Craig A. Becker

Craig’s work also extends to state and local transaction and gross receipts taxes, where he helps clients minimize exposure through exemptions, electronic transfers, purchase price allocations and indirect asset transfers through entities.   

Craig represents taxpayers in state and local tax audits and litigates disputes through administrative appeals at local boards, administrative agencies and the state courts. Craig regularly appears before California Assessment Appeals Boards, the California State Board of Equalization, and the California Courts.

• Assisting clients in various real estate transactions to reduce property tax assessment increases for newly completed real property improvements by qualifying for new construction exclusions (earthquake, ADA, solar, etc.) and identifying work as non-assessable repair and replacements rather than assessable new construction, and successfully securing appeals board decisions confirming reduced values.
• Assisting corporate clients constructing new corporate campuses in securing reduced new construction assessments based on market value of the newly constructed improvements rather than over-market specialty construction costs.
• Assisting operator of container ship facilities in securing reductions in possessory interest assessments to reflect declining term of leasehold interests.
• Obtaining superior court decision deferring Proposition 13 reassessment event until federal estate tax obligations had been satisfied and property was distributed out of trust.

• Publications
  • “A Hat Tip to the Manufacturing, R&D and Electric Power Industries: California Bill Would Provide Income Tax Credits for Sales and Use and District Taxes Paid on Certain ‘Qualified Tangible Personal Property,’” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Carley Roberts, Zachary Atkins, and Richard Nielsen, June 9, 2023.
  • “California Lawmakers Propose Constitutional Amendment to Abolish the State Board of Equalization,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Breann Robowski, and Kristen Sharp, March 21, 2023.
  • “Property Tax Rate Dispute Merits California Supreme Court Review,” Tax Notes State, with Carley Roberts, Breann Robowski, Robert P. Merten III, and Joseph Chan, February 13, 2023.
  • “Recent Measures Establish Unprecedented Tax Increases on Real Property in California Cities,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Breann Robowski, Rachel Horsch, and David Wright, January 23, 2023.
  • “San Francisco’s New Tax Provisions May Have Unintended Consequences,” Tax Notes State, with Breann E. Robowski, Richard E. Nielsen, and Robert P. Merten III, March 22, 2021.
  • “Should San Francisco Taxpayers File Protective Claims for Recovery of the Homelessness Tax and the Commercial Rents Tax?” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Breann E. Robowski, Richard E. Nielsen, Robert P. Merten III, and Connor A. Corbitt, February 4, 2021.
  • “New York Law Authorizing Taxation of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities Raises Property Tax Issues for the U.S. Nuclear Industry,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Zachary T. Atkins, Jeffrey S. Merrifield, Breann E. Robowski, Jay E. Silberg, and Marc Simonetti, January 25, 2021.
  • “California’s Proposition 15 Is Failing While San Francisco Accepts a Bevy of Local Tax Measures,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with William L. Bennett and Breann E. Robowski, November 9, 2020.
  • “California Court of Appeal Concludes Transfer Tax Not Applicable to Purchase of Realty Encumbered by Long-Term Leasehold,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Robert P. Merten III, Richard E. Nielsen, and Breann E. Robowski, June 29, 2020.
  • “The Split-Roll Initiative Is Poised to Rock California’s Property Tax System,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Richard E. Nielsen and Breann E. Robowski, June 29, 2020.
  • “California Legislature Passes Governor Newsom’s Proposal to Suspend California Net Operating Loss Deductions and Limit Tax Credits during 2020 – 2022,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Carley A. Roberts, Breann E. Robowski, and Jeffrey M. Vesely, June 24, 2020.
  • “California Governor Signs Marketplace Facilitator Legislation, Preview to New Rules,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Jeffrey M. Vesely, Richard E. Nielsen, Annie H. Huang, Breann E. Robowski, Marc A. Simonetti, Nicole D. Boutros, Evan M. Hamme, Carley Roberts, Aruna Chittiappa, Robert P. Merten III, William L. Bennett, Dmitrii Gabrielov, Mike Le, April 25, 2019.
  • “California Office of Tax Appeals Rejects Franchise Tax Board’s Broad Interpretation of California’s ‘Doing Business’ Standard,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Jeffrey M. Vesely, Richard E. Nielsen, Annie H. Huang, Breann E. Robowski, Marc A. Simonetti, Nicole D. Boutros, Evan M. Hamme, Carley Roberts, Aruna Chittiappa, Robert P. Merten III, Mike Le, November 27, 2018.
  • “The U.S. Supreme Court Changes Sales and Use Tax Collection Nexus,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Jeffrey M. Vesely, Richard E. Nielsen, Annie H. Huang, Breann E. Robowski, Marc A. Simonetti, Nicole D. Boutros, Evan M. Hamme, Carley Roberts, Aruna Chittiappa, Robert P. Merten III, Michael J. Cataldo, Andrew D. Appleby, Debra Vance, Timothy A. Gustafson, Eric J. Coffill, Jessica N. Allen, Dmitrii Gabrielov, Mike Le, June 22, 2018.
  • “Ballot Initiative Seeks to Eliminate Prop 13 for Commercial and Industrial Real Estate,” with Breann E. Robowski, February 21, 2018.
  • “Dueling Rent Taxes Come Up before San Francisco Voters in June,” with Richard E. Nielsen, Robert C. Herr, February 12, 2018.
  • “California Supreme Court Expands the California Real Estate Transfer Tax to Entity Transfers that Cause Property Tax Re-Assessments under Proposition 13,” AFIRE News, with Breann E. Robowski, Richard E. Nielsen, Andrew J. Weiner, December 31, 2017.
  • “California Supreme Court Decision Changes the Transfer Tax World,” with Breann E. Robowski, Richard E. Nielsen, Dianne L. Sweeney, July 14, 2017.
  • “Court of Appeal Holds Transfer Tax Applies to Legal Entity Changes in Ownership,” with Matthew F. Burke, Kerne H.O. Matsubara, October 14, 2014.
  • “Ocean Avenue LLC v. County of Los Angeles Affirmed; AB 2372 Passes Assembly,” with Matthew F. Burke, June 25, 2014.
  • “Federal Rule and Ninth Circuit Opinion Create Huge Opportunities on Indian Land,” with Blaine I. Green, Matthew F. Burke, April 9, 2014.
  • “70 Days and Counting: Clock Is Ticking to Claim Embedded Software Tax Exemption,” with Richard E. Nielsen, Lawrence L. Hoenig, Diane L. Sweeney, February 27, 2014.
  • “Changes Likely for Section 530 Relief in Employee vs. Independent Contractor Classifications,” with Peter J. Hunt, Lawrence L. Hoenig, Alexis M. Petas, July 26, 2010.
• Representative Speaking Engagements
  • "California Tax Matters: Property, Transfer, and Local Taxes,” CTC/COST Mid-West Regional State Tax Meeting, Rolling Meadows, IL, May 2023.
  • "SALT West Coast Developments – California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico,” TEI New York Chapter Meeting, New York, NY, April 2023.
  • "California Property Tax – Legal Update,” California Alliance of Taxpayer Advocates Annual Conference, Laguna Niguel, CA, December 2022.
  • “Proposition 13 Change in Ownership Rules – Leases and Leaseholds,” Apple Real Estate Group, April 2022, Webinar.
  • “Is Remote Work Doing a Job on Commercial Property Values?,” 2022 CalTax Foundation Webinar Series, February 2022, Webinar.
  • "The Changing Battle of Assessment Appeals in the Age of COVID-19,” California Alliance of Taxpayer Advocates Annual Conference, Laguna Niguel, CA, December 2021.
  • “Overview of California Property Tax,” Golden Gate University, Bruce F. Braden School of Taxation SALT Course, Webinar, November 2021.
  • “Western States Update with California Focus,” COST Property Tax Workshop, Webinar, September 2021.
  • “Wrangling in Local Transaction Taxes,” COST Sales and Transaction Tax Webinar, Webinar, February 2021.
  • “California Property, Transfer and Local Tax Updates,” Pillsbury CLE Marathon, Webinar, January 2021.
  • “Transfer Tax and Distressed Real Estate: New York and California,” Swimming Lesson Videocast Series: Surviving and Navigating the Choppy Waters of Distressed Real Estate, Webinar, January 2021.
  • “Ready, Set, Split Roll: The Impact of Proposition 15,” CalTax Webinar Series: Splitting the Property Tax Roll, Webinar, October 2020.
  • “California – Examining Property Tax Issues in the Golden State,” COST/IPTI Property Tax Event, Webinar, September 2020.
  • “California Property Taxes and Proposed Repeal of Proposition 13 for Commercial Properties,” 2020 California CLE Marathons, San Francisco CA & Silicon Valley, CA, January 2020.
  • “Local and Gross Receipts Taxes: Including S.F., Fresno, and Oakland Supermajority Cases and OR CAT and Portland, OR clean energy surcharge,” TEI Silicon Valley Chapter’s SALT Day & IPT Joint Meeting, Santa Clara, CA, December 2019.
  • “Property and Transfer Tax Update, Including Split Roll,” TEI Silicon Valley Chapter’s SALT Day & IPT Joint Meeting, Santa Clara, CA, December 2019.
  • “Ask the Experts – Practitioners Addressing Issues for Free,” COST Property Tax Workshop 2019, Las Vegas, NV, October 2019.
  • “California – A Property Tax Nation unto Itself,” COST Property Tax Workshop 2019, Las Vegas, NV, October 2019.
  • “Proposition 13 – As it Stands and Looking into the Future,” Western States Petroleum Association’s Property Tax Educational Forum 2019, Oxnard, CA, September 2019.
  • “All Things Property Tax for Tech Companies,” COST State and Local Tax Workshop for the Tech Industry, Foster City, CA, July 2019.
  • “California Municipal Gross Receipts Taxes,” Palo Alto Chamber Business Connections Group Event, Palo Alto, CA, May 2019.
  • “Just Want the Basics (or a Refresher) – Valuation Issues for the Beginner,” COST Property Tax Workshop 2018, Dallas, TX, August 2018.
  • “Just Want the Basics (or a Refresher) – Valuation Issues for the Beginner,” COST Property Tax Workshop 2017, Oak Brook, IL, September 2017.
  • “Issues out West – Prop 13 – What Does the Future Hold?” at the January 2016 Council on State Taxation (COST) Property Tax Workshop in San Antonio, Texas.
  • “55 Days and Counting: The Clock Is Ticking to Claim Embedded Software Tax Exemption” Pillsbury SALT Webinar, April 2014.
  • “Employment Law Outlook 2014,” Pillsbury Presentation, San Francisco, CA, March 2014.
  • “Employment Law Outlook 2014,” Pillsbury Presentation, Palo Alto, CA, March 2014.
  • “Emerging Issues Concerning Sales, Property and Income Tax,” Pillsbury’s 2014 CLE Marathon, Palo Alto, CA, January 2014.
  • “Emerging Issues Concerning Sales, Property and Income Tax,” Pillsbury’s 2014 CLE Marathon, San Francisco, CA, January 2014.
  • “Emerging Issues Concerning Sales, Property and Income Tax,” Pillsbury’s 2014 CLE Marathon, San Diego, CA, January 2014.
  • “Independent Contractor Misclassification,” Client Briefing Presentation, June 2010.
  • “2009 Tax Savings Opportunities under Property Tax Proposition 8,” Pillsbury Presentation, July 2009.