oarlawyers.com

Eric P. Rothenberg concentrates his practice mostly on the practice of tax law including, partnerships, tax free exchanges, bitcoin/crypto currency taxes and strategies, sales of businesses, individual tax planning, estate and gift tax planning and tax return preparation. He also represents clients before all levels of the Internal Revenue Service, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the U.S. Tax Court and the Appellate Tax Board. He counsels clients for corporate tax planning, professional corporations and fringe benefits. He defends Domicile Audits in Massachusetts. He also does work in business related fields such as preparation of wills and trusts, partnership and corporate agreements and formations, limited liability companies, LLP’s and real estate transactions and syndications. He recently has represented many clients on cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, and how to properly report such transactions to the IRS and proper tax planning for such trading.

Mr. Rothenberg was the author of the WG&L TAX PLANNER, a system of tax planning computer software, published by Warren, Gorham and Lamont, Boston, Massachusetts, which was sold nationally to lawyers, accountants and financial planners. One software package computed estate and gift taxes and the other computed income taxes. In addition, he is the author of several articles which have appeared in such professional journals as Taxation for Lawyers, Taxation for Accountants, National Tax Shelter Digest, Taxes, Mass CPA Journal, Digest of Federal Taxes. Mr. Rothenberg has lectured on various tax subjects before professional continuing education courses. In addition, he has served as an expert witness in U. S. District Court and Massachusetts Superior Court.

Mr. Rothenberg received his A.B. from Cornell University in 1973, his J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1976 and his M.B.A. from Boston University Graduate School of Management in 1976 (High Honors). Mr. Rothenberg was on the Board of Directors, Blackstone Bank and Trust, Boston, Massachusetts from 1987-1991. He was a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for many years and has earned an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating issued for attorneys. He has been admitted to the bars of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia and may practice before the United States Tax Court. Mr. Rothenberg has been named one of Massachusetts’s “Massachusetts Super Lawyers” for 20 consecutive years (every year since the award’s inception in 2004), and as a “Top Attorney in Tax Law in 2009” by the publishers of Law & Politics and the publishers of Boston Magazine.

Mr. Rothenberg’s virtual and cryptocurrency practice has him representing miners, stakers, newly created cryptocurrency, FBAR reporting requirements, audits of unreported currency transactions, day trading currencies, taxation of air drops, reflections, hard & soft forks, and the most current thinking by the IRS, the Department of the Treasury and FinCEN.

Attorney Rothenberg was selected in 2012 as one of Boston’s Top Rated Lawyers, based on his AV® Preeminent^TM rating, the very first year of such pronouncements.

Areas of Practice

• Tax Law
• Partnerships
• Tax Free Exchanges
• Sales of Businesses
• Individual & Estate Tax Planning
• Tax Return Preparation
• Bitcoin/Crypto Currency Taxes & Strategies
• Real Estate/Business Start Ups

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts, 1977
• District of Columbia, 1990
• U.S. Tax Court

Education

• Boston University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts
  • J.D. – 1976
• Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
  • M.B.A. (Cum Laude) – 1976
  • Honors: With High Honors
• Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
  • A.B. – 1973

Published Works

• Cryptocurrency Case Law: What Accountants Need To Know, MSCPA, November 2023
• Understanding the IRS Cryptocurrency Updates, MSCPA, January 2020
• Accounting Methods for Cryptocurrency Trades and Sales, MSCPA, March 2019
• Ohio Jumps Into World of Cryptocurrency, Bankers & Tradesman, 2018
• Cryptocurrency [Bitcoin] and the IRS, Massachusetts Society of CPAs, 2018
• The Strange Case of The Missing State Sales Tax Return, Massachusetts Society of CPAs, 2018
• WG&L Income, Estate and Gift Tax Planner, Warren, Gorham and Lamont, Boston, Massachusetts, 1979-1985, 1979
• Effects of the 1982 Tax Law, National Tax Shelter Digest, Volume 5, No. 1, 1983
• Little Known Aspects of the New Tax Law, National Tax Shelter Digest, Volume 4, No. 2, 1982
• Casualty Losses from Storm Damage, 57 Taxes 148, 1979
• Who Should Prepare Your Tax Return?, New England Real Estate Journal, 1996
• To have and to hold ’til debt do us part, Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine
• Don’t wait to take advantage of federal tax cuts Family Finances, Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine
• Casualty Damage from Storm Damage
• State Death Taxes Can “Create” Federal Tax Even With Use of Unlimited Marital Deduction, 10 Taxation for Lawyers No. 6, 346, 1982

Expert Witness

• City Partnerships Co. v. Atlantic Acquisition Limited Partnership, et al (U.S. District Court)
• Nobile v Ring, Trustee Middlesex Superior Court CA 2013-4679

Classes/Seminars – Featured and Keynote Speaker

• Computers in a Tax Practice, Mass, Bar Annual Meeting, 1983 – 1984
• Real Estate Securities & Syndications, Northwest Center for Professional Education, July 19, 1984 – July 20, 1984
• Advanced Tax Planning for Real Estate Syndications, Northwest Center for Professional Education, September 10, 1985 – September 11, 1985
• Real Estate Investment Analysis, Northwest Center for Professional Education, June 3, 1986 – June 4, 1986
• Taxation of Real Estate, Northwest Center for Professional Education, September 8, 1988 – September 9, 1988
• Estate Planning with Partnerships, Mass, Continuing Legal Education, Inc., October 3, 1981
• Massachusetts Sales and Use Tax Update, National Business Institute, December 14, 1993
• Massachusetts Sales and Use Tax for Manufacturers, National Business Institute, July 21, 1994
• Massachusetts Sales and Use Tax, National Business Institute, December 16, 1994
• Massachusetts Sales and Use Tax for Manufacturers, National Business Institute, June 4, 1996
• Business Lawyer’s Guide to Corporate Tax, Mass, Continuing Legal Education,Inc., January 24, 1997
• Business Lawyer’s Practice Guide to Corporate Tax, Mass, Continuing Legal Education, Inc., January 14, 1998
• §1031 Exchanges of Investment Properties in Massachusetts, National Business Institute, October 2, 1998
• Using Buy/Sell Agreements in Closely Held Businesses, Mass, Continuing Legal Education, May 25, 1999
• How to Organize and Counsel A Small Business, Massachusetts, Continuing Legal Education, March 20, 2000
• §1031 Exchanges of Investment Properties in Massachusetts, National Business Institute, October 4, 2000
• Post-Death Administration of Trusts and Estates in Massachusetts, Lorman Education Services, December 11, 2003
• Taxation of Cryptocurrency. 57th Annual Tax Institute, November 14, 2018
• Tax Aspects of Cryptocurrencies, Boston Tax Institute, September 22, 2020
• Tax Aspects of Cryptocurrencies, Boston Tax Institute, January 7, 2021
• Tax Aspects of Cryptocurrencies, Boston Tax Institute, June 21, 2021
• Tax Aspects of Cryptocurrencies, Boston Tax Institute, January 12, 2022
• Cryptocurrency Taxation presented to the Rhode Island Association of Public Accountants (RIAPA) on June 14th, 2022

Media, Honors, and Awards

• Named, “Massachusetts Super Lawyers”, Publishers of Law & Politics, 2004 – 2024 (every year since the award’s inception)
• Named, “Go To Lawyer”, Tax Law, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2022
• AV Rating by Martindale-Hubbell Law & Peer Review Preeminent
• “Top Attorney in Tax Law in 2009” by the Publishers of Law & Politic and the publishers of Boston Magazine, 2009

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Blackstone Bank and Trust, Boston, Massachusetts, Board of Directors, 1987 – 1991
• Massachusetts Bar Association, Chairman, Taxation Section, 1984 – 1985
• American Bar Association, Member
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Member
• Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, Member
• Massachusetts Bar Association, Taxation Section Council, Chairman, 1985
• Massachusetts Bar Association, Chairman, Partnership and Tax Shelter Committee
• Massachusetts Society of CPA’s, Member
• American Bar Association, Taxation Section, Member
• 21st Century Club of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Member