Scott Drago

Scott Drago is a member of the Business Tax Advisory group, advising clients on a broad range of real estate and transactional tax matters, including structuring joint ventures between public REITs and investors in Canada, Asia, the Middle East and the European Union. Mr. Drago advises public REITs on a variety of tax issues involving acquisitions and dispositions, such as UPREIT structures and corporate, partnership and limited liability company structuring and restructuring.

Mr. Drago works closely with clients and their outside advisors to achieve the desired business and tax objectives for a specific transaction. Together with FTI Consulting's real estate advisory and financial modeling teams, Mr. Drago provides detailed analysis of the tax impact to REITs and investors under various structure alternatives and investment time-lines.

Mr. Drago coordinates with clients' legal advisors in reviewing agreements to ensure the business, legal and tax objectives are aligned. In addition, he advises FTI Consulting's compliance group on issues involving REIT income and asset testing, structuring debt investments (mortgage and mezzanine debt originations and participations), capital gain, dividend, net operating loss and prohibited transaction analysis, taxable REIT subsidiary structures and equity-based executive compensation.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Drago practiced tax law for more than 20 years and was a Senior Tax Partner at a nationally recognized law firm.

Awards and Recognition:

• Notable Leaders in Accounting, Tax & Audit, Crain's New York Business, (2023)