Overview
Charles (Chuck) Moll focuses his practice on state and local tax (SALT), primarily concentrating on the resolution of tax controversies. He regularly appears before the various California tax authorities—including the State Board of Equalization, the California Franchise Tax Board, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and the Office of Tax Appeals—as well as local authorities such as assessors and assessment appeals boards. He has litigated at all levels of California’s courts, the US Tax Court, and the US Supreme Court.
Chuck’s practice includes tax matters in other states, as well as federal tax controversies, including representation of clients in federal courts and at appellate hearings before the Internal Revenue Service.
Results
- Appeared as counsel of record and prevailed in the US Supreme Court in Hunt-Wesson v. Franchise Tax Board, 528 US 458 (2000). The Supreme Court unanimously struck down California’s interest offset provision as being unconstitutional*
- Successfully represented taxpayer Genentech, Inc., Real Party in Interest in Church v. San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board, First District Ct. of Appeal, Case No. A155034 (2021). The Appeals Court reversed the trial court and rejected the use of financial records as constituting prima facie evidence of value for property tax purposes
- Successfully represented Abbott Labs in Littlejohn v. Costco Wholesale, et al., 25 Cal. App. 5th 251 (2018) against assertions of overcharging of sales tax reimbursement on product sales*
- Represented the taxpayer in City of Modesto v. National Med, Inc., et al., 128 Cal. App. 4th 518 (2005). The Court struck down the City’s unapportioned business license tax ordinance as unconstitutional, and refused to allow retroactive taxation*
- Successfully represented the taxpayer in Crocker Nat’l Bank v. San Francisco, 49 Cal.3d 881 (1990), a seminal property tax case in the California Supreme Court*
- Prevailed against the California Franchise Tax Board in a business/nonbusiness income case before the State Board of Equalization, resulting in a rare published decision in Appeal of Consolidated Freightways, 2000 Cal. Tax LEXIS 402*
*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott
Recognitions
- Chambers USA, Tax: State & Local, Band 1, 2010–2024
- Best Lawyers in America, Tax Law, San Francisco, 2013–2025
- Best Lawyers in America, “Lawyer of the Year” in Tax Law, San Francisco, 2021, 2023
- Legal 500 US, Tax, 2019–2024
- California Lawyers Association 2016, Benjamin F. Miller Award
- Super Lawyers, Northern California Super Lawyer, 2004–2022
Community
- American College of Tax Counsel, Fellow
- ABA Tax Section’s State and Local Tax Committee, Executive Committee member
- National Association of Property Tax Attorneys, Board of Directors
- California Taxpayers Association, Board of Directors
- National Association of State Bar Tax Sections, Board of Directors
- ABA/IPT Advanced Tax Seminar Chair
- ABA Property Tax Deskbook, Regional Editor
- Tax Counsel Network
- Tax Section of the California Bar, 2003 – 2004, Chair
- Environmental Taxes Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, Founder
- US Naval Academy Parents Club of Northern California, 2014 – 2015, President
