Michael J. Wenig

Mike Wenig, a licensed CPA, brings more than three decades of legal experience to the table. He focuses his practice in corporate, limited liability company, and partnership law, business acquisitions and sales, affordable housing development, and state and federal tax planning and representation. He has extensive experience representing individual and corporate taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service, state revenue departments, and in various courts.

Mike acts as more than an attorney for his clients, but also as a counselor at law.  He not only advises his clients about what a contract says or what a statute provides, but also counsels them on their rights and options and provides creative ways to resolve problems and address opportunities.  His clients appreciate his ability to communicate complex issues in an understandable and concise manner, and he finds the challenge of asking “why” and “what if” to come up with innovative resolutions to these issues rewarding.

He remains active in the Tax Section of the North Carolina State Bar and, as a prior Chair, continues to be an active and engaged member of the Tax Council.  In addition, he is on the Tax Committee for the NCACPA, serves as the liaison to the IRS for the Association, and is a member of a small group that focuses on legislative issues.

A frequent speaker, Mike has twice received the best annual speaker awards from the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants for presenting tax issues at NCACPA programs. He has also authored materials and presented seminars on numerous business and tax topics, including choice of entity, multi-state business operations, limited liability and partnership taxation, family limited partnerships, Subchapter S corporation taxation, and state sales and use tax.

Recent Representative Matters

• Resolved a complex state tax matter by engaging an informal mediation with the state agency as opposed to spending thousands of hours and dollars in protracted litigation.
• Successfully, through a series of steps which culminated in a merger, helped a wholesaler accomplish a goal of acquiring new franchise territory despite reluctance by the franchise to approve the transaction.
• Assisted a wholesaler in acquiring business interests in several states, over a couple of years, as part of a roll-up strategy to enhance the value of not only his business but those of each of the parties that participated in the transaction.
• Assisted an elderly client living in Hong Kong with the release of funds frozen by a Swiss bank, negotiated tax and financial disclosures with in-house and outside corporate counsel for the Swiss bank and its U.S. subsidiary under U.S. and Swiss law, resulting in the release of her Swiss and Hong Kong-based accounts back to her so she could enjoy the use of her funds for the short period of time prior to her death.

Outside of the Office

When Mike is not in the office or visiting a client, he can likely be found promoting STEM education in the local community as well as on state and national level. He currently serves on the Board of, and is a mentor to, a local FIRST Robotics Competition high school team, FIRST Team 2655, The Flying Platypi.  Over the last five years, Mike and his wife have taken groups of students to Washington, D.C. to speak to members of Congress about the importance of funding afterschool STEM enrichment programs and its impact on growing a future technology based workforce.  The team has won a number of awards at the state and national level for its outreach efforts related to STEM education.

In an effort to further assist his community, Mike also participates in pro bono work. In 2014, Mike volunteered to assist with a pro bono activity through the Tax Counsel. Each year since, he has participated in the activity of helping train soldiers to prepare tax returns for fellow soldiers at Fort Bragg.  In addition to volunteering, he has also helped coordinate others who helped do the training become certified VITA volunteers to prepare returns for fellow soldiers during the tax season. Last year, Fort Bragg prepared over 18,000 returns saving members of the military and their families over $5 million in fees.

Awards