China

Brendan Kelly is the head of the tax department at Baker McKenzie. Other key practitioners are Nancy Lai and Amy Ling. It is comprised of more than 30 practitioners based in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. It provides services including tax controversy, international tax planning and M&A. In addition, the team offers customs and individual income tax services based on the changing tax environment. It has been actively advising its multinational clients on the impact of the new individual income tax law on their compliance obligations and the impact on their employees. 

Details of the firm’s work and clients remain confidential. 

Client feedback

“They dig to find the best understanding of the law and give very clear explanations about it.”

“Baker tax team well demonstrated their professionalism in the following ways. They have very solid technical skills in tax expertise. Customer orientation – they understand clients' requests well and provide practical solutions to address clients’ request and questions. They provide a timely response with good quality of service.” 

The tax team is led by Grace Lin and it covers all types of tax advice for companies based in China, for a range of sectors, especially automotive, industrial engineering, chemicals and life sciences. It also advises leading Spanish and Portuguese companies, and Latin American companies, on their investments in China and other countries in Asia.

One of the case studies showed the team advised Gorlan on its business operation in China, including transit transactions and intra-group transactions. It also assisted other clients including the Arteche Group, Maier Group and Mondragon Assembly by working closely with its team in Spain.  

The team welcomed Sandra Costas as a new partner in 2023. She has extensive experience in handling cross-border business transactions and commercial transactions between Asia, Europe and the Americas.  

Deloitte China tax and business advisory offers a broad range of fully integrated tax services, covering both cross-border and local issues from multinational and local clients across various industries. Tax services cover business tax, international tax, transfer pricing, tax management consulting, M&A and indirect tax. 

One recent example of its wok saw Jianfeng Ye and Joyce Zhang lead the team advising a real estate conglomerate on a tax digital transformation project. It customised a digital transformation for the client's tax function to enhance tax management. The transformation was successful and brought positive impacts on the real estate industry. 

Windson Li and Tina Xia are the key professionals in the DLA Piper tax team. It provides seamless capability to the clients by cooperating with its Hong Kong team. The China transfer pricing team works closely with specialists and economists in its US and Europe tax team to support domestic and cross-border transactions. Recently, the team has strengthened the tax services for private clients, including private wealth management, asset protection planning and international charitable planning. 

Details of the firm’s recent work and clients remain confidential.  

The EY tax team has a strong presence in the China tax market as a leading professional service firm. It delivers a high standard of tax compliance and reporting, digital tax advisory, indirect tax and transfer pricing services. In addition to traditional corporate direct and indirect tax consulting and compliance services, it also provides specialised private client services, tax and customs controversy assistance, transfer pricing, international tax and investment consulting, and M&A transaction tax services.

The team recently assisted a client with tax assessment in Hong Kong as a tax advisor. It effectively cooperated with the EY Hong Kong team to support this cross-border matter. Another case study saw the team acting as a tax advisor for a client in with an APA application and negotiation.

Partners Henry Chan and Clement Yuen recently retired from the company. Partners Julian Hong and Li Li also left the firm in 2022. In the same year, the team hired four new partners for the divisions of people advisory services, global compliance and reporting and indirect tax.

JunHe is a domestic law firm that provides tax law legal services. It has a strong capability in advising on the PRC tax implications of inbound and outbound M&A. In addition, its practice also covers indirect tax, customs, and litigation. Partners Cheng Hong and Zhao Tingting are the key practitioners in the team. With long-term working relationships with the local public finance, tax and customs departments, the team has an accurate understanding and interpretation of the PRC laws and policies on tax and customs. 

One recent example of the firm’s work included assisting a client with tax advisory on an indirect transfer for an offshore fund's acquisition. The team advised on the tax obligations and filing requirements of the transaction under Notice 7 of the PRC Tax Law.

Client feedback

“JunHe has distinguished itself based on its solid foundation of PR China's tax regulatory scheme and practice, and has consistent customer-orientation throughout its service.”

The China tax practice in K&L Gates is led by Roberta Chang. Other key practitioners include associates Anita Zhou and Kate Chen. The team provides integrated commercial and tax advice on planning, cross-border transactions, compliance, trade and customs issues, transfer pricing, litigation, and tax controversies. It serves clients of all sizes of business, including Fortune 500 companies to start-ups.

One of the work highlights showed the team advising Luye Pharma on the tax implications of its product distribution arrangement. It provides multi-jurisdictional tax advice involving more than 20 jurisdictions.

King & Wood Mallesons is one of the leading international law firms in China. Its tax team consists of more than 40 PRC tax attorneys and provides integrated tax and legal solutions. It has strengths in tax dispute resolution, tax planning and transfer pricing. Gang Dong, Yongqing Ye, and Tao Duan are the key partners in the team.

One case study showed the team led by Yongqing Ye assisting a well-known key opinion leader in tax audit reviews and other legal and tax matters. Other clients include Shanghai Linmon Picture Media and ASE Technology. 

Client feedback 

“Professional, meticulous and patient.” 

“Professional experts on tax planning.” 

“They provide really practical solutions to complete the project. They also have good relations to contact the PRC local tax authority.”

The tax team at KPMG focuses on supporting clients with supply chain transformation, covering areas such as trade and customs, indirect taxes, transfer pricing, and legal services. The indirect tax team is active in sectors including the digital economy, financial services, supply chain and compliance. Partner Lewis Lu is one of the key partners in the team. 

One of the work highlights showed the team advising a PRC subsidiary of a food and drink additives manufacturer on establishing an R&D expense super deduction workstream for sustainable use. It secured a tax refund of ¥9.42 million for the period from 2018-2020.

The Zhong Lun Law Firm tax team is specialised in dealing with complex cross-border tax issues, including providing high-quality tax advice in transnational transactions and investments, tax planning, and dispute resolution services. Partners Peter Yongjun Ni, Mark Rufeng Gao, and Ashley Hu are the key professionals in the team. It has an extensive understanding of other legal areas, such as company law, financial law, foreign investment law, securities law, real estate and funds-related laws.

A team led by Mark Gao recently acted as a PRC tax counsel for General Electric in its sale of shares in Wuhan Boiler. It provided tax advice on pre-closing restructuring, deal structure, tax provisions in the transaction agreements and certain post-closing tax issues.