Our Insights
Joseph Hage Aaronson LLP Again Given Top Tier Ranking For Contentious Tax In The Chambers & Partners 2020 UK Guide
JHAs contentious tax team has once again achieved a band one ranking in the Chambers & Partners UK guide to the legal profession, and with more highly ranked individuals than any other law firm. JHA remains the only law firm to be ranked in the top tiers of both the Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 guides for each year since it was founded in 2013.
Graham Aaronson QC is described as a fantastic advocate with very deep technical knowledge. Michael Anderson is considered super impressive with good, strategic tax knowledge. Paul Farmer is regarded as very clever, very personable and very impressive. While clients say of Simon Whitehead that his in-depth knowledge of the subject matter is second to none.
The top-ranking of JHAs contentious tax team is testament to its unique integrated model, which brings together expert solicitors, barristers and forensic accountants, as well as to its close working relationship with clients, and which together account for its continuing success in dealing with complex, high value and often ground-breaking tax disputes.
View the Chambers UK contentious tax rankings here and the firm ranking here.


Our Insights

Increased Investment in Personal Tax Compliance in the UK (Published in Thought Leaders 4 Private Client)
Advances in technology and increased international fiscal co-operation have made global personal tax compliance initiatives pop up in abundance in recent years. To compound the issue, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the corresponding economic fallout prompted domestic governments to increase transparency in relation to investments held by wealthy foreign individuals (with a focus on oligarchs).
In the UK, in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, public opinion certainly seems to be in favour of increased accountability for high-net-worth individuals (eg, on 9 October 2022, 63% of Britons surveyed thought that “the rich are not paying enough and their taxes should be increased”).1
HMRC is one of the most sophisticated tax collection authorities in the world and the department is making significant investments in technology in the field of compliance work; they are well placed to take advantage of new international efforts to increase tax compliance, particularly considering the already extensive network of 130 bilateral tax treaties in the UK (the largest in the world).2 The UK was also a founding member of the OECD’s Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) forum.
This article discusses the main developments in support of the increased focus on international transparency and personal tax compliance in the UK. There are other international fiscal initiatives, particularly in the field of corporate taxation, but such initiatives are beyond the scope of this article.
It should be noted that a somewhat piecemeal approach, with constant tinkering makes compliance difficult for the taxpayer and is often criticised for lacking the certainty that a stable tax system needs to thrive.
This article was first published with ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Magazine

Case note: Lynton Exports (Alsager) Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2022] UKFTT 00224 (TC)
As HMRC continue to apply the Kittel principle to increasing numbers of industries and businesses, taxpayers need to be vigilant about evidential requirements that HMRC must fulfil in order to discharge their burden of proof. Read JHA’s latest insight into the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Lynton Exports (Alsager) Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2022] UKFTT 00224 (TC).
If you require any further information about the Kittel, Mecsek, and Ablessio principles, or any other allegations by HMRC of fraud or fraudulent abuse, please contact Iain MacWhannell (imw@jha.com).
