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Tax Controversy

Insights for clients navigating complex tax issues, risks and challenges globally

In a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, effective management of tax disputes is vital to the preservation and continuity of resources necessary to keep businesses focused on growth and optimisation.

Highly skilled and regarded, our Tax Controversy team practice share their insights from assisting large corporations and multinational organisations in high-stake negotiations and disputes with taxation regulators globally.

Our team combines rigorous and evidence-led analysis with strategic dispute management to identify pragmatic, commercial options to resolve disputes across the full lifecycle – from risk reviews and audits, to objections, appeals, mediation, negotiation and litigation. Visit our Tax page to learn more and we also work closely Dispute Resolution team.

Taxed Out

We are pleased to launch Taxed Out - a video series anchored at the intersection of cutting-edge disputes and regulatory scrutiny.

Each episode distils the strategic implications of recent decisions and public statements, translating complex disputes into practical guidance to ensure organisations are equipped to anticipate regulatory moves, calibrate risk, and prepare defensible positions.

Episodes

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The big themes from 2025 and the disputes set to define 2026

A year of reviews, high-stakes litigation and shifting certainty programs has left taxpayers recalibrating for 2026. What should businesses expect next? In this opening episode of Ashurst’s Taxed Out series, partners Vanja Podinic and Colin Little unpack the dominant tax controversy themes from 2025 and what they signal for the year ahead.

Watch the video by clicking on the play button on the right or listen to our podcast by clicking the link below

You can also tune into all the Taxed Out content on our Legal Outlook podcast series.

Latest thinking

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Relevant experience

Multinational real estate fund Conducting a tax governance review process for a pan-European real estate fund, identifying areas of risk, and producing a 'recommended tax governance protocol' addressing those risks and more broadly setting the expected governance standard for the business whilst maintaining operational flexibility.
Joint venture partnerNegotiating a detailed joint venture tax protocol, acting for one of the joint venture partners, where each of the joint venture partners had different tax characteristics, tax residence and roles in respect of the ongoing management of the joint venture.
Multinational fund platform
Advising on appropriate fund-wide policies, decision-making procedures and checklists to set out how the organisation should be managed to mitigate tax risk, including from a tax residence and tax substance perspective.
European debt fund
Conducting a review of the funding and operational arrangements for a European debt fund to bolster and evidence entitlement to tax treaty benefits.
Multinational Group
Providing management procedures to minimise risk of challenge to tax residency position.
Global card payment groupAdvising the second largest card payment group on a strategic and regional approach to transfer pricing disputes across Asia-Pacific regions including permanent establishment issues, digital valuations, governance and evidence defence files.
Listed tele-communications groupConducting a review of a significant merger and advising on areas of risk including potential loss of accumulated revenue losses and application of the general anti-avoidance rules.
Multinational media corporationAdvised on an EU Commission state aid investigation into the tax treatment of certain cross border payments and potential state aid ramifications. After providing the EU Commission (and member state governments) with written submissions, we arranged a meeting with the EU Commission and the investigation was dropped without further action being taken. 
Major construction groupAt short notice provided a report into potential fraudulent activity by sub-contractors and the potential civil and criminal tax ramifications including investigation into the potential for challenge under the corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion.
Multinational financial services companyAdvised organisation as to the application of the criminal offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. Our investigations and tax teams jointly reviewed transcripts and provided a written memorandum considering the potential commission of an offence and whether a suspicious activity report was required to be made to the National Crime Agency.

Multinational ConglomerateActing in collaboration with our Disputes, Ashurst Advance and eDiscovery teams to advise the organisation on its response to a formal tax authority information request that required the review of c. 100,000 documents over a 4-week period (from a pool of c. 10m documents).
Major hotel groupAdvising in connection with the test case concerning migration of IP from Australia to Asia. Resolved tax authority enquiries prior to escalation to formal audit.
Major Spanish gas companies Advising several gas commercialisation companies in CIT audits concerning transfer pricing matters, goodwill depreciation relating to gas distribution licences, recharacterization of intragroup loans as equity and tax deductibility of transaction costs.
Several funds and multinational groupsAdvising multiple multinational groups and funds in connection with Spanish corporate income tax and withholding tax assessments including in connection with non-performing loans, tax structures, and beneficial ownership issues, and in the subsequent MAP procedures on the rechacterization of income and transfer pricing matters.
TMT GroupAdvising in relation to corporate income taxes, VAT and transfer pricing as well as permanent establishment challenges in France
Multinational technology companySuccessfully settling a number of regional tax disputes and audits for a top 5 technology group on issues including transfer pricing, anti-avoidance and permanent establishment.
French corporate group
Advising in connection with transfer pricing related controversy related matters with potential tax consequences of c. €1.5bn.
Global FundAdvising in connection with ongoing tax audits including in respect of withholding tax challenges and those relating to management incentive arrangements.
Real estateAdvising in relation to a chargeable gains audit in respect of the sale of commercial real estate concerning issues arising from the valuation of the property.
Several major online gaming groups
Advising in several tax audits carried out by the Spanish tax authorities as regards CIT, VAT and Gaming Taxes.

Hastings Insurance Services LimitedAdvising in  relation to Hastings' appeal to the First-tier Tax Tribunal in which Hastings successfully recovered £16m of input VAT over a four-year period on the basis that HMRC's introduction of the "Offshore Looping Rules" was incompatible with EU law (notably the Principal VAT Directive).
Odfjell Technology (UK) LimitedAdvising in relation to a potential employer NIC assessment for periods from 2003 to 2014 in respect of drilling crews provided by the group from offshore employers to clients operating oil rigs in the North Sea before the Tax Tribunals and by way of public law challenge in the Court of Session.
Hilton Hotel Group Advising the Hilton group in Australian Federal Court proceedings concerning the general anti-avoidance rules arising from the 2015 sale of the Sydney Hilton Hotel.
YTL Corporation group Advising in ongoing litigation in the Federal Court of Australia testing the non-resident CGT exemption on the divestment of the corporations South Australian electricity transmission interests, with a particular focus on whether particular assets constitute taxable Australian real property.
Syngenta Holdings LimitedAdvising on the appeal to the UK First-tier Tax Tribunal on the application of anti-avoidance legislation which potentially denies deduction claimed for interest on an intra-group financing structure. In addition, we are advising on administrative law claims to judicially review the tax authority’s decisions on the grounds of legitimate expectation.
A major supplements producer Advising in connection with complex tax controversy matters connected with challenges relating to the application of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive withholding tax exemption and the availability of reduced withholding tax rates, with a particular focus on beneficial ownership issues.
A major Qatari energy player
Advising in connection with Italian permanent establishment transfer pricing and other challenges from the Italian Revenue Authorities.
Government of JerseyActing for the Government of Jersey in regard to its successful appeal to the Privy Council in relation to a human rights challenge in respect of the costs regime for appeals in respect of tax information requests.
Spanish Gas group
Advising a Spanish major gas distribution company before the Spanish High Court, obtaining a favourable judgement in connection with goodwill depreciation relating to gas distribution licences, recharacterization of intragroup loans as equity and tax deductibility of transaction costs.
Spanish regional radio and television broadcasting companies
Advising in ongoing VAT audits and representing the company on the various appeals resulting from the challenge of VAT reassessments of years 2012-2023 before the tax administrative court, the National High Court and the Supreme Court on the deductibility of dual taxpayers and the consideration of subsidies as part of the VAT tax base.
Most of the major Spanish UCITs and Pension funds management companies
Advising on the successful reimbursement of the withholding taxes applied to the dividends received from Italian, German and French companies, through the administrative and judicial courts, including Supreme Court and the European Cort of Justice, by a global advise provided by a multijurisdictional Ashurst tax team.
Several major online gaming groups
Advising in connection to gaming taxes disputes and the application of the VAT use and enjoyment rule at all Court levels including the Spanish Supreme Court.
Isle of Wight NHS TrustActing for Isle of Wight NHS Trust in its successful appeal before the First Tier Tax Tribunal that certain supplies are exempt from VAT under the exemption for the "provision of a deputy for a person registered in the register of medical professionals". This is a landmark case overturning the widely held view that such supplies were taxable as supplies of staff. The case also raised interesting issues regarding standing of taxpayers before the Tribunal, admissibility of non-public material in the context of statutory interpretation and the limits of conforming construction of UK VAT legislation with EU law, including post-Brexit."

Key Contacts

The information provided is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all developments in the law and practice, or to cover all aspects of those referred to.
Readers should take legal advice before applying it to specific issues or transactions.