Cherry Bekaert Expands Credits & Incentives Resources and Capabilities with Acquisition of the Tax Advantage Group

Cherry Bekaert LLP (“the firm”) announced the acquisition of the Tax Advantage Group (“TAG”), a specialized consulting firm that provides New Markets Tax Credit (“NMTC”) services to clients across the country. Based in Greenville, SC. TAG will now operate as Tax Advantage Group by Cherry Bekaert, and will bring six experienced professionals to Cherry Bekaert’s Credits & Incentives practice.

TAG has been involved in the NMTC industry since its inception and to date has secured over $1.7 billion in NMTC funding. TAG also provides accurate compliance and asset management services through a series of proprietary processes that are unparalleled in the industry. The professionals joining Cherry Bekaert bring more than 50 years of collective experience in working with NMTC Allocation Applications, NMTC Placement and Deployment, and NMTC Compliance and Asset Management Services.

“The addition of TAG aligns with the firm’s strategic growth vision to enhance our value-added specialty tax offerings,” said Michelle L. Thompson, Cherry Bekaert’s CEO and Firm Managing Partner. “TAG has a long track record of creating a substantial economic impact and making a difference for those that live and work in communities across the U.S. They will continue this record of success as a part of Cherry Bekaert.”

“Joining Cherry Bekaert – one of the 25 largest CPA and consulting firms in the country — provides an expanded platform for us to better service the growing demand of our client base,” said Tammy Propst, former founder of TAG and now Managing Director with Tax Advantage Group by Cherry Bekaert. “This combination provides the opportunity to expand the economic impact we can have on the communities we care about.”

Mark Cooter, Managing Partner of Cherry Bekaert’s Greenville, SC, office and Leader of the firm’s Real Estate & Construction industry group commented, “The New Market Tax Credits program is important economic development tool. We have seen first-hand the value TAG has brought to the local Greenville market and look forward to expanding the economic impact across the country.”

TAG has structured and facilitated NMTC investments that have created more than 14,500 direct jobs; served more than 489,000 clients through nonprofit investments; and helped create over 7.1 million square feet of new and improved commercial and industrial real estate. TAG’s current portfolio consists of investments in areas with poverty rates as high as 66.6%, median family income as low as 14.24%, and unemployment rates as high as 31.2%.

Cherry Bekaert and TAG are both actively engaged in the greater Greenville community. TAG and its affiliate, The Innovate Fund, have deployed $154.5M of NMTCs into Greenville projects that revitalize South Carolina’s low-income areas by providing capital and project management for borrowers that create significant community impact.

The professional staff of Tax Advantage Group by Cherry Bekaert will operate out of the firm’s Greenville office located at 110 E Court Street, Suite 500.