ITR Asia-Pacific Tax Awards 2022: The winners

August 25 2022

The winners of the ITR APAC Tax Awards have been announced for 2022!

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