SJ Berwin boosts tax group with Revenue commissioner

SJ Berwin has bolstered its tax practice with the appointment of a special commissioner who was recently involved in a landmark hearing regarding the taxation of family-run businesses.

Taxation specialist Judith Powell joins SJ Berwin on 1 November as a partner in the private client services team. Her assistant Bernadette O’Reilly will also join the firm.

Powell is an appointed special commissioner who oversees disputes between the Inland Revenue and taxpayers. Through this role, she was involved in the recent landmark Section 660A case in which the Inland Revenue secured a victory regarding unpaid income tax against a family-run limited partnership business.

She has also most recently been the sole practitioner of Strand Legal, after setting up alone in May 2002 when her former firm Garretts, where she was a private client partner, ceased trading.

Michael Trask, the partner responsible for private client services, said the appointment reflected the firm’s strategy to grow its tax practice particularly regarding private client work for entrepreneurs. The practice now boasts 15 partners, including eight in London.