06 Practice Area
Taxation
Direct and indirect tax, advised while it is still a choice rather than a demand.
Tax problems are rarely created in an assessment. They are created in a transaction structured without anyone asking the question, an invoice raised under the wrong head, or a classification adopted years ago and never revisited. By the time a notice arrives, most of the useful choices have already been made.
We advise on the direct and indirect tax consequences of transactions and business structures, on GST classification, registration and input credit questions, and on the tax terms buried in commercial agreements. On the contentious side we respond to notices and act in assessment and appellate proceedings before the appropriate authorities and tribunals.
We are candid about proportion here as elsewhere: where a disputed amount will cost more to contest than to pay, we will tell you so.
Common questions
Questions we are asked
We have received a notice. How urgently should we respond?
Immediately, and never by ignoring it. Most notices carry a limited window, and a reply filed late — or filed badly — narrows what can be argued afterwards. Bring us the notice and the underlying papers together: the answer usually turns on the second more than the first.
Is this a question for our chartered accountant or for a lawyer?
Frequently both, and they are not substitutes for one another. Returns, accounts and routine compliance sit with your accountant. Structuring a transaction, reading the tax clauses of a contract, and contesting a demand are legal questions. We work alongside a client’s accountant rather than around them.
Can tax be dealt with after the deal is signed?
It can be dealt with; it usually cannot be fixed. The structure of a transaction largely determines its tax treatment, and once the documents are executed the options narrow sharply. An hour before signing is worth considerably more than a month afterwards.
Speak to us
Tell us what has happened.
The first conversation costs you nothing but the time it takes. Message the chambers on WhatsApp and we will tell you plainly whether you have a matter worth pursuing, and what it will realistically take.