Kay Miller Hobart

Practice Areas

Tax

State & Local Tax

Tax Controversy & Litigation

Tax Credits & Incentives

Business Expansion & Location Solutions

Government & Public Policy

Business Law

Career

Kay Miller Hobart leads the firm’s state and local tax practice and has more than 30 years of experience in state and local tax controversies and tax litigation at all levels of state and federal court. As the former lead tax counsel for the State of North Carolina, she has litigated numerous high-profile, complex multimillion-dollar cases before the North Carolina Business Court, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, including the landmark decisions in A&F Trademark v. Tolson and Wal-Mart Stores East v. Hinton. Chambers USA has given Kay its highest ranking, Band 1, for tax in North Carolina.

Kay's extensive experience resolving tax disputes informs the counsel she provides clients on tax credits and incentives. As multistate and multinational businesses are expanding or relocating, she advises on the statutory and negotiated aspects of state and local tax credits and incentives, as well as other aspects of tax strategy. Her international business ties include serving as a member of North Carolina's delegation at the Southeast U.S./Japan Conference (SEUS/Japan) for multiple years.

Kay has been asked to serve on various commissions to modernize and reform North Carolina's tax system, including the Governor's Commission to Modernize State Finances and former Governor Jim Hunt's Institute for Emerging Issues Financing the Future task force. She is a speaker at national seminars on state and local taxation, including Georgetown University Law Center's Advanced State and Local Tax Institute and Vanderbilt University Law School's Paul J. Hartman State and Local Tax Forum. She has also served as North Carolina correspondent for State Tax Notes and is a contributor to Bloomberg Tax.

Prior to joining Parker Poe, she served as special deputy attorney general for the North Carolina Department of Justice, leading the team of attorneys representing the state's Department of Revenue. In that role, she gained extensive experience with all major tax schedules and the operations and practices of the North Carolina Department of Revenue. She has participated in the development and drafting of the state's tax legislation and advised the Revenue Secretary and high-level state officials on tax law and policy. She is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court.

Education