Contentious Tax Lawyer

Contentious Tax Lawyer 7 years PQE

Location: London

Brief

We are currently looking to recruit a Contentious Tax Litigation Lawyer with 7 years PQE into the London office of our market leading contentious tax team.

The Team

Pinsent Masons LLP has a large tax team and advises clients on all contentious and noncontentious tax issues. The London contentious tax team is friendly and inclusive and is looking for people who will fit in with this ethos and make their careers here in the medium to long term. Our contentious tax team regularly advises listed companies foreign owned companies public sector bodies and institutional investors on what steps to take to avoid a tax dispute with HMRC arising and where disputes do unfortunately arise how to secure the most favourable outcome in an efficient and costeffective manner. The team seeks to involve all members in client relationship building and business development. We are Band 2 rated for contentious tax in Chambers & Partners.

Key Clients and work

• Acted for Centrica Overseas Holdings Limited in 2024 proceedings before the Supreme Court relating to the deductibility of expenses of management incurred in the preparation of a subgroup for sale to a third party. This is the first time that the Supreme Court had considered the expenses of management code in detail and has substantial ramifications for investment companies whose daytoday business is investment in and from time to time the buying and selling of capital assets.
• Acting for the Danish Tax Authority SKAT in two taxrelated preliminary issues in wider fraud litigation:
  • On the Revenue Rule concerning whether SKATs claim was barred as a claim for tax which proceeded to the Supreme Court and on which SKAT were successful
  • On a further preliminary issue before the Commercial Court relating to what are the requirements of a valid Danish withholding tax claim. Again SKAT were successful.
• Acting for a multinational alcohol producer on a HMRC investigation concerning the excise duty classification of a number of UK products. This involves the review of large amounts of data going back over 10 years and complex issues of statutory interpretation as yet untested in the Courts.
• Acting for a premier league football club in relation to an HMRC investigation into its relationships with and payments to third parties that are or are connected to family members of sports players.
• Advising a large UKbased investment manager on the application of exemptions from VAT to novel workplace investing products.

The Candidate Required

This role sits within a team of fee earners and reports to a partner. The role is for a tax litigator who can take the lead on high profile matters/claims with lighter supervision to support partners and supervise associates. The candidate will be an experienced tax litigator with a good understanding of both direct tax and indirect tax issues HMRC powers tribunal procedure and other routes to remedy against HMRC (such as High Court restitution and judicial review). The candidate will have good experience in dealing with HMRC officers HMRC solicitors office and Counsel.

The successful candidate will have gained a good range of experience of tax disputes work during their career to date at a City firm or large regional practice. The candidate will be able to demonstrate an ability to identify key issues steps required timescales resourcing and strategy to run disputes successfully and to contribute to the setting of these parameters in larger cases. The candidate should have had experience of instructing and supervising junior team members to support their work. Candidates must be technically excellent but equally important commercially aware and enthusiastic about business will be a team player with a strong client focussed approach. They will also have a strong academic background and excellent communication and organisational skills.

The candidate will be comfortable in working both as part of a team on large matters as well as handling their own matters with support from colleagues. The candidate will ideally have experience of the management of large data and document reviews and an interest in employing new technology solutions in their work. They would be joining a team that will provide the opportunity to work on major tax matters across the country and cross border.

Candidates should have experience in running Tax Tribunal proceedings and ideally also tax litigation in the High Court. Candidates should also have strong knowledge of the HMRC enquiry process and HMRC powers.

What will we offer you

• The very best tax disputes work. Involvement in the mosthigh profile and groundbreaking tax disputes. We are a market leading dynamic and growing global team who work together to produce outstanding results for our clients.
• We invest in our team and have a firstclass training and career development programme monthly 121s career discussions and biannual appraisals. Our training reflects our position as a market leader in communications and sourcing. Our training will assist you to develop as a specialist with valuable sector knowledge and the ability to deliver best of breed services.
• Early responsibility and opportunities to develop client relationships.

About the Firm

Pinsent Masons is a global 100 law firm with over 3800 employees operating out of 28 locations across Europe Asia Pacific Africa and the Middle East. We have a longstanding reputation for delivering highquality legal advice rooted in a deep understanding of the sectors and geographies in which our clients operate. Our global reach ensures that we are wellplaced to advise on complex multijurisdictional matters across a full range of legal disciplines.

The firm has significant multinational credentials in the financial services energy infrastructure real estate and advanced manufacturing and technology sectors. Services provided across these sectors include asset management and investment funds corporate and M&A commercial competition litigation and arbitration banking restructuring insurance regulatory construction projects pensions property planning and environmental procurement outsourcing employment share plans and incentives technology and tax advice.

We value diversity and inclusion. We are committed to creating a better workplace where all our people can succeed and feel like they belong. We want to attract retain and develop people at all levels and encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates whatever their ethnicity religion age physical or mental disability/long term condition sexual orientation gender identity or expression or other characteristics. We have embedded a range of diversity and inclusion initiatives to create an environment in which our people can flourish.

We stand out for our innovative approach to service delivery. For example the firm has developed a number of inhouse legal technology and project management solutions operates a hub of freelance lawyers called Vario and a global Diversity and Inclusion consultancy Brook Graham.

Put simply we offer a range of professional disciplines to our clients enabled by our people process and technology.

Awards

Were being recognised equally by commentators and other market movers through a plethora of awards spanning every region and culminating in being named law firm of the year by Legal Business the FTs most innovative law firm in Europe (for the third time in eight years) winning their sustainability award in Asia Pacific and being ranked as Thomson Reuters leading legal brand in their UK index.

We have been recognised as by Stonewall as aTop Global Employer. Recognising that we are a leading employer in advancing LGBT inclusion. Pinsent Masons is recognised as a Top Ten Employer for Working Families in 2023 for the seventh consecutive year. We are accredited as aDisability Confident Employerby theDepartment for Work & Pensionsand we were the first law firm to sign up the global Valuable 500.

The tax team won Best Specialist Team for our energy sector practice at Tolleys Taxation Awards 2024 showing that the value of this expertise is recognised by a panel of our peers.

Please click here to view full list of our global awards and nominations an inclusive employer we are willing to consider any flexible working requests.

Should you require further details please contact our inhouse Lateral Recruitment Advisor Johenn Choi who can discuss the role and requirements.

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