Field Court Tax Chambers

Field Court Tax Chambers deals with all aspects of taxation and is led by highly experienced and respected leaders in the sector. Specialist advice and representation includes international and European tax, property tax matters, value added tax, corporate taxation, M&A advice, restructuring, trusts and estate planning, including acting for high-profile individuals, partnerships and multinational corporations.

The set: Chambers provides dedicated taxation services of the highest quality, delivered with a commitment to meet the commercial and individual needs of clients, as well as to provide first-class legal expertise. The members have a track record of excellence. They have experience of acting on the instructions of clients, ranging from the UK and other governments to major corporations and smaller businesses across a range of industries, as well as individuals. Members of Chambers appear at all levels of the UK court system including the Privy Council  and in the European Court of Justice.

Patrick C Soares is one of the best-known tax lecturers to the professions in the country and lectures on tax structures for property, as well as offshore taxes and estate planning. Topics on which he has spoken and chaired conferences include “Optimum Tax Structures for Land Transactions” and “The Taxation of Overseas Trusts and Companies”. Patrick Soares has written tax memoranda on a wide range of topics including SDLT, the Taxation of Pension Funds, Business Investment Relief, Taxation of Non-UK Domiciled Individuals and  the Statutory Residence Test. He was the Tax Editor of the Property Law Bulletin for many years. He is the Editor of Land Taxation.

Patrick Way KC’s current case load includes issues relating to transfer pricing, DPT, individual and corporate residence, double tax agreements, VAT on property transactions, corporate reconstructions, taxation of interest, mutual agreement procedures, COP9 investigations, image rights investigations, ATED, transfers of assets abroad and many other topics. Forthcoming Tax Tribunal case in relation to Insurance Premium Tax.

Philip Baker KC has written one of the leading text books on “Double Taxation Agreements” and has specialist expertise in taxation and the European Convention on Human Rights. He has acted for the UK and foreign governments, and appeared in the House of Lords, Privy Council and European Court of Justice.

Imran Afzal read Law at Oxford as an undergraduate and postgraduate, coming top of the university on both occasions, and has had a meteoric rise in the profession. He has taught tax part-time at the LSE and on the MA in Taxation at the IALS. He was awarded Tax Junior of the Year by Legal 500 in 2022. He is a member of the Attorney-General's A Panel.

Peter Vaines was a tax partner in firms of accountants and solicitors for many years before joining chambers in 2016. He was the lead advisor in the case of Gaines-Cooper and is described as the elder statesman of residence and domicile. He writes and lectures widely on tax issues and won the Tax Writer of the Year Award in 2015.

Dilpreet K Dhanoa has a diverse practice in Revenue law across both indirect and direct taxes, nationally and internationally. She is currently junior Counsel to the Attorney-General’s C Panel, and undertakes a range of both advisory and litigious work.  Dilpreet joined Field Court Tax Chambers from private practice where she worked in international arbitration and litigation, focusing on commercial disputes. She has appeared in all levels of Court up to the Court of Appeal. Prior to joining the independent Bar, she qualified as a Chartered Tax Advisor with a Big-4 Accounting firm, specialising in the taxation of financial instruments and real estate.

David Southern KC joins Field Court Tax Chambers from Temple Tax Chambers. Before beginning independent practice at the Bar in 1997 he worked in the Inland Revenue and in banking. He was appointed a KC in 2014. Until 2020 he was Director of the School of Tax Law at Queen Mary, University of London. He is sole author of Taxation of Loan Relationships and Derivative Contracts, now in its 10^th edition. A Supplement was published in 2020, dealing with loss carry-forward rules and the corporate interest restriction. He is a contributor to Gore-Browne on Companies.

Riya Bhatt read Law at Merton College, Oxford University as an undergraduate and postgraduate. She achieved a Distinction on the BCL and won the prize for the best performance in the Business Taxation paper. Before commencing pupillage, she achieved an Outstanding on the Bar Practice Course and worked as a research assistant for a tax professor at Oxford University. Riya completed pupillage at Field Court Tax Chambers and joined as a tenant in September 2023.

Rita da Cunha is a practising member of the Bar of England & Wales and of the Portuguese Bar (2008), as well as a member of the New York State Bar (2010). She has rights of audience before EU courts. She also chairs tax arbitration in Portugal on a regular basis and is a tax expert for the Tribute Foundation for International Tax Dispute Resolution.

David Tipping read law at Christ Church, University of Oxford as an undergraduate and postgraduate, achieving a Distinction on the BCL. Before commencing pupillage, David was employed as a Departmental Lecturer in Taxation Law at the University of Oxford, where he taught at an undergraduate undergraduate and postgraduate level. David continues to teach on the university's prestigious MSc in taxation. David completed pupillage at Field Court Tax Chambers and joined as a tenant in October 2024.

Alex Spencer obtained a double first in Classics at Cambridge and then a distinction in each of the PGDL (law conversion course) and BTC (Bar Training Course). Prior to coming to the Bar, he worked for six years as a tax adviser for two "Big 4" accounting firms where he developed specialist practices in indirect tax, real estate tax, and the taxation of luxury assets. He contributes regularly to publications including the British Tax Review, AccountingWeb and the FCTC Digest. He completed pupillage at Field Court Tax Chambers and became a tenant on 2 October 2024.

Information on our door tenants:

David Bloom KC holds the degrees of LLB (Hons) and LLM (Hons) from the University of Sydney. He was called to the New South Wales Bar in August 1975 and became one of Her Majesty’s Counsel in 1987. David is also a practising member of the Bar of England and Wales and a member of the New York State Bar.

*Porus Kaka is a Senior Advocate (India) and Barrister (England and Wales) and was President of the International Fiscal Association Worldwide (2013-2017). He was the first President from the Asian Region in its 75 years’ history. Previously, he represented India in the IFA’s Permanent Scientific Committee. He is currently elected President of the ITAR Bar Association (Mumbai) for 2023-24. He is currently a Trustee of International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (Netherlands) and remains an Hon. President of IFA. He was also on the Editorial Board of the World Tax Journal, and completed his LL.M from Harvard Law School in the USA. His areas of practice include all Direct Tax and International Tax Treaty Laws and litigation.

Philip Goeth was called to the Bar in 2017. Previously he was a senior partner with a Big-4 accounting firm, holding leadership positions in Austria, Switzerland, and in the Asia-Pacific region. He obtained a Master of Business Administration and a Master and Doctor of Law degree in Austria, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP and a Master of Law at the LSE in London. He was awarded rights of audience as Chartered Tax Adviser in the Austrian tax courts in 1997, and he is also licensed as Rechtsanwalt and Certified Public Accountant in Austria and as Auditing Expert in Switzerland.

Richard Collier* specialises in the taxation of MNEs with particular reference to the financial sector and the rules for the cross-border allocation of income relating to transfer pricing and permanent establishments. He has also worked on a range of issues concerning international tax treaties. He was previously a Partner in one of the UK's 'Big 4' consulting firms where his dual role was to lead the global banking tax practice and to lead the Firm's global engagement with the OECD on international tax matters.

*This information is provided in relation to and for the purpose of work undertaken at Field Court Tax Chambers.

Types of work undertaken: Patrick C Soares advises on all aspects of taxation, providing notable expertise on the taxation and structuring of property transactions, as well as value added tax, trusts and offshore tax planning and tax advocacy. Patrick Way KC has appeared in leading tax cases at all levels of the UK court system and also advised on some of the largest corporate transactions in the UK, where the tax at stake has been in the multi-millions and he continues to advise high profile celebrities in the words of sport and entertainment. Philip Baker KC is one of the most renowned tax advisers on international tax matters, handling cases in jurisdictions, including India and Mauritius and at the European Court of Justice. He has advised the UK government and other governments on tax matters and has played a major part in the development of many tax systems. Imran Afzal has been involved in a range of domestic and international matters, acting for taxpayers and revenue authorities. He has been instructed in various high-profile and high-value matters, eg he has acted for Rupert Grint and Arron Banks. Peter Vaines is well known for his experience on matters of residence and domicile and for advising on trusts and private client matters generally with many clients from overseas, in addition to wider issues such as tax investigations and share valuations for tax purposes.  Dilpreet K Dhanoa is well known in the VAT world and has advised extensively on the tax - both in the UK and the Middle East. She was the principal lecturer at the DIFC Academy of Law for VAT, and played a major role during the introduction of VAT in the Middle East. She currently sits on the University of Oxford's Advisory Board for Women in Law, where she completed her Masters in Taxation.  She is a regular contributor to the British Tax Review, and a chapter editor for Gammie & de Souza on Land Taxation. David Southern KC has a wide-ranging tax practice covering direct taxes and VAT in equal measure, nationally and cross-border. His litigation practice is extensive. He  represented taxpayers in many of the recent leading cases on judicial review of payment notices (Rowe, Cartref Care Homes). He has a specialism in corporate finance. He has worked regularly for foreign governments in the UK and abroad (China, Australia, Latvia, European Commission). Riya Bhatt is developing her practice in all areas of taxation. Riya is on the HMRC Junior Junior Panel. Rita da Cunha has previously worked for top-tier firms in Portugal, advised MPs and Peers in the Westminster Parliament on tax policy, and lectured tax law and policy at several universities. She is regularly invited to speak at tax conferences. David Tipping is developing his practice in all areas of taxation. David is on the HMRC Junior Junior Panel. Alex Spencer is on the Attorney General's "Junior Junior" civil panel of counsel. He accepts instructions in all areas of taxation.

Field Court Tax Chambers is expanding from its very strong initial core of barristers and will continue to enhance its services in all its areas of expertise.