Related Professionals
HARRISBURG, PA, December 8, 2015 – Thomas A. Bowen, Chair of Stevens & Lee’s State and Local Tax Group, presented at the LeadingAge PA Financial Issues for Senior Services Providers Seminar held November 18-19, 2015, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Bowen’s presentation, “Pennsylvania Tax Exemption Update for Not-for-Profit Retirement Communities,” provided a summary of the current status of Pennsylvania’s real estate and sales tax exemption laws as they apply to non-profit retirement communities, including judicial decisions over the past two years, the proposed constitutional amendment affecting the determination of “purely public charities” (SB 4) and policies and procedures of the Department of Revenue and local taxing jurisdictions. The presentation also covered how to best assess status as a “purely public charity” and taught how to best defend against challenges to an organization’s property tax exemption.
Mr. Bowen concentrates his practice in state and local taxes and economic development incentives. In the tax area, his focus is on controversies, planning and policy. For incentives, he identifies, negotiates and implements grants, low-interest loans and tax reductions.
A Certified Public Accountant and a lawyer, Mr. Bowen spent seven years with Ernst & Young, LLP, most recently as the Mid-Atlantic Area Director of state and local income and franchise taxes. He also served as tax counsel to AMP Incorporated (now TE Connectivity), a Fortune 300 company for over 15 years.
