Benjamin Anthony Blair

Ben Blair is an associate in the Faegre Baker Daniels tax group, where he concentrates his practice on multistate tax litigation and planning. Ben represents clients in all stages of tax controversy — from audit through administrative appeals and the state courts — and has been involved in the drafting and passage of several pieces of tax legislation.

Ben counsels clients in a wide range of industries, including gaming, energy and resources, high-tech and heavy manufacturing, real estate, logistics, and retail. Some of his recent representative matters include:

• Representing a global financial institution in its appeals of property tax assessments on its portfolio of data centers, office buildings and bank branches
• Advising a technology firm on the sales tax implications of providing cloud-based data analytics services and products to customers across the country
• Representing a multistate employer in its appeals of unemployment tax liability resulting from its purchase of assets in a § 363 bankruptcy sale
• Representing a multinational corporation in its appeals related to the allocation and apportionment of income received from the disposition of a business line and several large assets

During law school, Ben worked for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the state agency charged with enforcing the unemployment tax system. He also clerked for the Honorable K. Mark Loyd of the Johnson County Circuit Court. While pursuing his bachelor's degree in Financial Information Systems, Ben spent two years working in finance for a division of Emerson Electric Co.

A frequent speaker and author on state and local tax issues, Ben is a regular contributor to the TaxHatchet blog and serves as a regional co-editor of the American Bar Association's Property Tax Deskbook. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Tax Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association and has volunteered in the Indianapolis Bar Association's Ask A Lawyer program, the Marion County Pro Bono Property Tax Clinic and the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.