Ashley King is the Principal and Managing Partner of TaxResolve

Summary

Ashley is a deeply experienced business and tax consultant and specialises in advising on Tax Disputes. Ashley is a former Senior Assistant Commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), former Tax Partner of Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and is now one of Australia’s leading independent tax dispute resolution advisers.

Ashley is a Registered Tax Agent and Chartered Tax Advisor and has been consistently recognised as a Leading Tax Controversy advisor by the International Tax Review journal.

Ashley has successfully assisted 100s of clients to resolve their tax disputes, including responding to information demands, preparation of chronologies, responding to position papers, preparing technical and evidentiary submissions, obtaining information under FOI laws, negotiating settlements, obtaining remission of penalties, and successfully objecting to assessments and other decisions. He also advises Boards, Directors, Business Owners and Public Officers on their tax responsibilities and obligations and the ever-changing tax environment.

Ashley represents the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand on the ATO’s Dispute Resolution Working Group, the peak consultation group between the ATO and the tax profession that seeks to develop rules and practical guidance for the conduct and resolution of tax disputes. Ashley has been a member of the Working Group since its formation in June 2011.

History

TaxResolve – Principal and Managing Partner - since January 2018

Ashley is a Former Senior Assistant Commissioner at the ATO, now one of Australia’s leading tax dispute advisers. He provides high quality advice at half the cost of the major firms.

After 22 years with the ATO, Ashley left in 2007 to specialise in advising taxpayers that are dealing with the ATO through an audit or review. During the last 13 years Ashley’s clients have benefited from the insight from his experience as an ATO officer, and from having advised hundreds of clients through ATO reviews, audits, and disputes. In 2018, with the experience of having been a partner with Deloitte and PwC, Ashley commenced consulting through his own specialist practice – TaxResolve. Recently Ashley has successfully challenged ATO positions denying COVID payments. Ashley has been recognised once again as one of Australia’s leading Tax Controversy and Dispute Resolution advisers by being included in the 2019-2020 International Tax Review – Tax Controversy Leaders Guide. The current edition of the Guide (the 9th Edition) recognises Ashley as Principal of his specialist tax consulting firm – TaxResolve – for the 2nd time. Ashley commenced as the founding Principal and Director of TaxResolve on 1 January 2018.

PwC Australia - Tax Partner, Tax Controversy – June 2014 to January 2018

Ashley was a Tax Partner at PwC from 2014 to 2018 before leaving to establish a specialist tax dispute resolution practice. A deeply experienced tax advisor, specialising in the resolution of ATO reviews, audits and disputes, Ashley specialised in advising public and private clients in the field of tax dispute resolution. Ashley’s clients benefited from the insight from his experience as a Senior ATO officer, and from advising 100s of clients through ATO reviews, audits and disputes. He delivered outstanding solutions and resolutions of all types of tax disputes, including negotiation of settlements, penalties and information demands. He also advised Boards, Directors and Public Officers on their tax responsibilities and obligations and the ever-changing tax environment. He was also the Lead Partner for the Australian firm for two of the worlds’ largest multinationals groups. Ashley represented the ICAANZ on the ATO Dispute Resolution Committee and was a member of the Tax Institute’s Dispute Resolution Committee. Ashley was consistently recognised as a Leading Australian Tax Controversy advisor by the International Tax Review journal during his time at PwC.

Deloitte Australia - Lead Partner, Tax Controversy – March 2011 to June 2014

Ashley was recruited by Deloitte to become the Australian National Leader of the Deloitte Australia Tax Controversy Practice, where he grew a national team to specialise in advising corporate and private clients in relation to ATO audits and tax dispute resolution strategies. He was also the principal contact for tax media enquiries and interviews and was quoted extensively in the Australian media. He was also the Lead Partner for the Australian firm for two of the worlds’ largest multinationals groups.

PwC Australia - Director, Tax Controversy – May 2007 to February 2011

Ashley’s first role after leaving the ATO was as PwC Australia’s leading Director advising clients on how to respond to ATO reviews and audits and provided strategic advice on complex tax law, administration, and tax litigation matters. It was a new practice for the Australian firm and Ashley was instrumental for its growth and success.

Australian Taxation Office - Senior Assistant Commissioner - 1985 to 2007

Ashley joined the ATO in 1985 and whilst studying part-time to attain both Accounting and Tax Law qualifications, he worked in numerous ATO Divisions involving law design, audit, appeals and case resolution before becoming an Assistant Commissioner in 2001.

Ashley was Senior Assistant Commissioner and leader of the ATO’s Financial Services Industry Group for 5 years before he left in 2007. In that role he had responsibility for reviews, rulings and audits in the Financial Services and Banking industry and for matters involving complex cross border finance issues. He also managed the ATO relationship with all the major Australian and foreign banks and with the Australian Bankers Association and Australian Financial Markets Association.

Ashley also worked on numerous policy and law projects including Structured Finance, Thin Capitalisation, Capital Allocation with corporate groups, Transfer Pricing, Financial Arrangements, International Tax Treaties, Withholding Tax and tax treatment of bribes and facilitation payments to foreign public officials. Ashley advised Government Ministers, including the Federal Treasurer, and was a principal advisor to the Australian Parliament on several policy and law projects.

Ashley was also a Competent Authority (under Australia’s Double Tax Agreements) and worked with tax officers from many foreign tax authorities to develop strategies, conduct compliance projects and develop workable tax approaches – including UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, France, South Africa, Thailand, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Fiji.

Ashley also prepared papers and represented the ATO at OECD meetings, Business and Industry Consultation meetings, and Tax Conferences in many countries, and before Australian Courts and Tribunals. He was also responsible for cross-jurisdiction projects with Senior tax officials in many other countries, including on multilateral approaches to tax administration, joint audit strategies, exchange of information, mutual agreement procedures, transfer pricing and cross-border tax avoidance arrangements.

During his 22 years at the ATO, Ashley received several awards including a Commissioner’s Scholarship, an Excellence Award for the development and delivery of training programs in Tax Audit Techniques, and an Excellence Award for leading and resolving a very large, complex audit in the Financial Services sector.

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