What does tax law entail?

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Tax law is predominantly a non-contentious area of law, however, matters can veer into litigation territory on occasion. Tax lawyers advise clients on tax issues arising in debt financing, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, swaps, funds, securitisations and real estate deals. Their services extend to structuring and planning for major corporate and institutional clients to help them achieve the best possible tax outcome and protect them from the risk of unexpected tax costs. Tax lawyers often work alongside other teams of lawyers as one aspect of a larger deal, as commercial transactions will typically include tax ramifications. Litigation is always either conducted against or brought by the government. Consequently, tax lawyers working for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or the equivalent Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) are engaged in investigating potential breaches of the law and either prosecuting individuals or companies or defending cases on behalf of the government.

The work of a tax lawyer/trainee

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As part of their work in this area, a tax lawyer engages in a variety of intellectually rigorous work. This includes:

• Handling tax planning for clients, making sure that they understand the tax implications of their purchases; handling ownership and disposal of assets

• Advising on structuring corporate portfolios in the most tax-efficient way

• Offering transactional advice when working with corporate lawyers on M&A deals, joint ventures and property portfolio acquisitions

• Obtaining advance rulings or clearances from IRAS in relation to proposed schemes or transactions to be undertaken

• Dealing with investigations or litigation resulting from prosecution by HMRC/IRAS

A trainee could expect to do a wide variety of work such as performing tax due diligence on a property or helping to draft an important tax opinion on a refinancing for a major listed client. Tax law is an area that is heavy on ‘black letter law,’ which changes every year and consequently, a trainee would be faced with an interesting mix of transactional work as well as the more academic side of law.