Tara Ferris has joined EY’s New York office as a principal in the Information Reporting and Withholding (IRW) practice of FSO.  

Tara will focus on advising large financial institutions on information reporting related matters, including but not limited to FATCA, Section 871(m), Section 305(c), Qualified Intermediary issues and Common Reporting Standard.

Tara served with the Internal Revenue Service for over 4 years, most recently as Senior Counsel with the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International) where she was a principal draftsperson of FATCA regulations, notices, and forms, chapters 3 and 61 coordination regulations, FFI Agreement, QI Agreement, and WP/WT Agreement. In this role, Ferris also contributed to the drafting of the withholding aspects of the regulation under section 871(m) and FATCA Model 1 and Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreements.  She contributed to the anticipated refund regulations for chapters 3 and 4 and the revised QI Agreement which is expected to modify the compliance requirements for QIs and provide detailed requirements for QDDs under section 871(m).  She represented IRS in the negotiation of select Intergovernmental Agreements.

She also served as an Advisor on Automatic Exchange of Information at the OECD where she provided advice on creating synergies between the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and FATCA, and contributed to the CRS Implementation Handbook and FAQs. In 2013, she was named to the Global Tax 50 of influential tax professionals by International Tax Review.

Allen & Overy LLP continues to expand its tax practice with Daniela Trötscher joining its Frankfurt office as partner, effective as of 1 June 2016.  She will focus on project related tax advice in the fields of compliance, risk management and other tax-related corporate processes.

“With Daniela Trötscher we have been able to attract a highly successful tax advisor who is very well connected within the Frankfurt financial market. With her long-standing experience in advising on tax compliance issues and related technological solutions, we are able to complement and expand the range of advisory services we offer, in particular for financial institutions,” says Dr Gottfried Breuninger, head of Allen & Overy’s German and Global Tax practice.

And Dr Neil George Weiand, senior partner, Allen & Overy Germany, adds:  “Ms Trötscher’s arrival strengthens our Frankfurt tax team and represents another important step towards becoming one of the leading firms in Germany, also in terms of size. Her experience in the field of tax risk management will also be highly valuable for other practice groups such as Banking and Finance and Capital Markets.”

Daniela Trötscher holds a Diploma Economics degree and is tax advisor. She specialises in tax advice for German and international financial institutions and insurance companies and focuses in particular on tax-related processes in connection with M&A projects and post-merger integration, and on tax compliance and risk management issues.  After having worked in the tax group of Deutsche Bank for twelve years, she joined Ernst & Young in 2010 where she became a partner in 2012. She is also a lecturer at the Rhein-Main University.

Asked about the motivation for her move, she states:  “Allen & Overy provides the perfect platform for my practice, with a highly qualified team of tax advisors and lawyers with excellent connections to the national and international financial industry.”

Allen & Overy’s German tax practice comprises around 20 lawyers and tax advisors, including four partners, working in  the Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich offices. The range of advice offered by the practice in cludes strategic tax planning and corporate transformations, the tax aspects of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, transfer pricing, representation in tax litigation, as well as complex debt and equity financings. A particular focus of the group is on tax litigation and tax risk management, where the practice does not only see huge growth potential but has already been able to win important deals. Both the practice as a whole and its individual partners are regularly awarded top positions in legal rankings.

Hiro Furuya has joined the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young LLP with a brief to focus on Japanese Business Services and automotive sector.

Hiro is a seasoned transfer pricing professional with experience in complex advance pricing agreement, competent authority and transfer pricing audit cases with the IRS, National Tax Agency of Japan and other tax authorities.  He joins from McDermott Will & Emery where he was a managing director focused on transfer pricing since 2012. He had also been with Gardere Wynne Sewell where he lead transfer pricing practice for Japanese and automotive clients. Earlier, he was a founding member of PwC Tokyo’s transfer pricing group where he spent nine years developing its practice.

Furuya joins as a partner based in the Dallas office.

EY Ireland has announced the appointment of six Partners, bringing the total number of Partners within the Irish business to 61.

Within its tax division, EY has promoted Cork-based Seamus Downey, underlining the Firm’s continued investment in the Munster region, as well as Ian Collins who heads up EY’s Research & Development team.

Seamus Downey is a tax partner based in EY’s Cork office, where he predominantly advises multinational and indigenous companies on both domestic and international tax issues.

Key areas of experience include:

• International tax planning
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Advising high net worth individuals.

Seamus joined the firm from KPMG in March 2012 having previously worked as a tax director in their tax function. He has worked with a broad range of global and indigenous companies in technology, agriculture, logistics, distribution, manufacturing and engineering.

Ian Collins leads the Irish Research & Development tax group for EY, which is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of engineers, scientists, and tax professionals. Ian advises multinationals and small and medium-sized companies on all matters related to the Irish R&D regime across industry sectors. He has significant experience dealing with Irish Revenue on all matters related to the Irish R&D tax credit regime, has lectured extensively on the subject, and published multiple articles.

Ian also leads EY’s Irish tax depreciation group, overseeing capital allowances advice and claims to Irish clients.

Commenting on the announcement, Mike McKerr, Country Managing Partner, EY Ireland said: “These senior appointments, alongside our recent office openings and jobs announcement, reflect our confidence in the Irish economy and ambition to further accelerate growth in the years to come. These Partner admissions create the next generation of leadership and enable teams to deliver exceptional service to an expanding client base throughout Ireland.”

Mitzi Saito joins Ernst & Young LLP’s People Advisory Services located in New York as a partner in Global Mobility focusing on the Japanese multinational companies based in US. Saito comes from KPMG where she spent 23 years, most recently as Tax Managing Director. She also worked with Panasonic Corporation as an HR Specialist.

Steve Starzynski joins Ernst & Young LLP’s Transaction Tax Services as a partner located in Chicago. Steve has over a decade of experience working on M&A transactions, representing strategic and financial buyers.  Prior to joining EY, Steve worked in both the M&A Transaction Services and Special Acquisition Services practices at Deloitte, where he focused on serving large private equity clients and their portfolio companies in all aspects of the deal lifecycle.  In addition to Chicago, Steve has worked in San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Washington, DC. 

C.J. Girod joins Ernst & Young LLP in Pittsburgh as an executive director with Indirect Tax.  Girod brings more than 19 years of experience, most recently as a Principal at Ryan, LLC where he spent 12 years in state and local tax, providing site selection, economic development, and credits and incentives consulting services.

Randy Ferris joins Ernst & Young LLP’s Indirect Tax Practice in California as an executive director. Ferris worked for 20 years at the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), holding several roles, including Chief Counsel, Senior Business Taxes Attorney, and Appeals Conference Holder and Reviewer. Ferris oversaw the BOE’s legal department, provided legal advice, issued legal opinions, drafted regulations, formulated and developed policies to implement laws, and provided impartial analyses of tax disputes.

Jocelyne Miller joins Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department located in San Diego as an executive director focusing on exempt organizations. Miller has previously worked with other large accounting firms and was also staff counsel for the American Bar Association Section of Taxation. She has served on the board of directors for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

Thomas A. Vidano joins the Ernst & Young LLP National Tax Department in Washington, DC, from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.  Vidano started working at IRS Office of Chief Counsel in 1998, and most recently served as the as Deputy Division Counsel (International) in LB&I Division Counsel.  In this role, he served as the legal advisor to IRS executives in charge of international tax issues by assisting in identifying emerging international tax issues, developing compliance strategies, and coordinating those issues with Associate Chief Counsel (International) (“ACCI”). Vidano also oversaw all significant international tax litigation in LB&I Division Counsel, including transfer pricing.  Prior to serving as the Deputy Division Counsel (International), Vidano was the Assistant Branch Chief in Branch 4 (corporate and partnership issues, including section 367(d)) of ACCI, and an attorney in Branch 6 (transfer pricing) of ACCI.  As an executive director at EY, Vidano focuses on transfer pricing controversy.

Mark Maguire is joining EY’s National Tax Department in Tampa as an executive director. He will sit in the International Tax Services group serving the Southeast Region.

Mark comes from General Electric Company where he has held numerous international tax positions in Plastics, Healthcare and Power since 2000.   

His most recent role was as the Global Tax Leader for the Gas Power Systems business.

Ernst & Young LLP announced today that it has acquired certain tax technology platform assets from TaxChat, LLC, an innovative startup that focused on mobile, on-demand tax preparation services. TaxChat, LLC CEO and co-founder Steve Toy (pictured right) has joined the firm and is now a member of the EY Americas Tax Innovation Foundry, a group dedicated to building transformational new businesses within EY Americas firms.

“This expansion demonstrates our commitment to an entrepreneurial approach to innovation by creating new services for our clients,” said Kate Barton, EY Americas Vice-Chair of Tax Services. “Shifting global tax policies and changing business models are generating real-time, digitally enabled capabilities that allow us to continue offering exceptional and innovative services to meet client needs. Incubating new businesses through the EY Americas Tax Innovation Foundry is an integral part of our tax services’ innovation strategy.”

“Our EY Americas Tax Innovation Foundry is a critical component of our Tax Innovation movement,” said Jeff Saviano, EY Americas Indirect Tax Services and Tax Innovation Leader. “The addition of this digital tax technology furthers our vision to be the most innovative Tax provider in a professional services organization. The acquisition brings new technologies that will be critically important to our clients in a rapidly changing global tax arena.”

“We are excited that Steve has joined our growing team of internal entrepreneurs,” said Chirag Patel, EY Americas Tax Innovation Foundry Leader. “We remain focused on building and transforming businesses in the tax, finance, and human capital segments. This acquisition is one of several strategic investments EY will make to drive long-term growth and to offer new digital-first experiences to our clients.”

Prior to TaxChat LLC, Steve Toy worked with Fareportal, Billboard, and Software Secure. He developed ancillary products, new revenue streams, enhanced sales, and helped transition older products and services into digital systems. A veteran entrepreneur, he also co-founded Beema Inc., an agency that supported business transition into digital strategies through cutting-edge video-messaging and email products.

“It was an easy decision for me to join EY,” Toy said. “We share a vision around disruption of the tax and finance functions. The EY Americas Tax Innovation Foundry is a unique destination. Its founders seek to remain entrepreneurial while accelerating time-to-market and driving scale.”

Joe Dettmann, Ph.D., joins Ernst & Young LLP’s People Advisory Services as a principal located in the firm’s Grand Rapids, Michigan, office. Joe focuses on delivering leading talent management research, analytics and practices to clients. He was previously a Consulting Director at Willis Towers Watson.

Martin Milner joins the Ernst & Young LLP National Tax Department in Washington, D.C., as a principal in International Tax Services. He was a partner at McDermott Will & Emery since 2012, prior to which he worked at Mayer Brown for five years. He spent a year with PwC in 2006 after starting his career at Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann LLC.

Jay Wright joins the Ernst & Young LLP National Tax Department in New York as a partner in the Tax Accounting and Risk Advisory Services practice. Prior to joining EY, Jay spent more than 11 years at PwC where he most recently served as a Tax Director providing tax consulting services to a broad base of clients, ranging from Fortune 500 multinational corporations to emerging growth companies, across multiple industries, including technology, media and entertainment and retail and consumer. Jay received his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Delaware and is a CPA licensed to practice in the state of New York.

Matt Prescott joins Ernst & Young LLP’s Central Region as a tax partner in Columbus, Ohio, specializing in Global Compliance and Reporting. He was previously the Director of Global Tax Accounting and Domestic Operations at Abercrombie & Fitch for three years, prior to which held several positions at PwC including Director. 

Jenny Oku returns to Ernst & Young LLP’s Global Compliance & Reporting in Los Angeles as an executive director and will be working primarily with private equity clients. Oku had been with EY since 1999 before taking a position as a tax senior manager at RKE LLP in 2016. She has extensive experience in real estate and partnership taxation and with financial services and private equity clients.

Abe Hadad joins Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department in Stamford, CT, as an executive director for International Tax Services focusing on tax technology. Previously, he was the partner and lead application architect at software consultant Coral Fire, and a technical manager at Merrill Lynch for 12 years. Hadad also worked as an engineer at Unilever and Kraft Food. 

Neil Masand joins EY as an executive director in People Advisory Services in New York, focused on talent management solutions for financial services organizations. For the past five years, Masand was a Director at PwC. His 19 year career includes HR leadership for Barclay’s, Citigroup and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Steve Skor joins the EY International Tax Services practice in Atlanta as an Executive Director.

Skor has more than 16 years of experience in both public accounting and industry service, with a specialization in the area of international corporate tax and cross border transactions for publicly traded and privately held multinational companies. Prior to joining EY, he was the Global Head of Tax for Dematic Group and before that was an international tax director at PWC in Atlanta. 

The new head of tax at Dematic is Dilpesh Topiwala, who was promoted internally, effective Jan 17.

3 new hires at EY USA:

Art Galan joins Ernst & Young LLP in San Francisco as a principal with Tax – Financial Services, focusing on global compliance and reporting for asset management companies. Art was most recently global head of tax for TPG Capital and prior to that for Oaktree Capital Management. He was a Tax Director and the Tax Counsel for Accenture from 1996-2009.  Art began his career at Arthur Andersen. He received his Bachelor’s degree from UCLA and JD from Hastings College of the Law. 

Todd R. Smith joins the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young LLP in Irvine, CA, as a principal in the Indirect Tax practice focused on global trade compliance. Smith joins EY from KPMG where worked since 2002 and was a principal in International Trade. Previously, he worked for several private and public companies in various senior level finance and operating roles. Smith is a licensed customs broker and earned his Bachelors of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Chris Vorillas joins Ernst & Young LLP’s Indirect practice in New York as an executive director in State and Local Tax. He had been a state tax council for General Electric Company since 2011 and previously spent four years at PwC. Vorillas began his career as an assistant corporation counsel with the New York City Law Department. He received his Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor from St. John’s University.

Ivan Zoricic has been promoted to tax partner at EY MENA, with effect from July 2017.

Ivan is the tax leader for EY Bahrain and the EY global tax account leader for Saudi Aramco. He has worked in the MENA region since 2008 and headed the EY Bahrain tax practice since 2011.

His experience focuses on supporting market leaders in MENA and globally with respect to complex cross border tax engagements, such as tax aspects of IPOs, tax structuring, transfer pricing, tax due diligence, tax advisory, tax policy and controversy, tax performance advisory and tax compliance/technology.

Ivan has significant experience in serving clients in the oil & gas, telecom, financial services, manufacturing and retail sectors.

To browse tax opportunities with EY MENA, please click on this link.

Ernst & Young LLP recently announced the promotions of 12 new partners, principals, executive directors and directors in its Los Angeles office.

“Our newly promoted leaders have dedicated their careers to delivering exceptional client service, to the pursuit of quality and technical excellence, and to living the EY purpose of building a better working world,” said Pat Niemann, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP and the Los Angeles Office Managing Partner. “We commend them on this impressive and hard-earned career milestone.”

Helen Kim was promoted to partner from senior manager. Kim has more than 16 years of experience working in the EY Tax practice and serving Fortune 500 companies and other market-leading clients in diverse industries including retail and consumer products, media & entertainment, and construction and engineering. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and her Master of Business Taxation from the University of Southern California. Kim is a certified public accountant (CPA) licensed to practice in California and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Jason Lin was promoted to partner from senior manager and has been with the EY Tax practice his entire career. Lin has more than a decade of experience advising clients in the real estate, hospitality, and construction industries, including publicly traded and privately held REITs, real estate funds, and homebuilders. He has deep fluency in tax compliance services, IPO roll-up and REIT qualification due diligence. Lin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Master of Business Taxation from the University of Southern California. Lin is a certified public accountant (CPA) licensed to practice in California and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Steven Sideris was promoted to principal from senior manager. Sideris has more than 13 years of experience working in the EY Tax practice. He serves clients in diverse industries including technology, life sciences, financial services, telecommunications and healthcare with transfer pricing planning, documentation and controversy. Sideris has extensive experience with intangible asset valuation and restructuring and supply chain planning. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Trinity College and his MBA from Boston University. He is a member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA).

Agnes Yum was promoted to executive director from senior manager. She has more than 20 years of experience working in taxation and is part of the EY Tax People Advisory Services practice. She has extensive experience advising clients on individual and employment tax planning, foreign and US compliance services, minimizing taxation in multiple jurisdictions, and inbound and outbound expatriate tax services. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Washington, is a certified public accountant (CPA) licensed to practice in California and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

About Ernst & Young LLP’s Los Angeles practice 

Ernst & Young LLP has more than 1,800 people in its Greater Los Angeles offices who serve a diverse client base of innovative and entrepreneurial companies spanning the consumer products, engineering and construction, financial services, health care, life sciences, manufacturing, media & entertainment, private equity, real estate, retail and technology industries. The firm celebrates the successes of Greater Los Angeles’ entrepreneurs through its EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® program, founded in 1986.

EY has announced the formation of Tax Technology and Transformation, a dedicated group of more than 1,000 tax technology and performance improvement professionals in member firms across the globe that help organizations to redefine their tax functions and drive transformation for the digital age. The Americas practice will leverage the extensive experience and insights of professionals working in the US, Canada, Brazil and Mexico by merging the region’s market-leading Tax Performance Advisory and its Tax Technology and Data Analytics Services teams.

Tax Technology and Transformation services are offered to companies in response to the impact of existing and emerging technology including: the growing data burden that many businesses face, driving efficiencies to create a cost-effective tax function, and the need to understand how to make data an asset. The underlying objective of the combined offering is to help businesses navigate the digital age of tax transparency alongside new trends in tax compliance and tax audit methods, as well as helping to solve the most pressing challenges that businesses face. Tax Technology and Transformation services will be provided with the support of EYTax.Tech^™, a customized suite of client-serving technology services.

Tax Technology and Transformation will comprise the following:

• Digital tax transformation services
• Tax applications-as-a-service
• Tax data and improvement services
• Tax analytics and reporting enhancement services
• Emerging tax technology services including robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud solutions, data lake development and business intelligence innovation
• Tax technology program mobilization services
• Custom tax technology application development and deployment
• Tax technology strategy and road mapping
• Tax systems implementation and configuration
• Post-transaction (M&A) tax function operational services
• Tax operating model transformation, including process improvement, risk and controls

Shawn Smith, the newly appointed EY Global Tax Technology and Transformation Leader, is based in New York. Smith was previously EY Americas Tax Performance Advisory Leader – Financial Services Office (FSO) and the Southeast Region Market Segment Leader – FSO. He has extensive proven experience in a wide range of tax function services designed to improve the operating performance of corporate tax functions for financial services.

Smith says: “The pace of change in tax legislation, and the accelerated use of technology by governments as they automate their compliance and filing processes, is disrupting the traditional tax function. Increasingly, businesses are looking to professional services organizations to help them overcome technology-driven business challenges, and with Tax Technology and Transformation, EY will lead by example.”

Kurt Neidhardt, EY Americas Tax Tech Transformation Leader, will be driving services in the Americas.

“This expansion of our successful delivery of technology, process and data services to transform the tax function demonstrates our commitment to offering exceptional and innovative services to meet client needs,” said Neidhardt. “Our tax professionals with deep experience are combining forces to focus on helping businesses redefine their tax functions by offering a new digital experience to our clients.”

“Tax Technology and Transformation recognizes the significant impact that emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, RPA and advanced robotics will have on global business, added Kate Barton, EY Americas Vice Chair of Tax Services. “Tax departments are dealing with the convergence of three megatrends – global tax legislation changes including the possibility of US tax reform; the rise of digital and pace of technology change including robotics process automation and the like; and finally the trend to look at whether you automate in-house or outsource the day-to-day operations to take advantage of the new technologies and leverage costs.”

Ernst & Young LLP (EY) announced today the return of Michael (Mike) McDonald in the National Tax Department – International Tax Services, Transfer Pricing. McDonald rejoins EY from the US Department of Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis, where he was a financial economist in the Business and International Tax Division since 2001. In his new role, McDonald will advise clients on base erosion and profit shifting- (BEPS-) related matters and other transfer pricing issues, such as cost sharing, country-by-country reporting and controversy resolution. 

“From serving as one of the lead US delegates on the BEPS project, Mike has extensive knowledge of the complex transfer pricing issues that our clients are facing today,” said Jeff Michalak, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP and the EY Americas Director of International Tax Services. “We’re thrilled to welcome such a talented professional back to our team, bringing a fresh perspective that will help our clients keep up with change in the global transfer pricing landscape.”

McDonald’s responsibilities at the US Department of Treasury were primarily in transfer pricing, transfer pricing-related treaty issues, economic analyses and revenue estimation of international tax issues. He represented the United States at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Committee on Fiscal Affairs, and chaired Working Party 6 (Taxation of Multinational Enterprises) for the BEPS work on transfer pricing (Action Items 8-10).

McDonald was also a member of the United Nations subcommittee that drafted the United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries, and was a delegate to the OECD’s Tax and Development Task Force. He has participated in a number of bilateral income tax treaty negotiations. 

Prior to joining the Treasury Department, McDonald was a transfer pricing economist in the National Tax Department at Ernst & Young LLP from 1996 through 2001.  Before that, he was on the Revenue Estimating Division at Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis from 1988 to 1996.

McDonald received a Ph.D. in economics from Boston College, and a B.S. in Economics from St. Bonaventure University.

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EY has recruited/relocated several senior tax professionals recently:

Stephen Nash moves from England to Philadelphia as an executive director and global tax account leader in the Northeast Region of Ernst & Young LLP. He has been with EY Tax since 1987, most recently as a partner with EY in London. As a member of the Global Compliance and Reporting practice, Stephen focuses on the telecommunications, media and entertainment industries. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of London.

Bryan Ward

Bryan Ward returns to Ernst & Young LLP Tax as a tax executive director in the Dallas Real Estate practice. With 18 years of experience, Bryan serves companies throughout the Real Estate space including REITs and Private Equity owners and operators of commercial and industrial real estate.  He received his Master of Science in Accounting from Texas Tech University. 

Mitchell Kops

Mitchell Kops joins Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department International Tax Services as a Principal located in New York City. He joins EY after spending 17 years with Withers Bergman LLP/Withersworldwide, where he was a partner focused on US international and domestic tax, predominantly working with private companies, family offices, and high net worth individuals, and served as the global head of the tax practice. Kops received his LLM from New York University School of Law, juris doctor from Fordham University School of Law and bachelor of arts in Philosophy from the University of Virginia.

McRae Thompson joins Ernst & Young LLP as a partner with the Business Tax Services practice in Atlanta, leading the Southeast region real estate, hospitality and construction tax practice. Previously, he spent more than 11 years at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal after beginning his career at Deloitte Tax in 2003. McRae earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Masters of Accountancy from the University of Georgia. He is a licensed CPA in the State of Georgia.

Mark Lowry returns to Ernst & Young LLP as a partner in Chicago. Before joining the DFMC family office in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer, he had been with EY since 1995, holding the positions of Central Region Transaction Tax Leader and head of Transaction Tax in Asia-Pacific. Lowry received a Bachelor of Science in accounting and Master of Science in Taxation from Texas A&M as well as a Master’s in Business Administration from NYU Stern School of Business.

Josh Scala joins Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department as a principal in Business Tax Services located in San Francisco. Scala will be a member of the Partner Transactional Planning and Economics practice, focused on real estate. He joins EY from Arnold & Porter LLP, where he worked since 2004. Prior to tax law, he spent time in the real estate investment sector, including private development and work at a publicly traded REIT. Scala received his Juris Doctor, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a bachelor of arts from Amherst College. 

Brian Murphy rejoins Ernst & Young LLP in the National Tax Department as a partner focused on the Energy & Utilities sector, located in West Palm Beach, FL. He joins EY from NextEra Energy, Inc. where he was vice president of tax, responsible for enterprise wide tax related matters. Over his almost 19 years with NextEra Energy he held progressive tax leadership roles in the organization including VP Tax for Florida Power and Light. Murphy began his career at EY where he worked until 1998. He received both his bachelors and masters of science in accounting from the University of Florida. He is the founder of STARTUP (the industry trade group for state tax professionals) and had been a sergeant in the United States Air Force from 1985 to 1989.

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Ernst & Young LLP (EY) has announced that the principals and employees of RPR Partners, LLP have joined the EY Private Client Services practice, based in San Diego.

RPR founders and co-directors Robert P. Regnery and Kenneth R. Van Damme II, both previous EY professionals, are returning to the firm after building their independent tax advisory practice. This new team significantly expands EY’s resources of private client service and real estate professionals.

“The addition of this team reflects our commitment to growing strategic areas with unmatched knowledge to meet each of our clients’ needs and to contribute to our EY Global Family Business Center of Excellence,” said Kate Barton, EY Americas Vice Chair of Tax Services. “We are particularly proud to have Bob and Ken back at EY, bringing their talented and insightful team with them.”

Dedicated to serving high net worth clients throughout Southern California and beyond, RPR Partners is focused on supporting individuals and businesses involved in real estate as a key element of their wealth management. The RPR team joins the practice of EY professionals that provide comprehensive services to meet the need of private clients, as well as the global network of EY professionals.

Regnery has 30 years of experience advising clients including private and public companies. He started his career in Chicago with EY before moving to San Diego. After nearly ten years with the real estate practices of EY and Kenneth Leventhal, Regnery joined Peterson & Co where he led both the Real Estate Group and the Entrepreneurial Services Group before forming RPR Partners with Van Damme.

“Having previously worked at EY, Ken and I know that EY professionals strive to be trusted business advisors to their clients,” said Regnery. “They embrace our philosophy of addressing each client’s unique needs and helping organizations – and people – succeed in today’s complex and changing environment.”

Van Damme has more than 27 years of tax advisory experience in the real estate industry and with high net worth individuals. Prior to forming RPR Partners, he had been EY’s real estate tax compliance practice area leader for Southern California, and also served as an adjunct professor at San Diego State University teaching real estate finance and taxation. Van Damme still serves as an occasional guest lecturer on real estate tax topics at several universities.   

“We’re excited to work with an organization that can provide full-service to our clients,” said Van Damme. “This moment in US tax policy is likely to impact all of our clients, and we now have access to incredible resources to support them. As part of the EY team, we can also offer clients broader, long-term support for generational wealth management strategies and family business transactions.” 

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Ernst & Young LLP has announced that James Mackie joins the EY Quantitative Economics and Statistics (QUEST) group in Washington, DC, as co-director, alongside Robert Carroll. Mackie joins EY as he retires after serving for a decade as director of the US Department of Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis (OTA), and serving more than 30 years at Treasury.

“James’s deep experience at Treasury stretches from one era of tax reform analysis to the next,” said Kate Barton, EY Americas Vice Chair of Tax Services. “Virtually every client we have is clamoring for a deep examination of how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will affect them. James’s experience will offer valuable insights for our clients as they tackle implementation of the new bill.”

Mackie had been with the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Analysis since 1985 and became OTA Director in 2008, overseeing and coordinating all activities including revenue estimates, distributional and macroeconomic impact analyses, industry impacts, memos for policymakers, model and data development, and policy development for the Administration’s annual budget. Most recently, he led the analyses and presentation of tax reform proposals to policymakers and stakeholders in the Treasury, the White House and outside the Administration.

Mackie joined the Office of Tax Analysis as a financial economist just prior to the enactment of the 1986 Tax Reform bill, at which point he helped to develop tax policy initiatives and provided insights on complex economic analysis for the Secretary of the Treasury, members of Congress and their staffs, and White House officials. Prior to serving as the OTA Director, Mackie served as OTA Deputy Director from 2007 to 2008, as well as director of the Revenue Estimating Division from 2005 through 2007. He also represented the US Treasury at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

“I had the great pleasure of working closely with James during my 17-year career at the Treasury Department including as deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis during the George W. Bush Administration,” said Robert CarrolI, principal with Ernst & Young LLP and co-Director of the firm’s QUEST group. “James was a valued colleague during our years at Treasury, is a tremendous talent, and will help lead our efforts to meet the explosive demand for economic and other analyses around tax reform.”

In his new role, Mackie will help expand the client services and EY proprietary reports conducted by QUEST, a leading Washington, DC-based economic policy practice focused on tax and economic policy analysis. The group’s work encompasses broad federal, state and local, and global, tax policy and regulatory reform analyses. In addition to developing widely published thought leadership on tax policy issues, QUEST has prepared dozens of issue-specific studies on behalf of clients on a broad range of tax policy and regulatory issues. QUEST also includes a practice that provides a broad range of statistical sampling and survey services to clients.  

Mackie received a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts from Towson State University.

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