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The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms

Despite the global economic downturn affecting all tax firms in Australia, KPMG has managed to maintain a strong reputation in the market. Many clients are listed in the top 100 companies on the Australian stock market. The firm, along with the other ... [more]

Despite the global economic downturn affecting all tax firms in Australia, KPMG has managed to maintain a strong reputation in the market. Many clients are listed in the top 100 companies on the Australian stock market. The firm, along with the other leading Australian tax advisers, saw its M&A tax revenues reduce as the liquidity crisis flattened the transaction market during 2008/2009. However, the practice has now started to see increased activity as cash-rich foreign investors look to the Australian market for bargains in the financial services, infrastructure and commodities sectors. Other areas of the tax practice, particularly the indirect taxes, transfer pricing and the R&D incentives practices, continued to experience strong growth during 2008/2009 as clients focused on cash-flow management and dealt with increasing audit activity by the ATO. Appointed on October 1 2009, Rosheen Garnon is the firm's tax practice national managing partner.

The firm's employment-related tax offerings have also proved resilient, and this team expects to be busier still following a raft of Australian government reforms affecting executive remuneration and equity-based payments being pushed through in part in response to the downturn. Partner Martin Morrow has been particularly active in this area, including advising the Business Council of Australia on these issues.

Lachlan Wolfers, Geoff Girvan and Adam Gibbs all recently assisted Metlife Insurance Limited in relation to a dispute with the ATO concerning its liability for capital gains tax arising from the sale of its Taiwanese branch. The firm argued that the decision of the Full Federal Court affirmed that the commissioner of taxation had issued his assessment out of time. As a result, the assessment was overturned without the need for the client to conduct costly (and lengthy) proceedings in relation to the substantive tax issues.

Louise Lovering in the corporate tax practice and Keith Polkinghorne in the indirect tax practice were both promoted to partner in the past year.

The firm represented a private equity firm in its $2.5 billion bid for a fixed-line telecom operator for a stake in its telecommunications, media and information-technology systems business. The firm has also been advising a China-based client on performing ... [more]

The firm represented a private equity firm in its $2.5 billion bid for a fixed-line telecom operator for a stake in its telecommunications, media and information-technology systems business. The firm has also been advising a China-based client on performing a bilateral cost allocation between US and China. This cost allocation will be the first of its kind negotiated in China.

The global downturn has brought KPMG's China practice more restructuring and debt financing work over the past 12 months.

Khoonming Ho, who is based in Beijing, is a well-respected tax adviser and has been instrumental in establishing the firm's global tax committee. Steven Tseng is at the head of a transfer pricing practice that has three partners, making it one of the largest transfer pricing departments in the country. A number of employees have worked for the SAT, which means the firm is well-placed to handle any disputes by the authorities.

Like its big-four rivals, KPMG's tax practice is integrated with the firm's China practice. Lloyd Deverall is the partner-in-charge for tax and oversees the team from the Hong Kong office. More than 200 tax professionals work in the tax practice which ... [more]

Like its big-four rivals, KPMG's tax practice is integrated with the firm's China practice. Lloyd Deverall is the partner-in-charge for tax and oversees the team from the Hong Kong office. More than 200 tax professionals work in the tax practice which has seen growth over the past year despite the slowdown in the markets.

Vaughn Barber has been recognised for his outbound international tax work and has been involved in some of the firm's larger transactions.

Partner Chris Abbiss has been advising large insurance companies, while partner John Gu is a "real expert" in private equity and M&A work. The competition recognises Ayesha Macpherson as a "tax market leader".

To help cope with the changing transfer pricing regulations in the country, the firm have brought in two transfer pricing directors from overseas.

KPMG is one of the fastest growing tax practises in India. In the past 12 months the firm hired seven new partners from big-four rivals and from industry. It now has 40 partners and around 600 tax professionals in India and services some of the country's ... [more]

KPMG is one of the fastest growing tax practises in India. In the past 12 months the firm hired seven new partners from big-four rivals and from industry. It now has 40 partners and around 600 tax professionals in India and services some of the country's biggest names. The firm has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Kolkatta. Almost all the offices are led by a full time partner based in that location.

Uday Ved leads the firm's tax practice and has over 25 years experience.

The firm believes that in the Indian environment, given the kind of complex tax issues faced by the clients, litigation is imminent. Hence, the firm has focused on building a strong litigation practice in India. Towards that end, the firm hired Pawan Kumar, a tax litigation specialist from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Keyur Shah joins as partner of the international tax and financial services practice from Ernst & Young.

On the tax advocacy front, KPMG has been working with premium trade bodies and industry organisations including CII and NASSCOM in giving recommendations to the Indian government on proposed changes in the Indian legislation. Partner Parind Mehta has been invited to join the committee formed by the Government of Maharashtra to discuss issues relating to introduction of GST in the state.

Transfer pricing has become an area of focus for the firm in the past year. Headed by Rohan Phatarphekar, the firm undertakes 500 transfer pricing studies each year.

Tax advice for KPMG in Indonesia is provided through KPMG Hadibroto, where the managing partner is Armandi Hadibroto. Peers have commended Hadibroto for his "long and distinguished" career.Like the other tax firms in the country, KPMG have been adapting ... [more]

Tax advice for KPMG in Indonesia is provided through KPMG Hadibroto, where the managing partner is Armandi Hadibroto. Peers have commended Hadibroto for his "long and distinguished" career.

Like the other tax firms in the country, KPMG have been adapting to new tax legislation and have found themselves busier than ever as clients are concerned about how the new anti-avoidance rules will affect them and their tax position.

With over 550 tax professionals and 34 tax partners, KPMG offers one of the largest tax practices in Japan. Like the other large accountancy firms, it offers the full spectrum of tax needs including tax advisory and compliance advice for large domestic ... [more]

With over 550 tax professionals and 34 tax partners, KPMG offers one of the largest tax practices in Japan. Like the other large accountancy firms, it offers the full spectrum of tax needs including tax advisory and compliance advice for large domestic and foreign multinationals.

The tax group is headed by Hiroaki Sasaki who explained that despite the economic slowdown, "work is still going on".

One area of focus for the firm over the past year has been transfer pricing. Daisuke Horiguchi and Yoko Hatta are well-known for their transfer pricing work. They have been involved in a number of audits and in numerous advance pricing agreements.

Just like other firms, M&A work has slowed down at KPMG, but efforts have been made to ensure that clients are ready to go once the economy picks up again.

The firm brought in Akihiro Yamada from the Japanese Ministry of Finance as a director. Yamada is well-known by the tax community because of his important role in formulating tax rules during his spell at the ministry. He will take on an international tax policy role.

Like last year, KPMG has been heavily recommended by peers as one of the leading tax firms in the country. The firm offers a full range of tax services, but some areas have fared better than others during the slowdown. Traditional M&A work has been replaced ... [more]

Like last year, KPMG has been heavily recommended by peers as one of the leading tax firms in the country. The firm offers a full range of tax services, but some areas have fared better than others during the slowdown. Traditional M&A work has been replaced with tax-efficient restructurings. International tax partner Nicholas Crist has been kept busy by clients trying to get to grips with the country's new thin-capitalisation rules. Chew Theam Hock was also recommended for his financial products advice.

KPMG' tax practice consists of 20 tax partners including four international tax partners and is led by Brahma Sharma. Kimberly Jarret leads the transfer pricing practice and is also involved in indirect taxation, including customs. Scott Olding is a ... [more]

KPMG' tax practice consists of 20 tax partners including four international tax partners and is led by Brahma Sharma. Kimberly Jarret leads the transfer pricing practice and is also involved in indirect taxation, including customs. Scott Olding is a director based in Auckland and leads the R&D tax group. Partner Tony Joyce is involved in structured finance and cross-border transactions. Partner Greg Knowles provides advice on tax structuring. Paul Dunne specialises in capital markets and financial products. The firm's clients include AMP Capital Investments, Telecom and Vodafone.

KPMG has been highlighted by peers for its "market penetration". The tax practice is commended for its transfer pricing work and it's "no surprises" approach to tax work.

Like its big-four rivals, KPMG offers a full range of tax services. Financial services and outbound M&A work are particular strengths of the practice. The outbound M&A work is handled by the firm's international corporate tax practice, which provides ... [more]

Like its big-four rivals, KPMG offers a full range of tax services. Financial services and outbound M&A work are particular strengths of the practice. The outbound M&A work is handled by the firm's international corporate tax practice, which provides clients with the necessary planning requirements.

Like its big-four rivals, KPMG has not brought in new members to the tax team, but has utilised itsexisting team to work on some large transactions. The firm has been involved in providing tax and transfer pricing advisory work for a client's overseas ... [more]

Like its big-four rivals, KPMG has not brought in new members to the tax team, but has utilised itsexisting team to work on some large transactions. The firm has been involved in providing tax and transfer pricing advisory work for a client's overseas operations. The project involved a review of the client's value chain and, accordingly, proposed alternatives to the re-allocation of the functions and risks ensuring that the profit allocation of the client's regional operations is in line with the group's overall economic performance to reduce the risk of double taxation.