ITR is delighted to announce the winners of the 12th annual ITR Asia-Pacific Tax Awards.
KPMG picked up the region wide Asia-Pacific Tax Firm of the Year award, achieving widespread national and regional success. Deloitte and Yulchon were crowned as the region wide Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year and Tax Litigation and Disputes Firm of the Year, respectively. KPMG and Deloitte also won a string of awards across the Asia-Pacific region in multiple categories.
Other notable winners were EY, PwC, Baker McKenzie, Clayton Utz and MinterEllison. Meanwhile ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, Linde, Netflix, GlaxoSmithKline, Infosys and Lupin all won in-house team and tax practitioner awards.
Mekar Satria Utama, of the Directorate of International Tax (DGT) in Indonesia, was named Tax Official of the Year.
The awards are being presented virtually this year given the remaining travel restrictions in some jurisdictions in the region. However, ITR is honoured to be able to present all the impactful and innovative tax and transfer pricing work and accomplishments of the past year and to celebrate the winners.
We are keen to fulfill any promotions that firms would like to undertake on the back of their success and request that you contact ITR's senior business development manager, Raquel Ipo, with any queries.
We aim to mention all firms that took part in each of our Impact Cases and Impact Deals. If your firm has been omitted or you have questions about the research, please contact ITR’s Head of Awards Research, James Wilson.
Congratulations to all the winners below. Please see here for the full list of shortlisted firms.
Jurisdiction Awards
Australia Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Australia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Australia Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Herbert Smith Freehills
Cambodia Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: DFDL
China Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
China Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
China Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Zhong Lun Law Firm
Hong Kong SAR Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Hong Kong SAR Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Hong Kong SAR Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
India Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
India Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
India Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Khaitan & Co
Indonesia Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Indonesia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Indonesia Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: HHP Law Firm
Japan Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Baker McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise)
Japan Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: EY
Japan Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Taxand Japan
Malaysia Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Malaysia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Malaysia Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Shearn Delamore & Co
New Zealand Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Bell Gully
New Zealand Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
New Zealand Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Bell Gully
Philippines Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: SyCipLaw
Philippines Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Navarro Amper & Co – Deloitte
Philippines Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: SyCipLaw
Singapore Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Singapore Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Singapore Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
South Korea Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Samil PwC
South Korea Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: EY
South Korea Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Yulchon
Taiwan Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Taiwan Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Taiwan Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Thailand Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Baker McKenzie
Thailand Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Thailand Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Baker McKenzie
Vietnam Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Vietnam Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Vietnam Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Baker McKenzie
Individual Awards
Tax Practice Leader of the Year
Winner: John Timpany – KPMG
Transfer Pricing Practice Leader of the Year
Winner: In-Sik Jeong – EY
Tax Litigation and Disputes Practice Leader of the Year
Winner: Hugh Paynter – Herbert Smith Freehills
Indirect Tax Practice Leader of the Year
Winner: Adeline Wong – Wong & Partners, member firm of Baker McKenzie International
In-house Awards
In-house Tax Team of the Year
Winner: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel
In-house Transfer Pricing Team of the Year
Winner: Linde Engineering
In-house Indirect Tax Team of the Year
Winner: Lupin
In-house Compliance and Reporting Team of the Year
Winner: Infosys
In-house Tax Technology Team of the Year
Winner: GlaxoSmithKline Asia
In-house Tax Director of the Year
Winner: Anuprita Mehta – ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel
In-house Transfer Pricing Director of the Year
Winner: Ritu Sharma - Netflix
In-house Indirect Tax Director of the Year
Winner: Mohan Nusetti – Lupin
Tax Official of the Year
Winner: Mekar Satria Utama – Directorate of International Tax DGT
Deals and Cases
Impact Deals of the Year
Altimeter Growth Corp – Grab Holdings merger: Allen & Gledhill; Hughes Hubbard & Reed; KPMG; Ropes & Gray; Skadden Arps Meagher Slate & Flom
Block acquisition of Afterpay: Cravath Swaine & Moore; Gilbert + Tobin; King & Wood Mallesons; Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
Coca-Cola European Partners acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil: Corrs Chambers Westgarth; Deloitte; Herbert Smith Freehills; Slaughter and May
DL Chemical acquisition of Kraton: King & Spalding; O’Melveny & Myers; PwC
Gojek – Tokopedia merger: Allen & Overy; Assegaf Hamzah & Partners; Davis Polk & Wardwell; Ginting & Reksodiputro; Herbert Smith Freehills; Hiswaqra Bunjamin & Tandjung; KPMG
IFM Investors, QSuper, and Global Infrstructure Partners takeover of Sydney Airport: Allens; Herbert Smith Freehills; KPMG
Match Group acquisition of Hyperconnect: Kim & Chang; Latham & Watkins; Lee & Ko; Sullivan & Cromwell
RMG Acquisition Corporation II business combination with ReNew Power: Allen & Overy Gaikokuho Kyodo Jigyo Horitsu Jimusho; Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Deloitte; Khaitan & Co; Latham & Watkins; Nishith Desai Associates; Skadden Arps Meagher Slate & Flom; Trilegal
SK Hynix acquisition of Intel NAND memory and storage business: Bae Kim & Lee; Deloitte; Fangda Partners; Kim & Chang; Linklaters; Munger Tolles & Olson; PwC; Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
Woolsworths demerger of Endeavour Group: Ashurst; King & Wood Mallesons
Impact Cases of the Year
Ararat Wind Farm v Valuer General Victoria – Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria: Aickin Chambers; Herbert Smith Freehills; Isaacs Chambers; Ninian Stephen CHambers
Cairn Energy v Government of India – Judicial Tribunal of Paris: Arna Law, Arvind Datar SA, Blackstone Chambers, Essex Court Chambers, Gourab Banerji SA, Keating Chambers, Platinum Chambers, Quinn Emanuel Urqhart & Sullivan, S&R Associates, Shearman & Sterling, Shepherd and Wdderburn, Stanimir A Alexandrov
Concentrix v Income Tax Department – High Court of Delhi: AZB & Partners; PDS Legal
Glencore v Australian Tax Office: Australian Government Solicitors; Eight Selborne; King & Wood Mallesons; Sixth Floor Selborne Wentworth Chambers
Peter Greensil Family Company v Federal Commissioner of Taxation – Federal Court of Australia: Australian Government Solicitor; EY; Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers; Watson Mangioni
Singtel v ATO in Australia – Federal Court of Australia: Australian Government Solicitor; Eleven Wentworth; New Chambers; Owen Dixon Chambers West; PwC; Sixth Floor Selborne Wentworth Chambers
Regional Awards
Best Newcomer of the Year
Winner: WTS Taxise – WTS Global
Diversity & Inclusion Firm of the Year
Winner: Clayton Utz
Pro Bono Firm of the Year
Winner: DDTC
Regional Tax Law Firm of the Year
Winner: Clayton Utz
International Tax Law Firm of the Year
Winner: Baker McKenzie
Global Executive Mobility Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: MinterEllison
Tax Compliance and Reporting Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Tax Innovator of the Year
Winner: EY
Tax Policy Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Tax Technology Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
Tax Transactions Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
US Corporate Tax Team of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Withholding Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: Baker McKenzie
Indirect Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: EY
Tax Litigation and Disputes Firm of the Year
Winner: Yulchon
Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Winner: Deloitte
Tax Firm of the Year
Winner: KPMG
