Meet the 2022 finalists
Congratulations to this year’s finalists in the Tax Adviser of the Year Awards.
Chartered Tax Adviser of the Year finalists
Kenneth Woo, CTA
PwC, Partner
Ken was admitted into partnership at PwC in 1999 and for over 20 years has held subject matter and industry roles with the firm, and has been extensively involved in working groups, committees and private consultation with Government and industry bodies.
Anthony Mulveney, CTA KPMG, Partner
Tony has more than 30 years’ experience and an intimate knowledge of the taxation aspects of the real estate and funds management industry. He advises on a wide-ranging number of issues affecting both domestic operations and international investments.
Chris Wookey, CTA
Chris Wookey CA,
Specialist Tax Adviser
Chris operates his own specialist tax consulting practice after previously having been a principal in the tax consulting division of Deloitte Private in Melbourne. A finalist in The Tax Institute’s Tax Adviser of the Year Awards for 2020, he has over 30 years’ experience in the chartered accounting profession and is chair of The Tax Institute’s national SME Technical Committee and its representative on the ATO’s Private Groups Stewardship Group.
Emerging Tax Star of the Year finalists
David Blight, ATI
KwM, Senior Associate
David Blight is a Senior Associate in the tax and litigation teams at King & Wood Mallesons, with a focus on transfer pricing and Part IVA disputes, among others. He previously worked at Ernst & Young, specialising in indirect tax with a focus on GST and stamp duty.
George Bishop
Allens, Associate
George is an emerging talent within the Allens Tax team. As an Associate, George practices across direct and indirect taxes, international tax issues, and tax disputes. He has notable experience in banking and structured finance arrangements, transfer pricing, thin capitalisation, withholding tax, corporate restructures and charity tax issues.
Emy Chee
HLB Mann Judd, Senior Accountant
Emy is a well-rounded tax accountant specialising in corporate taxation issues for foreign-owned companies and large businesses. Emy began her career while working at a boutique accounting firm during university, which sparked an interest in the tax profession. Since starting her role at HLB, Emy has worked closely with a range of businesses to deliver the best results for her clients.
Mark Peters, ATI
Herbert Smith Freehills, Solicitor
Mark advises on the stamp duty implications of a broad range of commercial transactions and provides specialist resettlement and trust law advice to trustees. He also assists clients to implement transactions and attend to compliance with duty lodgement obligations.
Tax Adviser of the Year finalists
Chris Merjane, FTI
ResMed, Senior Tax Counsel
Chris holds a global inhouse leadership role covering all areas of income tax law. Chris focuses on tax authority engagement, M&A, finance and cross-border arrangements. He has helped ResMed achieve certainty on its Australian tax affairs through the resolution of a long-standing dispute. Chris is a thought-leader at ResMed, helping the business with its evolution from a medical device company to a consumer-centric digital healthcare company. He has led several legislative submissions on behalf of ResMed and has appeared before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee. Chris has also championed a suite of digital transformation projects for the tax function.
Rachit Dudhwala, FTI
Transurban Group, Tax Manager
Rachit is responsible for formulating and delivering Transurban’s risk management and tax strategy of its international operations and domestic trusts. He specialises in devising commercial financing structures for large scale infrastructure projects and delivering practical solutions to complex tax matters.
Shirley Lam
KPMG, Director
Shirley specialises in infrastructure, energy and corporates and has advised on some of Australia’s largest transactions and projects. Shirley has a strong brand and reputation in this market as an advisor who builds trusted relationships and brings specialist expertise, leveraging deep thinking to deliver strategic and commercially focused tax advice.
Stephen Holmes, CTA
WMS Chartered Accountants, Partner
Stephen has been practicing as an accountant since he was 1987 and has had a focus on tax since 1994. He specialises in all SME tax matters with a particular interest in the CGT small business concessions, tax effective restructures and Division 7A.
Shaun Cartoon, FTI
Arnold Bloch Leibler
Shaun is a creative and commercially focused tax lawyer. He is a partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler’s tax practice. Shaun advises a range of clients, including ASX listed companies, high-net-worth individuals and large private groups. Shaun practices in corporate, international and employment taxes, with particular expertise in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructures and employee share schemes. He also assists clients to navigate complex tax disputes with the Australian Taxation Office and has litigated significant cases through the Australian courts.
David Earl, FTI
PwC Australia, Partner
David is a Partner in the Corporate Tax group of PwC Melbourne and is a member of The Tax Institute’s National Council and Victorian State Council. David’s focus is on M&A and international tax, and he has 20 years experience servicing both inbound and outbound multinational groups across a broad range of industry sectors. David was previously also seconded to the International Tax Services group of PwC Netherlands where he provided a mix of Dutch, Australian and European tax advice to a broad range of international clients.