Tax Lawyers: directory of firms

An objection is a formal written document. Part IVC of the Taxation Administration Act sets out how taxation objections are to be made and when they are to be made, and it is the objection, not a phone call, that preserves your rights. The grounds have to be stated properly, because they shape what can be argued later.

The Commissioner then decides the objection. The Act includes a mechanism allowing a person to require the Commissioner to make an objection decision where one has not been made, which matters when a dispute has gone quiet.

Once there is an objection decision, the Act allows a person to seek review of, or appeal against, it. Division 4 of Part IVC deals with review by the Administrative Review Tribunal, including decisions refusing an extension of time, and Division 5 deals with appeals to the Federal Court.

Confidential communications between a client and a lawyer for the dominant purpose of legal advice are privileged and generally do not have to be produced. That protection attaches to the lawyer relationship, and the position for advice from other advisers is different and narrower.

In a dispute where the ATO is issuing information requests, that distinction stops being theoretical. It is one of the main reasons contentious tax work is run by a lawyer, sometimes with the accountant continuing the compliance work alongside.

Privilege is not a way to hide primary records. Bank statements, invoices and contracts are not privileged because they were sent to a lawyer.

A registered tax agent prepares and lodges returns and deals with the ATO on compliance matters, and agent registration is a regulated status in its own right. An accountant brings the financial analysis and the numbers. Most taxpayers need one or both and never need anything more.

A tax lawyer is the right call where there is a genuine dispute about the law, where an objection or a review is on foot, where the ATO is examining a structure or a transaction, where penalties and the remission of penalties are in issue, or where the advice needs to be privileged.

In practice the three work together. The best tax dispute teams have the accountant on the numbers and the lawyer on the position, rather than one person doing both badly.

Missing the objection window. Part IVC sets when objections are to be made, and while extensions of time can be sought, a decision refusing an extension is itself the subject of a review right, which tells you how often people are late.

Second is talking to an auditor without preparation, where an offhand explanation becomes the ATO's understanding of the facts. Third is poor record keeping, because in tax disputes the burden generally sits with the taxpayer to show the assessment is excessive.

Fourth is treating a dispute about the amount as a dispute about penalties, or vice versa. They are different arguments with different tests, and both are often available.

Contentious tax work is priced like litigation, because that is what it becomes. Ask for the work to be staged: an initial assessment of prospects, then the objection, then review or appeal only if the position justifies it. A clear-eyed view of prospects at stage one is what prevents money being spent on a dispute that cannot be won.

Weigh the professional fees against the primary tax, the penalties and the interest at stake, and against the precedent effect if the same issue will recur in future years. Where you are not a commercial client, the Uniform Law requires a written costs disclosure with a genuine estimate and an updated disclosure if the matter changes significantly.

Taxation is a searchable area of practice on Victoria's Register of Lawyers, listed separately from business and corporate law, and other states publish their own practitioner searches. Check the certificate type and any conditions, not just the name.

Ask two questions at the first meeting: how often the practice runs objections and Tribunal reviews rather than only advisory work, and whether they have dealt with the specific part of the tax system your dispute concerns. A practitioner who lives in superannuation disputes is not necessarily the right person for a transfer pricing question.