Asia Tax Forum
with the support of

May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Dispute Resolution
How to Avoid, How to Settle
www.taxand.com
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Speakers
Mukesh Butani – Taxand India
Michael Palumbo – Baker Hughes
Eugene Gay – GlaxoSmithKline
Amit Bhalla – Schneider Electric
Leon Kwong Wing – Taxand Singapore
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Contents
01 Appeals Mechanisms In Asia-Pacific: Are They Working?
02 How To Prepare If You Are Caught in a Dispute
03 When A Settlement Is The Best Option
04 Tactics For Jurisdictions Where Litigation Is Most Likely
05 Lessons From Key Cases: Hong Kong cases of Li & Fung; CG Lighting
and Nice Cheer Investment Limited; Singapore’s First Section 33 Case
06 Key Contacts
07 About Taxand
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Appeals Mechanisms: Are They Working?
Alternate mechanisms
for dispute resolution;
availability of both
domestic and
international framework?
Timing issues in
resolving disputes
Learnings from
experiences in AsiaPacific – India,
Indonesia, Vietnam,
Cambodia
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
How To Prepare If You Are Caught In A Dispute
Evaluation of forms of dispute
resolution mechanisms available
Experience in different countries:
India, Indonesia, China, Vietnam,
Philippines, Singapore
Preparing for uncertainty and tax
dispute life cycle
Other out of box thoughts
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
When A Settlement Is The Best Option
Depends on company risk appetite
and tax department leadership
May be considered where certainty
and timing is important
Evaluation of impact of
settlement
Experiences in some Asia Pac
countries
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Tactics For Jurisdictions Where Litigation Is Most Likely
Timely expert advice
Good housekeeping
Methodologies for mitigating tax and penalty exposure
Keeping top management informed
Country specific experience
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Lessons From Key Cases
Singapore’s First
Section 33 Case
Vodafone
case
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Singapore GAAR
•CEC v Comptroller
•UOL Development (Novena) Pte Ltd v Commissioner
•AQQ v Comptroller
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Shareholder’s credit for tax at source on dividends
Company
$20 credit
for TDS
Shareholder
$80 money
Profit $100
Dividend $100
(Finance) ($100)
Net
Nil
Tax
Refund
Nil
$20
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
The factual scenario
MY
SG
MY
SG
SG
NewCo
SG
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Circular flow of loan money
MU bank
MY
$225m
convertible
note
SG
SG bank
NewCo
$225m money
MY
SG
SG
SG
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Circular flow of interest
>99% of
interest
MU bank
<1% of
interest
MY
Interest
SG
MY
SG
SG
NewCo
SG
Interest-free
SG bank
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Thank you
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Our Global Service Commitment
About Taxand
Understanding and managing the tax consequences of cross-border tax transactions
Considering organisational (re)structuring options in full awareness of the tax implications
Realising tax, supply chain and overall operational efficiencies
Interpreting technical tax provisions
Lowering effective tax rates
Addressing and preventing tax leakages
Ensuring tax compliance
Managing relationships with tax authorities
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Global Coverage
About Taxand
Argentina
France
Mauritius
Singapore
Australia
Germany
Mexico
South Africa
Austria
Greece
Netherlands
Spain
Belgium
Hungary
Norway
Sweden
Brazil
India
Pakistan
Switzerland
Canada
Indonesia
Panama
Thailand
Chile
Ireland
Peru
Turkey
China
Italy
Philippines
UK
Colombia
Japan
Poland
Ukraine
Cyprus
Korea
Portugal
USA
Curacao
Luxembourg
Puerto Rico
Venezuela
Denmark
Malaysia
Romania
Finland
Malta
Russia
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Why Taxand?
Dedicated to tax
Independence advantage
– conflict free, unbureaucratic, best practice
Local knowledge,
global view
Partner led from start
to finish
Complex problems,
customised advice
Passionate about
working together
Practical advice, responsively delivered
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Presenter Profile
E. mukesh.butani@bmradvisors.com
T. +91 124 339 5010
Mukesh Butani
Taxand India
Mukesh Butani is a member of the Taxand board which comprises nine Taxand
country Managing Partners from around the world, and Chairman of BMR
Advisors, Taxand India. Specialising in international tax and transfer pricing,
Mukesh has more than 25 years of experience in advising Fortune 500
multinationals and Indian business houses on a range of matters spanning crossborder tax structuring, tax controversy and tax policy structuring.
In addition to his advisory role, Mukesh has represented clients in tax disputes,
tax advocacy, policy and planning. A former national tax Director and international
tax Partner at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, Mukesh serves as Vice
Chairman of the Commission on Taxation, International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC). Mukesh is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is enrolled as an Advocate
with the Bar Council of India.
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Presenter Profile
E. michael.palumbo@bakerhughes.com
T. +65 9780 1615
Michael Palumbo
Asia Pacific Tax Director,
Baker Hughes
Michael joined Baker Hughes in 2000 and has responsibility for Baker Hughes’
tax affairs in Asia encompassing 20 countries, leading and managing the Asia
Pacific Tax Team located in 6 countries, and he is based in Singapore. Prior to
coming to Asia 9 years ago, Michael had responsibility for Baker Hughes’ tax
affairs in the Middle East and was based in London, United Kingdom. Michael
has nearly 20 years of various accounting and tax experience with different
companies in various industries. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Michael has lived
and worked internationally for over 14 years and has been to over 70 countries on
6 different continents and managed tax issues in over 40 countries. His favorite
saying is: “Oil and gas take you to places which are not in the tour guides”.
Michael earned a Master of Science in Taxation Degree and a Bachelor of
Science in Commerce Degree, with a Major in Accounting, from DePaul
University in Chicago and he is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of
Illinois and a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants and Tax Executives Institute (Asia Chapter).
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Presenter Profile
E. eugene.c.gay@gsk.com
T. +65 6232 8338
[]
Eugene Gay
GSK
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Presenter Profile
E. amit.bhalla@schneider-electric.com
T. +65 6480 2049
Amit Bhalla
VP Tax & Customs APAC
Schneider Electric
Amit Bhalla is the Vice President Tax & Customs APAC for Schneider Electric
based in Singapore. In his role, he is responsible for the tax & customs affairs
for the region, which includes Greater China, Japan, India, Australia, New
Zealand and South East Asia region.
Amit began his tax career in India with the accounting firm Arthur Andersen in
1994 and was in tax consulting for more than 8 years. Thereafter, he moved into
industry specialising in the technology sector. He worked for Huawei
Technologies, Cisco Systems and more recently Nortel Networks. During his
career, he has worked and lived in India, China, UK and Singapore.
Amit is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a
graduate from SRCC, University of Delhi.
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Presenter Profile
E. leonkwongwing@khattarwong.com
T. +65 6238 3018
Leon Kwong Wing
Taxand Singapore
Kwong Wing Leon is based in Taxand Singapore where he is a Partner and the
Head of Tax at KhattarWong. He is also a barrister (Gray’s Inn), an advocate and
solicitor (Singapore), and a registered trust and estate practitioner (TEP). Kwong
Wing has been with Singapore’s Taxand practice, KhattarWong, for his entire
career. Kwong Wing advises on income tax, property tax, goods and services tax
and stamp duty in Singapore.
He also defends taxpayers in audit and investigation cases, pursues objections
against Revenue assessments and valuations, and acts as counsel in hearings at
Review Boards and in the Courts. He is the Revenue law lecturer at the
Singapore Bar course, and editor of Halsbury's Laws of Singapore: Revenue and
Taxation published by LexisNexis.
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
Key Contacts
Mukesh Butani
Taxand India
E. mukesh.butani@bmrlegal.in
T. +91 124 339 5010
Leon Kwong Wing
Taxand Singapore
E. leonkwongwing@khattarwong.com
T. +65 6238 3018
Michael Palumbo
Baker Hughes
E. michael.palumbo@bakerhughes.com
T. +65 9780 1615
Eugene Gay
GlaxoSmithKline
E. eugene.c.gay@gsk.com
T. +65 6232 8338
Amit Bhalla
Schneider-Electric
E. Amit.bhalla@schneider-electric.com
T. +65 6480 2049
Asia Tax Forum
May 9-10, 2012 – Raffles, Singapore
ABOUT TAXAND
Taxand provides high quality, integrated tax advice worldwide. Our tax professionals, nearly 400 tax partners and over
2,000 tax advisors in nearly 50 countries - grasp both the fine points of tax and the broader strategic implications, helping
you mitigate risk, manage your tax burden and drive the performance of your business.
We're passionate about tax. We collaborate and share knowledge, capitalising on our collective expertise to provide you
with high quality, tailored advice that helps relieve the pressures associated with making complex tax decisions.
We're also independent—ensuring that you adhere both to best practice and to tax law and that we remain free from timeconsuming audit-based conflict checks. This enables us to deliver practical advice, responsively.
Taxand is a global organisation of tax advisory firms. Each firm in each country is a separate and independent legal entity responsible for
delivering client services.
© Copyright Taxand Economic Interest Grouping 2011
Registered office: 1B Heienhaff, L-1736 Senningerberg – RCS Luxembourg C68