Admitted to the Bar 2011
Experience
Chris has over 20 years’ tax law experience.
In Chambers Asia Pacific 2025 Chris is ranked Band 1 (Tax). He is acknowledged as a “‘very experienced junior’ who combines a hands-on approach with ‘a similar level of experience and expertise to, and a lot of the softer skills of, a QC'” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2022.
His experience is reflected in his regular appearances unled against Silks, including for the Commissioner in a (“TARP”) dispute with Newmont concerning a $320 million capital gain resulting from a corporate restructure. He is regularly instructed by the Big 4, large international and domestic law firms, and boutique legal and accounting practices.
Clients say he commands “respect as on one of those barristers ‘who live and breathe their profession'” and are comfortable calling him on difficult matters “since he’s done it all” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2021.
He is known for his “practical, clear, proactive advice” and for being “extremely responsive” – Chambers Global 2024.
Chris’s tax advisory practice encompasses corporate and HNW group restructures, and one-off transactions. He has experience across the full gamut of transactional taxes from stamp duty to taxation of gains by foreign residents and cross-border financing arrangements.
His advisory work is informed by his experience in appearing in leading cases in areas targeted by Revenue authorities, including transfer pricing (SingTel), taxation of gains made by foreign residents (Resource Capital Fund IV and Newmont), the revenue / capital distinction (Healius), residency (Harding – special leave), fringe benefits (Virgin, John Holland and Bechtel), tax incentives for R&D (Lakes Oil) and film production (Fragmentary), use of taxpayer information (La Mancha), and stamp duty exemptions for charities (Salvation Army, YWCA and RSL (Qld)). He is currently involved in several high value audits and appeals concerning transfer pricing, Tax Treaties, R&D and film production tax incentives, Div 7A, PSI, withholding tax, Part IVA, superannuation, residency and stamp duty.
Chris’ career highlights also include acting for:
Singtel in its transfer pricing dispute concerning $894 million of interest deductions
– News Corporation in its successful claim for an $850 million refund for foreign exchange losses
– Aurizon in its successful application for a declaration that the character of a $2.4 billion equity contribution was “share capital”
– The Bell Group (in liq) in its appeal from a $260 million assessment following the successful multi-billion claim against its banking syndicate
– John Holland in its successful appeal to the Full Federal Court for deductibility of travel costs for “Fly-in Fly-out” (FIFO) workers
Independent client surveys:-
Chris is ranked as a leading tax practitioner in all major client surveys: Chambers and Partners (Band 1), Legal 500 (Band 1), Best Lawyers, World Tax (in association with the International Tax Review), Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal), Doyle’s Guide (Preeminent).
In Chambers Global 2024, one client stated: “Chris .. is diligent in preparation of the case and readily understands the issues involved. He has a good relationship with clients and is able to explain the issues in layman’s language.” Another commented that: “I value Chris’ practical, clear, proactive advice. His judgement generally and particularly in relation to court matters is good, and he is extremely responsive.”
Chris is ‘[v]ery personable, great relationships with all sides including revenue authorities, able to explain complex technical issues to clients succinctly. Very good at explaining commercial risks of approaches to non-tax technical people. In court has a very confident demeaner and comes across as authoritative on his technical arguments to support his cases’ – Legal 500 (2024)
Chris’ “broad tax law practice embraces mandates both for taxpayers and for the ATO and incorporates noted expertise in transfer pricing and the taxation of capital and revenue and foreign investments. Interviewees rate him, not only as ‘a good sort of person to have on the team for large matters,’ but also as a ‘very experienced junior barrister’ who combines a hands-on approach with ‘a similar level of experience and expertise to, and a lot of the softer skills of, a QC.'” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2022.
“One of the best senior-juniors in the tax space at the Sydney bar… approachable and does [a mix of] work for taxpayers and the Commissioner”. …‘an excellent junior, is willing to pull out all the stops’ when tackling tax cases.” – The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2021 (Tax Bar).
“Chris [commands] respect as one of those barristers ‘who live and breathe their profession’ and for his versatility in acting for both taxpayers and the ATO. Able ‘to deliver a really good product on really complex matters within the time needed,’ he inspires one interviewee to observe: ‘If I have a difficult matter, I feel comfortable calling him since he’s done it all.’” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2021.
“Chris .. is an increasingly prominent senior junior at the tax Bar who is also accomplished in commercial and insurance law. ‘[He] is a standout in terms of engaging in current issues in the tax space, including ethics in tax’ ” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2020 .
“Chris .. is a sought after advocate, with experience appearing at all levels of the Australian court system” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2019.
“Chris … is considered an ‘excellent tax barrister’ by clients and wins praise for ‘fighting for his clients while providing objective advice’ ” – Chambers Asia Pacific 2018
