Darrell Smelcer

Darrell’s practice focuses on federal tax laws applicable to municipal bond issues, including tax-advantaged bonds, tax enforcement and voluntary tax compliance. Darrell is a seasoned practitioner with nearly 40 years of experience in the public finance sector. He advises clients on tax-advantaged financings for cities, counties, and other borrowers utilizing tax-exempt bond or tax credit bond financing mechanisms, with a focus on compliance with applicable federal income tax requirements.

Prior to returning to Hunton Andrews Kurth, Darrell spent over a decade at the Internal Revenue Service, where he served as a tax law specialist, acting technical advisor to the director of the IRS Office of Tax Exempt Bonds (TEB) and acting manager of the TEB Technical group. Before joining the IRS, he served as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel on government, 501(c)(3), and other bond issues for public infrastructure, hospitals and other health care facilities, retirement facilities, higher education facilities, student loans, multi-family and single-family housing, and natural gas supply contracts.

• Provided technical support to TEB Program Manager and managed tax law specialists working cases in TEB Voluntary Closing Agreement Program.
• Represented TEB’s position before IRS Office of Appeals.
• Bond counsel or special tax counsel to issuers in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Tennessee and Virginia.
• Bond counsel to municipal issuers in “swaption” transactions and forward refundings.
• Represented sponsors and special purpose subsidiaries in structuring interest rate swap programs.
• Represented issuers and underwriters in various IRS examinations of qualification of municipal bonds for tax exemption and in seeking voluntary closing agreements.
• Advised rebate firm on arbitrage rules.

• Member, National Association of Bond Lawyers