Advisory
Friedman Launches Practice Focused on Qualified Opportunity Zones
Leading the new practice group will be Partner Steven Bokiess, CPA. He brings more than 20 years of experience advising prominent real estate organizations involved in a wide range of properties, as well as extensive expertise in the financial arena.
Dec. 18, 2018
Top 50 accounting and advisory firm Friedman LLP announced today that it is expanding its dynamic service offerings to include Qualified Opportunity Zone (“QOZ”) consulting services. The QOZ program, created under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), is a tax incentivized investment initiative meant to spur economic growth in low-income communities while providing investors with additional capital to expand existing businesses, form new businesses, or fund real estate developments.
Leading the new practice group will be Partner Steven Bokiess, CPA. He brings more than 20 years of experience advising prominent real estate organizations involved in a wide range of properties, as well as extensive expertise in the financial arena. He has provided tax consulting and compliance services to a variety of real estate and asset management clients, including REITs, real estate partnerships, private equity funds, hedge funds, investment advisors, broker/dealers and mutual funds.
“In response to growing questions surrounding this new, complex and long-term investment strategy, we strategically assembled leading tax experts to create the QOZ Consulting Practice. I am confident that this new team will guide our clients through the TCJA, address the unique challenges they face and help them leverage key tax incentives to maximize investments,” said Bokiess.
“With QOZs currently spanning 12% of the land area of the nation, there is a tremendous opportunity for individual, trust or corporate investors to reap significant tax advantages,” remarked Robert Charron, CPA, Partner and Tax Practice Leader at Friedman. “The expansion of our service offerings to include this new practice group further demonstrates our commitment to staying on the pulse of industry and policy changes to deliver excellent client services.”
“Friedman has stayed at the forefront of advising on tax reform since before President Trump’s election. The QOZ Consulting Practice includes advisors with direct access to breaking news from Capitol Hill, sought-after thought leaders and members of the firm’s elite TCJA Task Force,” added Co-Managing Partner and Leader of the Real Estate Practice Group, Fred Berk. “This team of experts is well-equipped to help guide our clients through the nuances of this new tax opportunity.”