Diara Holmes CPA

Diara M. Holmes serves as co-chair of the firm's Tax-Exempt Organizations Practice. She counsels tax-exempt organizations, including large public charities; colleges, universities and other higher education organizations; foreign charities and their U.S. affiliates; associations; government instrumentalities; social welfare organizations; and religious organizations on a broad range of tax compliance and governance issues. She advises non-profit and for-profit organizations on structuring a variety of transactions—including joint ventures, corporate sponsorships, merchandising, cause-related marketing, and other revenue generating strategies. In addition, she works with high-net-worth individuals and families to establish family foundations and donor-advised funds. Ms. Holmes has represented numerous organizations before the IRS—navigating complex audits involving an array of issues (e.g., executive compensation, unrelated business tax, and political campaign intervention); seeking private letter rulings regarding proposed transactions, requesting determination letters regarding public charity classification, applying for exempt status, and seeking reinstatement of exempt status following auto-revocation. Ms. Holmes is a frequent speaker at national professional conferences on exempt organizations issues and she co-chairs the ABA Tax Section’s EO Subcommittee on Audits and Appeals. She also serves on the board of directors of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation.