Overview
Cindy is head of the firm's business and tax team and represents both for profit and nonprofit clients in all types of general corporate transactional matters including entity formations, corporate governance, compensation structuring, and mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Arellano’s practice areas include employee benefits and executive compensation, qualified and non-qualified deferred compensation plans, health and welfare benefit plans, ERISA, tax audits and other tax controversy matters, and MBE/WBE/DBE certification. She also works with nonprofits, including educational foundations, auxiliary organizations, charitable organizations, and trade associations.
Ms. Arellano regularly assists clients with drafting and reviewing executive and deferred compensation plans and agreements and advises both public and private sector clients on a variety of issues relating to 401(k), 403(b), 457 and other deferred compensation/retirement plans. She also assists clients with controlled group issues and with correcting qualified plan errors through IRS and DOL compliance programs. In addition, Ms. Arellano has considerable experience counseling clients with respect to their health and welfare benefit plans, Section 125 cafeteria plans, GASB 43 and 45 plans, voluntary disability plans, fringe benefit arrangements, and COBRA issues arising in mergers, acquisitions and/or restructuring of businesses.
Ms. Arellano has represented numerous clients in the trucking, construction, entertainment, and other industries in connection with tax audits and controversies with the Employment Development Department (EDD), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and State Board of Equalization (SBE). Audits and tax controversies handled by Ms. Arellano have covered a multitude of issues including worker misclassification, sales, income and employment tax disputes and trust fund recovery penalty assessments. Ms. Arellano has successfully appealed many tax assessments, and has negotiated many favorable alternate payment arrangements and settlements of disputed tax liabilities on behalf of clients who are in collections, under audit or, who have a pending appeal of an assessment by the IRS, EDD, SBE and/or FTB.