Joseph Hage Aaronson LLP

The firm: Our Clients’ needs are at the heart of JHA’s business; our unique structure was born out of a belief that an effective case strategy could be delivered more efficiently if lawyers, barristers, and forensic accountants worked side by side from the outset.

We combine the qualities of a traditional law firm with that of a chambers. Solicitors and barristers, with their distinctive training and experience, work closely as an integrated team to discuss and devise strategy together from the outset to meet our clients’ aims, whether via litigation, arbitration, mediation or settlement.

This simple precept has enabled us to attract and retain numerous clients, many of whom have come to rely on us as a trusted partner to manage and settle their complex disputes.

All clients have full and easy access to the whole legal team from the initial meeting onwards. We provide timely advice and the efficient delivery of a well-considered and effective case strategy. We build close relationships with our clients, based on mutual trust and a deep understanding of their commercial and legal objectives. We are highly sensitive to our clients’ need for privacy and never seek to promote our own business based on their success.

JHA is ranked in Tier 1 in the Legal 500 UK for Tax Litigation and Investigations and is recognised as the only top tier firm for Contentious Tax by Chambers UK. These accomplishments have been achieved every year since the firm was founded in 2013.

Types of work undertaken:

Tax Disputes: JHA’s contentious tax practice brings together barristers, solicitors, chartered tax advisors, and accountants. Together, we deliver a cohesive, considered and effective approach to advising and representing clients through all stages of a dispute.

Our practice is ranked in Tier One of Legal 500 and is the only group to be ranked in Band One in the Chambers UK guide. We have achieved this top tier recognition every year since the firm’s inception.

We act on a wide range of domestic and international tax disputes, advising multinational corporations on various corporation tax disputes with HMRC. This includes acting in all but one of the Group Litigation Orders (GLOs) challenging various elements of the UK’s tax legislation as being contrary to EU law.

In more recent years, JHA has also built a strong reputation for our tax fraud/abuse and tax investigations work, including our role as lead and test case solicitors in the largest VAT Group Litigation that has ever taken place in the Tax Tribunal.

Transfer pricing disputes is a further area of expertise; we are experienced at dealing with HMRC enquiries and investigations and have been active in the highest profile and value transfer pricing disputes of recent years, including those involving Diverted Profits tax. This is an area we have been advising on since its introduction and we are proficient at reaching settlements with HMRC, including in obtaining significant penalty reductions.

Our team also represents entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses on sensitive or difficult tax disputes as well as high net worth individuals facing enquiries and criminal investigations. We work to resolve tax disputes through proactive cooperation and engagement with HMRC, resulting in a constructive working relationship, which enables us to deliver a high proportion of positive outcomes for clients.