Pump Court Tax Chambers

Head of Chambers: Kevin Prosser QC
Tenants: 34

THE CHAMBERS
Pump Court Tax Chambers is the largest specialist set of barristers practising exclusively in tax law. Its work extends from large-scale corporate litigation in the higher courts to advisory work on complex personal tax planning. Members of chambers regularly receive instructions from solicitors and accountancy firms of all sizes (from the Magic Circle solicitors and the Big Four accountants to high street advisors), trust companies and directly from in-house professionals from a wide variety of industries.
Members also represent the UK government (including HM Revenue & Customs) and foreign governments, including those of Bermuda, Mauritius, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. In addition to a popular annual programme of tax seminars, members are frequent speakers at industry events, and contribute to many specialist textbooks and journals: among other works, the set houses the authors of the pioneering tax planning work Potter and Monroe’s Tax Planning with Precedents, together with many of the contributing authors of Simon’s Taxes, and the Consulting Editor of Simon’s Tax Cases. All members of chambers accept instructions under licensed access and some can accept instructions under Public Access. Full information about how to instruct members of chambers can be found on chambers’ website.

WORK UNDERTAKEN
Pump Court Tax Chambers fields experts in a full range of corporate and business tax issues, from group reorganisations and mergers to structured finance. Its members advise on a daily basis with regards to international and EU aspects of tax law both for the purposes of tax planning and in a litigious context. Almost all of the leading cases concerning the application of EU law to the direct tax code have featured members of Pump Court Tax Chambers. In addition to appellate work (before the tax tribunals and higher courts) and judicial review proceedings, members of chambers also appear before the courts in other types of litigation which raise tax issues, such as professional negligence claims, trust litigation and matrimonial disputes. Chambers has a strong private client following, with a long history of advising individuals, family companies, trusts and estates. It is able to provide advice on all relevant taxes, including inheritance tax, capital gains tax, income tax and stamp duty land tax issues. Typical examples of such work include the sale and reorganisation of family companies, advice on family trusts and tax planning for landed estates. Its members regularly advise on business property relief, agricultural property relief and specialist heritage property reliefs and, for international clients, expert advice is offered on issues surrounding residence and domicile. Chambers has a number of experts in the niche field of employee remuneration, who advise regularly on share options, pension schemes, employee share ownership plans, profit sharing schemes and national insurance contributions. A considerable proportion of Chambers’ work concerns VAT advice and litigation. All VAT topics are covered, including partial exemption, business/non-business activity, the Single Market, European law and alternative remedies such as judicial review and actions for Francovich damages. Chambers also provides advice on other indirect taxes, including insurance premium tax, customs duties, landfill tax, climate change levy and aggregates levy. Members of Chambers have specialist expertise in all stamp taxes and, in particular, issues with regard to corporate acquisitions and restructuring, property transactions, developments and refinancing. In addition to their daily work as advocates, chambers’ Barristers are often instructed to appear as expert witnesses. They also have a particular interest in the use and development of ADR in a tax context, and can offer accredited tax mediators, arbitrators and facilitators.