HOLTHOUSE CARLIN & VAN TRIGT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Partner / Pasadena
Andy has over 20 years of experience providing strategic tax advice to clients on transactional and tax compliance services across numerous industry sectors including manufacturing, distribution, online-retail, commerce and software, real estate, and investment funds. As the leader of HCVT's Mergers & Acquisitions Tax practice, Andy addresses the tax structuring and reporting issues associated with complex transactions. He focuses on the analysis of the tax efficiencies of proposed deal structures and conducts comprehensive tax due diligence. Andy's M & A experience includes both buy-side and sell-side strategic advisory services. Andy has worked with clients through all phases of the business cycle, including start-up, rapid growth, steady cash flow, and workouts. Andy was recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Most Influential M & A Advisors in Los Angeles.
Andy is a thought leader and has served as an expert witness in tax matters and has authored numerous articles addressing complex tax issues included in such publications as the BNA Bloomberg Tax Management Real Estate Journal, Tax Notes Today, the Orange County Business Journal, and the Los Angeles Business Journal, among others. Andy is a frequent guest speaker at the USC Gould School of Law Tax Institute addressing topics such as the tax issues related to buying or selling privately held businesses. Local media, including ABC Eyewitness News, contacted Andy to provide commentary on the fiscal cliff in 2012.
Andy began his career with Deloitte in Los Angeles, which included a three-year rotation in its Washington National Tax office and was a member of the M&A group based in Los Angeles. Andy has served as an adjunct professor for the Master of Science in Taxation program at California State University, Northridge. Andy has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Pepperdine University with honors and a master's in taxation from the University of Denver. A strong supporter of the arts, Andy is the Chairman of the Board of the Lark Musical Society.
Job Titles:
- Professional and Community Involvement / American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Ben has over 18 years of public accounting experience providing tax compliance and consulting services to private equity sector clients, as well as clients in venture capital, hedge funds, fund-of-funds, and investment management. Ben is involved in all facets of tax compliance and consulting, including project planning and management, income tax accounting, and technical research. He is highly experienced serving clients with complex international investment portfolios and diverse domestic and foreign investor bases. He has extensive experience advising clients on investment fund structuring and reorganizations, tax-efficient business operational strategies, tax considerations of partnership agreements, and partnership allocation and distribution modeling. Ben has assisted his clients with all phases of the tax controversy lifecycle, including prevention, efficient management, and favorable resolution of tax audits and disputes at the federal and state level.
Ben began his career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen and was also with Deloitte and BDO. He is a graduate of Miami University and holds a bachelor's degree in accountancy.
Job Titles:
- Contributor
- Named As Top 25 Tax Specialist
- Selected for Prestigious "Top 10 Accounting Professionals" Award
Blake joined HCVT to open the firm's Long Beach office over 25 years ago and opened the firm's Park City, Utah office in 2014. Blake has served, in leadership positions on numerous community boards including the Long Beach Community Foundation as Vice-Chair, Cal State Long Beach Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership Governing Council, and the Long Beach Rotary where he served as president. Blake is also an active member of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and served as chairperson and is a regular member of the Park City Rotary Club, The Egyptian Theater, and the Park City Chamber of Commerce. Blake was named as one of the Top 10 California Accounting Professionals in 2015 and 2014. The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce awarded Blake the 2016 Community Spirit Award for his economic development work and leadership in the California Enterprise Zone program. He was named as a 2020 Top 25 National OZ Influencer and was named a Top 25 OZ Tax Specialist two years in a row by OpportunityZone.com.
Blake is a frequent contributor to leading industry-related publications. TaxConnections.com named Blake as one of the Top 50 Tax Bloggers in the US. Blake has been a contributing columnist for the AICPA CPA Insider, a past columnist for the AICPA Corporate Tax Insider Newsletter, and is a regular contributor to the Long Beach Business Journal as well as numerous other publications. He has lectured at a number of universities, including the University of Southern California (MBT Program) and California State University Long Beach (Annual Tax Conference), BYU and the University of Utah, as well as various business and tax forums throughout the country. Blake has also been a technical resource for many news organizations, including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Press-Telegram, KTLA News, Park City TV, KNX NewsRadio, and KFI Radio KPCW.
Job Titles:
- Selected for Prestigious "Top 10 Accounting Professionals" Award
Blake brings over 35 years of experience providing tax consulting and compliance services to clients that include multinational, publicly-traded corporations, as well as closely held owner-managed businesses. Throughout his entire career, Blake has specialized in federal, state, and local tax incentive programs. Blake is leading the firm's efforts in providing tax consulting services for Qualified Opportunity Zones. Blake and the HCVT OZ Team have been involved in the formation of over 50 Qualified Opportunity Funds and over 50 Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses. They have also advised hundreds of other investors and professionals regarding the complexities of formation, operation, semi-annual testing and restructuring of QOFs and QOZBs.
As a thought leader, Blake has been recently interviewed by US News and World Reports and other national publications providing insights into this powerful, yet complex, tax incentive program and has authored several articles and HCVT Tax Alerts about Qualified Opportunity Zones (OZ) and Qualified Opportunity Funds. Blake has developed unique insights into OZ strategies for real estate developers and investors, as well as for operating business start-ups and expansions. In addition to tax incentive consulting, Blake provides partnership and individual tax planning and compliance services. His industry experience is broad and includes manufacturing and distribution, service companies, restaurant, shipping and transportation, energy, and healthcare.
Blake began his career at KPMG LLP and was admitted to its partnership. Blake holds a master's of taxation from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's degree in accounting and a minor in finance from California State University, Long Beach. Active in both the Long Beach and Park City communities. Blake supports the fundraising efforts of LB and PC Rotary, the LB and PC Community Foundations, Plant LB, The Egyptian Theater/Save Our Stage, and the National Ability Center.
Curt leads HCVT's international tax practices and has over 20 years of experience in providing tax planning and compliance services to individuals, public and private companies. He has extensive experience in addressing complex international tax issues including foreign tax credits, subpart F and PFIC planning, FATCA, FIRPTA, IC-DISC, tax treaty analysis, and foreign currency calculations. Curt works with multinational individuals that own foreign corporations, foreign partnerships, and foreign trusts. He has advised on the application of the throwback rules related to foreign trusts, including computations for DNI/UNI. He also has extensive experience in planning and structuring acquisitions and dispositions of real estate investments made by domestic and foreign investors.
Curt has extensive experience in advising private equity clients on fund formation, investment tax structuring, operations and exit with the goal of helping his clients achieve the economics of the fund. Curt has assisted his private equity clients with tax-efficient structuring of parallel investment vehicles. Curt has experience in advising on investments in various countries including Japan, India, China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Morocco, Canada, and Mexico. Among other fund structuring projects, Curt has advised on the implementation of a $4 billion fund structure that provided parallel investment vehicles for foreign, sovereign, tax-exempt and taxable US investors. Curt has advised on implementing investment structures relating to various industries including hotel chains, casinos, apartment buildings, non-performing loan portfolios, and real estate development.
Curt began his career in public accounting at KPMG LLP. Curt has a master's degree in professional accounting from the University of Washington. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and holds a bachelor's degree in finance. Curt is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California.
Job Titles:
- Joins HCVT As Partner and General Counsel
Job Titles:
- Chief Operations Officer
- Employee
- Partner
- Member of the Women
As Chief Operations Officer, Patty leads the firm's strategic and operational initiatives, including many that are transformational to the organization. In leading these projects, she identifies the root causes of process inefficiencies and welcomes ideas and solutions from team members regardless of tenure. As a member of the firm's executive committee, she is helping to shape the future of HCVT, addressing technology, virtual/remote work arrangements, privacy, security, attracting, developing, and retaining the right people, and building a work environment where all can thrive.
Patty is a member of the Women @ HCVT, the firm's initiative that develops programs that help to empower, promote, and retain the women of HCVT. She serves on the advisory board of the firm's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee providing guidance, support, and direction to the committee's leaders.
Patty is employee #10 at HCVT and joined HCVT's tax practice where she served closely held private businesses and high net worth individuals and their related entities. For over 30 years, she has helped to define the culture of the firm, respond to the changes and challenges of public accounting, and has been a role model for the women of the firm.
For over 20 years, Susan has served clients with multistate and local income tax compliance needs in the technology, life sciences, and professional service firms. Susan is known for her ability to address state income complexities associated with tax provisions and uncertain tax positions. She provides consulting services on various multistate income and franchise issues, including nexus studies, apportionment studies, and voluntary disclosure programs.
Before joining HCVT, she was a senior manager at Deloitte, providing compliance services primarily to large publicly traded public companies. She managed state and tax controversy matters and acted as an Income Tax Deputy for the State of Montana for Deloitte's Jurisdictional Lead. Susan has experience addressing tax due diligence with a company's merger or acquisition. Susan began her career in private accounting and was responsible for all tax matters, including audits with the IRS and mergers or acquisitions. She helped facilita te tax credits in saving millions in annual tax savings. Having worked in both public and private accounting, Susan provides a balanced perspective for her clients. Su san received her bachelor's degree in accounting from Linfield University in Oregon.
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountants Mountain Chapter President