Rachel Stephens

Clinical Associate Professor

Area: Accounting
Phone: 757-221-2756
Email: [[m|Rachel.Stephens]]
Office: Miller Hall 3036

Biography

Rachel M. Stephens has over 20 years of experience in federal, state and local taxation. She possesses specialized expertise in the areas of federal tax appeals, corporate tax compliance, audit defense and tax controversy, nexus studies, voluntary disclosures, and due diligence for mergers and acquisitions.

Rachel worked for the Internal Revenue Service's Office of Appeals and is currently a contributing state and local tax author to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint.

Rachel received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from St. John's University and her Master of Science degree in Taxation from The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John's University.

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Master of Science in Taxation, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 2007
Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Dean's List, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 1988-1992

Clinical Associate Professor - Taxation and Accounting, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, Fall 2016-present
- Courses - OMAcc program: Individual Income Taxation; Advanced Federal Taxation.
- Course - PTMBA program: Financial Accounting.
- Courses - MAcc program: Advanced Federal Taxation; Estate and Financial Planning; Tax Research and Current Topics; Tax Analytics Case Competition Course.
- Courses - Undergraduate program, Raymond A. Mason School of Business: Financial Accounting, Tax Competition, Individual Income Taxation.
- Member of MSOB Dean's AI Tiger Team.
- Member of Undergraduate Advisory Committee.
- Faculty advisor for Gibbs Accounting Society, 2017-2024.
- Member of Cohen Career Center Advisory Committee, 2018-2021.
- Member and Clinical Committee.
- Recipient: 2022 Master of Accounting Faculty Excellence Award.
- Recipient: 2018 Alfred N. Page Master of Accounting Graduate Teaching Award.
- Presenter: 2018 Traditions Weekend, Boyle Legacy Society-Understanding Tax Reform Changes and Estate and Financial Planning.
- Presenter: 2019 MBA Alumni Weekend - Personal Financial and Estate Planning.
Lecturer - Accounting, Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY, Fall 2011-Spring 2016
- Courses: Principles of Accounting I & II; Business Organization and Management.
- Served as Accounting Department faculty advisor for the campus student learning center.
Tax Editor/Author, Thomson Reuters, New York, NY, March 2012-October 2018
- Create expert analytical writing and analysis for Thomson Reuters RIA and Checkpoint tax products.
- Apply strong research and analytical skills to interpret and analyze tax legislation, cases, regulations, rulings, procedures and other official material publishing by federal, state and local tax authorities.
- Write and revise publishable editorial analysis and explanations of tax law.
- Maintain a high level of expertise in assigned specialized areas of the tax law and write publishable editorial analyses and explanations of tax law.
- Monitor competitors.
- Keep abreast of the research needs and practices of subscribers and respond to subscriber inquiries.
- Editor for Thomson Reuters Checkpoint - RIA Guide to Sales and Use Taxes.
Appeals Officer, Internal Revenue Service, Holtsville, NY, August 2009-January 2012
- Mediate and resolve tax disputes between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service.
- Research Federal tax law, including case law, in order to apply the law appropriately and fairly to the facts and circumstances in the given case.
- Review taxpayers' tax court petitions against the Internal Revenue Service in an effort to resolve or settle the cases without an appearance in Tax Court.
- Prepare case memorandums, tax calculations and Tax Court legal documents in order to close the case or in order to prepare a case for trial.
Manager of Tax Consulting Practice, Thomson Reuters, Atlanta, GA, June 2008-July 2009
- Managed the indirect tax consulting practice for the OneSource Sales and Use Tax business unit, which included engagements in the following areas: transaction taxes, business licenses, telecommunication excise taxes and regulatory issues.
- Responsible for the scoping of all consulting engagements, the review of contract terms and the final review of deliverables.
- Managed, trained and developed tax consulting staff and compliance staff. This included conducting "Lunch and Learn" sessions that addressed tax technical topics.
- Conducted tax law research, pursued private letter rulings, managed state and local transaction tax audits and federal excise tax audits, conducted reverse audits, performed bad debt analyses in order to uncover available deductions, developed taxability metrices, performed nexus studies, conducted due diligence audits prepared and negotiated voluntary disclosure agreements and corresponded with federal, state and local government agencies on behalf of clients.
- Communicated with all levels of tax and accounting personnel, including senior leadership, both at the client and within the Thomson Reuters organization, to discuss the planning and execution of engagement.
- Built the sales pipeline, tracked realized and recognized revenue and managed staff utilization goals.
- Wrote tax technical articles for Thomson Reuters and recognized revenue and managed staff utilization goals.
- Wrote tax technical articles for Thomson Reuters internal and external publications.
- Developed and taught curriculum for sales and use tax sessions at the Thomson Reuters Users Conference.
Tax Manager, Manhattan Associates, Inc., Atlanta, GA, January 2007-May 2008
- Responsible for the preparation and review of state income tax, sales and use tax and property tax returns.
- Performed reverse audits in order to identify areas of potential exposure, as well as, refund opportunities.
- Reviewed customer contracts for the appropriate tax responsibility language.
- Researched tax law with respect to products and services offered and maintained and adjusted billing systems accordingly.
- Corresponded with tax authorities with respect to audit issues, tax assessments and policies pertaining to software industry. This included soliciting private letter rulings when the tax law was vague with respect to industry issues.
Tax Manager, Transaction Tax Group, Verizon Communications, Inc., New York, NY, 2001-2005
- Managed and developed staff of four tax specialists and one tax analyst.
- Responsible for the transaction tax compliance of Verizon non-regulated business units. This includes the filing of approximately 6000 sales, use and gross receipts tax returns annually.
- Identified refund opportunities including use tax accrual issues which resulted in state use tax refunds in excess of $2 million.
- Played integral role in developing and implementing tax, general ledger and billing software for the tax department, as well as, the non-regulated business units.
- Developed training documentation and conducted classes for transaction tax compliance staff with respect to properly completing account reconciliations.
- Developed training documentation and conducted classes with respect to obtaining appropriate exemption documentation for the procurement company's sales force.
- Responsible for the review of general ledger tax account reconciliations for all non-regulated entities.
- Researched all tax related issues for affiliates supported by the non-regulated compliance group, as well as researched the taxability of new product lines for regulated affiliates.
- Transaction tax planning for mergers and acquisitions. This included due diligence reviews of target companies and efficiency studies to select surviving company where applicable.
- Selected to be a participant in the Finance Department's Leadership Development Institute.
Manager, State and Local Tax Practice, Arthur Andersen, LLP, New York, NY, 1997-2001
- Responsible for the supervision of a staff consisting of 5 to 7 tax associates.
- Researched state tax law utilizing CCH On-line and LexisNexis.
- Performed sales and use tax audit defense services resulting in audit assessment reductions in excess of $1 million.
- Pursued voluntary disclosure agreements for clients in a multistate environment.
- Provided state and local consulting advice to fortune 100 companies.
- Performed due diligence reviews under strict time constraints.
- Reviewed sales and use tax compliance.
- Prepared memorandums addressing various taxability issues for clients.
- Instructed state and local taxation classes at the firm's primary training center.
- Performed reverse audits and processed refunds in excess of $300,000.
- Consulted on restructuring strategies for sales tax savings
- Represented clients on unclaimed property audits and voluntary disclosures.
- Participated in the firm's recruitment program for inexperienced hires.
Sales and Use Tax Auditor, Multistate Tax Commission, New York, NY, 1992-1997
- Performed multistate sales and use tax audits on large corporations in a variety of industries.
- Discussed the interpretation of sales and use tax laws and the development of an audit plan adaptable to the company's accounting system with tax department representatives.
- Performed statistical tests to determine accuracy of company compliance.
- Communicated audit results to the taxpayer and participating states via written reports.

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