Karen Payne has been appointed as the first chief executive officer of the Board of Taxation in Australia from March 31 2016. She will remain an executive member of the Board, where she is chairing a project reviewing the implementation of anti-hybrid rules in Australia.
A financial services taxation specialist, she has most recently been a partner of Minter Ellison in Sydney, specialising in the corporate and international tax and taxation of funds, managers and domestic and international investors. Her work has included managing complex tax-related matters for multinationals, publicly listed companies and Australian initial public offerings (IPOs) in the financial services, property, mining, energy and utilities sectors.
Payne was appointed to the Board in May 2015, though has been a member of its advisory panel since 2010. She is a solicitor, chartered tax adviser and chartered tax accountant.
The Board, which consists of 12 people, including the Commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office and the Secretary to the Treasury as ex officio members, was set up as a non-statutory advisory body to contribute business and other views about how tax law should be designed and operate in Australia.
