Paul Sczudlo

Practice Areas

Paul is of counsel in the private client and tax team at Withers.

He has over 35 years' experience focused on global planning matters. Paul is widely recognized for his practice in cross-border and entertainment tax planning. His clients have ranged broadly from high-net-worth individuals; foreign investors in U.S. real estate and other U.S.-situated assets; Americans with offshore investments, acquisitions and business activities; and actors, musicians, writers, producers, directors and agents; to film production and distribution companies; public and closely-held businesses; and financial institutions.

Paul's practice emphasizes international income tax, international estate and gift tax, and entertainment tax planning; international estate administration; international wealth transfer planning; other international planning for high-net-worth individuals; inbound planning for businesses seeking to set up, acquire or dispose of, manufacturing, distribution, licensing or other operations in the United States; outbound planning for U.S. businesses establishing or acquiring foreign operations; international tax withholding; and cross-border tax reporting, compliance and controversy issues.

His practice includes U.S. real estate transactions involving foreign parties; international film production and distribution; United States and California withholding tax issues with respect to non-U.S. individuals, corporations and other foreign entities; planning for executives and other foreign individuals moving to or from the United States; income and estate tax planning for U.S. citizens moving abroad, with or without terminating their U.S. citizenship; and structuring for, and assisting with, the organization of, foreign corporations, foreign limited liability companies, foreign trusts and other foreign entities.

Paul writes and lectures regularly on international and other tax topics of interest to businesses and high net worth individuals and has received many accolades for his leadership as a tax lawyer. He is recognized in the Chambers USA 2024 Guide as a top lawyer in Tax, and was first ranked in 2004, and is recognized in the Chambers High Net Worth 2023 and 2022 Guides as a top lawyer in Private Wealth Law. Paul was recently honored by Business Today as one of the 10 most influential Southern Californian tax lawyers for 2023. He is also recognized as a leading partner by The Legal 500 US in 2024 and 2025 in the area of International Tax, and has been recognized as a Super Lawyer since 2004 and as a Best Lawyer since 2006.

Paul is chair of Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP USA) and past chair of the Los Angeles Branch (STEP Los Angeles). He is a past chair of the American Bar Association's International Private Client Committee, the California State Bar Association's International Tax Committee and the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Taxation Section.