Tax Controversy

 
Our tax dispute services are proactive, timely and commercial. We apply our extensive understanding of tax dispute management to mitigate the potentially costly impact of tax dispute resolution.

In the event that a tax dispute is unable to be resolved, our tax team works with our commercial litigation team to seamlessly deliver tax litigation services. We have acted for clients on a variety of tax disputes, ATO investigations, responses to warrant executions and AAT hearings covering a range of state and federal taxes. This includes disputes about:

  • income tax
  • goods and services tax
  • superannuation
  • payroll tax
  • land tax, and
  • stamp/transfer duties.

Experience

  • Acting in an income tax dispute with the ATO involving capital/revenue distinction on a circa $100m gain.
  • Acting in a payroll tax dispute with the Queensland OSR involving payments to sportspeople for the use of their images.
  • Acting in a land tax dispute with the Victorian SRO involving the availability of an exemption for the portion of a developer’s land leased to a registered charity.
  • Acting in an income tax dispute with the ATO involving deductibility of advance royalty payments by a publishing house to authors.
  • Acting in an income tax dispute with the ATO involving the application of Division 974 to a $2bn infrastructure project.
  • Acting for Australian and offshore gambling companies in relation to the applicability of royalty withholding tax on cross-border payments for sports and racing broadcasts.
  • Advising on trust and tax law issues relevant to the majority of trusts in Australia, the High Court, Federal Court and AAT.
  • Advising in relation to the taxation of demergers and the interaction of United States GAAP on Australian tax. The case was held in the Full Federal Court and AAT and is currently being appealed to the High Court.
  • Advising on tax consolidation issues in the Federal Court.
  • Advising in relation to taxation of entities in dual capacities in the AAT.
  • Advising in relation to the issuing of nil income tax assessments in the High Court.
  • Acting in the Supreme and Federal Courts on sales tax or GST classification of numerous products, including plumbing supplies, emergency-exit lighting, computer cabling and brand-name cordials.
  • Acting for a large retail organisation in the proceedings in the Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal, the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Victorian Court of Appeal as to whether payroll tax applied pursuant to the ‘grouping’ provisions of the Payroll Tax Act.
  • Advising on the liability of directors in respect of Director’s Penalty Notices for Company PAYG tax in the Supreme Court.
  • Acting on behalf of a major international company concerning liability for payroll tax in respect of ‘on-hired’ workers in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
  • Acting for high-profile persons who were the subject of ‘dawn raids’ by officers of the Australian Taxation Office and the Federal Police.

Our team

Adam is an experienced tax lawyer, advising on a range of matters, including Division 7A, CGT and corporate restructuring.

Gloria Lim

Gloria is a tax lawyer practising predominantly in the areas of income tax advisory and tax litigation.

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