Michael James Baker

Personal Introduction

Mike Baker advises clients with respect to domestic tax matters and employee benefits and compensation. His clients include emerging companies, venture capital and private equity funds, and highly-compensated individuals. Mike frequently advises regarding choice of entity, conversion between entity types, tax-free reorganizations and taxable exit transactions. Additional areas of expertise include qualified small business stock, equity compensation, tax code Section 83(b) elections, phantom equity, deferred compensation, and tax code Sections 280G and 409A. Mike has represented clients in over 400 M&A transactions, including transactions with consideration in excess of a billion dollars. Mike also advises executives with respect to the negotiation of their employment agreements, equity compensation, and separation packages. Mike taught individual income and corporate tax at Utah Valley University from 2015-2016 and employee benefits and compensation law at the University of Colorado Law School from 2013-2014. Prior to founding Baker Tax Law, LLC, Mike spent a decade as a tax attorney in the Broomfield, Colorado office of Cooley LLP, and as a compensation and benefits attorney in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. Mike has also interned for the Internal Revenue Service, where he worked as an auditor in the small business and self-employed division.