Tax Audits and Disputes

An IRD audit can be very unsettling and distracting. James can put your mind at ease. As a leading tax professional, he has assisted many individuals and business.

Professional Indemnity

James regularly acts for a number of leading insurers in New Zealand in relation to professional indemnity matters.

Charity law covers a wide range of situations in practice. James has argued a number of the leading charity law cases for the Crown and gives advice to the charity sector now that he is at the independent bar.

Tax Residency & Trusts

James won the leading case on personal tax residency in New Zealand. It is the Diamond case. That win meant that Inland Revenue had to change its published policy statement.

Co-Ownership and Land Tax Issues

18 May 2021 The legal and tax implications of co-ownership

With pressure caused by the relentless rise in land and house prices people are starting to buy land as groups of couples or friends. This shares the mortgage load but there are legal and tax issues to think through.

R v Ng Mooi Lam

1 January 2016 District Court

This case involved a partial victory for the taxpayer James acted for which is very rare indeed in fraud cases

The Fight Against Global Tax Evasion

1 February 2018 This article deals with the changing disclosure landscape under FATCA and CRS

The tax landscape is such that revenue authorities are increasingly exchanging information about private individuals with revenue authorities in foreign states. This article looks at what limits there might be to that. It was published in Taxation Today October 2017 and the NZLJ in November 2017

Roberts v CIR

12 September 2018 [2018] NZHC 2153

This case establishes that charitable giving for the purpose of s LD 3(1) of the Income Tax Act 2007 can be done by way of forgiveness of debt.

News

My main news is on the blogs.

CIR v Roberts

19 December 2019 [2019] NZCA 564

I acted for the respondent Mrs Roberts in this appeal. We were successful. The Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the High Court judgment. The result was that debt forgiveness is correctly classified as a monetary gift. The government has fought a long campaign against this result and 24 hours after the Court of Appeal judgment was released issued notification that they would change the law in 2020.

Search Results