Paynter reaches partnership at Herbert Smith Freehills

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Paynter reaches partnership at Herbert Smith Freehills

Hugh Paynter, a dispute resolution lawyer, has become a partner of Herbert Smith Freehills in Sydney.

fotoflexer-photohughpaynterhfs.jpg

Paynter has acted in major, high-value tax disputes that have dealt with a range of issues and industries, such as for National Australia Bank in litigation with more than A$900 million ($922 million) at stake concerning international hybrid capital raisings (the $1 billion ExCaps and $450 million TrUEPrS), involving general deductibility, Part IVA (anti-avoidance) and transfer pricing issues; Lend Lease in its successful defence of a $95 million Part IVA and capital gains tax dispute concerning its A$365 million Westpac warrant transaction and the Cross City consortium in a A$60 million land rich stamp duty dispute involving significant valuation issues.

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The new guidance is not meant to reflect a substantial change to UK law, but the requirement that tax advice is ‘likely to be correct’ imposes unrealistic expectations
Taylor Wessing, whose most recent UK revenues were at £283.7m, would become part of a £1.23bn firm post combination
China and a clutch of EU nations have voiced dissent after Estonia shot down the US side-by-side deal; in other news, HMRC has awarded companies contracts to help close the tax gap
An EY survey of almost 2,000 tax leaders also found that only 49% of respondents feel ‘highly prepared’ to manage an anticipated surge of disputes
The international tax, audit and assurance firm recorded a 4% year-on-year increase in overall turnover to hit $11bn
Awards
View the official winners of the 2025 Social Impact EMEA Awards
CIT as a proportion of total tax revenue varied considerably across OECD countries, the report also found, with France at 6% and Ireland at 21.5%
Erdem & Erdem’s tax partner tells ITR about female leader inspirations, keeping ahead of the curve, and what makes tax cool
ITR presents the 50 most influential people in tax from 2025, with world leaders, in-house award winners, activists and others making the cut
Cormann is OECD secretary-general
Gift this article