Since 2014, Stephen Clarke has been a managing director of the Exempt Organization Tax Services division at Ernst & Young LLP, based in Washington, D.C. Steve provides tax advisory and compliance services to tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations across the country in various areas, including IRS examination and tax controversy support, exemption applications, public charity status, unrelated business income tax, private benefit/inurement and intermediate sanctions, private letter rulings, compliance with Affordable Care Act 501(r) requirements for tax-exempt hospitals, and compliance with the tax requirements of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the CARES Act.
Before joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Clarke was a tax law specialist, project manager and guidance group manager with IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TEGE). He served as the project manager for the 2008 redesign, rollout, and ongoing revision of Form 990, the information return filed annually by charities and other exempt organizations, and also served on the team that developed Form 990, Schedule H for hospitals. As guidance group manager, he managed a group of tax law specialists in drafting guidance for and responding to private letter ruling requests of tax-exempt organizations.
Prior to joining the IRS in 2005, Mr. Clarke worked as an attorney with Gammon & Grange, P.C., a law firm in northern Virginia, where he served tax-exempt organizations, radio broadcasters, and trust and estate clients since 1996.
Throughout his career he has worked with nonprofit organizations, helping them to understand and comply with tax and other regulatory requirements while also helping them to meet their charitable goals. He serves on the board of directors of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Council, a group that facilitates dialogue between IRS TEGE and the tax-exempt sector, and has served on the planning committee of the American Health Lawyers Association’s annual Tax Issues for Health Care Organizations confernece.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wheaton College in Illinois and his juris doctorate from the College of William and Mary School of Law, where he served as an editor of the Law Review. He is an active member of the Virginia bar.