Drew VandenBrul has 30 years of experience as a state
& local tax professional advising companies across all industries on complex
Pennsylvania and multistate tax planning, tax controversy, transaction and
compliance matters, including income, franchise, realty transfer and sales &
use taxes.
His time in Philadelphia includes 10 years with Arthur
Andersen, 5 years with Exelon Corporation, and 11 years with KPMG, where he was
a State & Local Tax Partner.
Drew leads Grant Thornton’s national Legal Entity
Optimization (LEO) practice, helping clients drive business efficiency and tax
value through their legal entity structures. Drew co-leads Grant Thornton’s
State Tax Return Review (STaRR) practice.
He has served middle-market companies, private equity
funds, and publicly-traded traded companies in the financial services, real
estate, telecommunications, manufacturing, power & utilities, automotive,
life sciences, and healthcare industries.
Drew regularly consults with companies and economic
development agencies on complex matters involving Pennsylvania’s Keystone
Opportunity Zone (KOZ) program, including qualification for, and quantification
of tax benefits.
As an adjunct professor in the Villanova Graduate Tax
program, Drew teaches two courses in income & franchise taxes and advanced
state and local tax issues in business transactions.
Professional qualifications and memberships:
Drew is a member of the AICPA and an active member of the
state and local tax committees of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs (PICPA),
Philadelphia Chapter of the Tax Executives Institute (TEI), and Greater
Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (co- chair).
He serves on the Villanova Graduate Tax Program Advisory
Board. He served on the 2003 Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission and has been
actively involved in the 2021/2022 Philadelphia Tax Reform Working Group.
Drew has spoken before many organizations, including
Council on State Taxation (COST), State Tax Roundtable for Utilities & Power
(STARTUP), Northeastern States Tax Officials Association (NESTOA), PICPA, TEI,
National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), Edison Electric
Institute (EEI), Broadband Tax Institute (BTI), Pennsylvania Economic
Development Association (PEDA), Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT),
and Villanova and Temple University Schools of Law.
Community involvement:
Drew is on the Board of Trustees of Natural Lands trust
and Chairs the Finance Committee.
Education:
Drew received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and
Finance from Lehigh University and his Master of Taxation from Villanova
University
