England - London • Dispute resolution
PwC LLP
PwC LLP covers the full range of direct and indirect tax disputes, with expertise in investigations, litigation, and out-of-court ADR. Highly experienced partners Mark Whitehouse and David Anderson jointly lead the department. Whitehouse has particular expertise in matters of international taxation, including transfer pricing disputes and EU Group Litigation actions. Anderson specialises in indirect tax disputes, and is praised by clients for his ‘great technical ability’. Director Peter Johnson has key strength in disputes involving international corporate tax and financing structures.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Expertise across a wide range of subjects - combining great technical ability with strategic thinking in the context of litigation.’
- 'Mark Whitehouse has huge experience in large and complex cases and is able to navigate through the thickets of complexity to identify the pragmatic route forward.'
- 'The team we dealt with was great, had a thorough knowledge of the situation based on past experience. The team was detail oriented and considered the situation from several different angles.'
- 'The PwC litigation team is the best in the market for all round strength in depth. They combine great technical skills with sound judgment and a well-oiled support machine. Consistently appear in all the major cases.'
- 'David Anderson has great technical ability and knows how to judge the merits of any case to a T.'
- 'Very responsive and hands-on. Realistic and well-measured advice. Highly experienced in all manner of litigation. A pleasure to work with. Serve their clients extremely well.'
- 'This team demonstrates sound judgment and an excellent rapport with clients and counsel. They are very skilled lawyers who provide very well-balanced and grounded advice.'
Key clients
- TalkTalk Telecom Limited
- Target Group Limited
- Hippodrome Casino Limited
- Procter & Gamble International Operations SA
- General Electric
- Experian plc
- Genus plc
- Informa plc
- Just Eat plc
- Keller Group plc
- Man Group Limited
- Merlin Entertainments Limited
- Royal Mail Group plc
- Sensata Technologies Inc.
- Smith & Nephew plc
- Ultra Electronics Holdings plc
Work highlights
- Advised General Electric on the settlement of an alleged $1bn tax fraud claim brought by HMRC in relation to the anti-arbitrage and unallowable purpose rules.
- Acted in a case brought by Target Group Limited, which is being appealed to the Supreme Court, relating to the extent to which VAT can be added to links within the chain of events that lead to the movement of money.
- Acted in a VAT appeal brought by TalkTalk Telecom Limited against a VAT assessment made by HMRC in relation to prompt payment discounts.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Mark Whitehouse, David Anderson