Director

TAX AND PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES

About Sim Ho

Areas of Practice

Sim Ho's forte is bringing to a matter a truly multi-disciplinary approach from the legal, finance, risk governance and accounting perspectives. During the past 12 years he has built a substantive practicefocus in tax litigation and dispute resolution.

In the area of transactional analysis, Sim Ho was involved in several notable deals where he was specifically instructed as tax counsel alongside other leading corporate lawyers in Singapore. In the area of tax audit risk management and investigation, Sim Ho has an active portfolio of clients in the banking, finance and fund industry assisting them in managing compliance risk, responding to tax audit and investigation. He regularly appeared as counsel before the taxation boards of review, High Court and the Court of Appeal in both direct and indirect tax matters.

His work has been cited in leading professional publications: The recent Asia Pacific Legal 500 2011/12 Edition lauds Sim Ho for his “truly superior knowledge,” while the 2009/10 Edition described him as a "tax lynchpin”. The 2008/09 Edition cited him as “one of the leading tax lawyers in Singapore” and described the Drew & Napier tax team as “among the best”. The Tax team was also named ALB Singapore Leading Tax Law Firm 2010, and was ranked Tier 1 for the fourth consecutive year by Asia Pacific Legal 500 2011/12.

Sim Ho is also highly recommended as a leading tax lawyer for two consecutive years in Chambers Asia 2011 and for four consecutive years in the categories of tax and private client services in Practical Law Company Which Lawyer? 2011. The International Tax Review's World Tax 2007 and 2006 cited him as one of the leading individuals in Singapore taxation and has described him as "renowned for being very strong in the area of [tax] litigation and value-added tax". He is also listed as one of the leading global tax lawyers in The Tax Director’s Handbook 2011.

Experience

Tax Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Sim Ho’s recent appearance as counsel in tax litigation includes:

• Successful appeal against tax assessment under section 10E of the Income Tax Act on behalf of a leading serviced apartment group. Reported as VJ v Comptroller of Income Tax [2007] ITBR 3.
• Successful appeal against the Chief Valuer on behalf of a major power generation company in the property tax assessment under the “profits method”.
• Successful appeal for the exemption of shipping income on behalf of a Chinese shipping company operating Singapore flag ships. Reported as Comptroller of Income Tax v MT [2006] 3 SLR 688.
• Instructed as counsel before the Court of Appeal in a property tax case involving a novel issue of whether common property space at shopping mall was regarded as “property” under the Property Tax Act. Reported as Management Corporation Strata Title 1298 & 1304 v The Chief Assessor and The Comptroller of Property Tax [2006] 4 SLR 404.
• Counsel for a property development group where the issue of the application of generally accepted accounting principles in taxation was clarified. Reported as Comptroller of Income Tax v KE [2006] 4 SLR 197.
• Counsel for a major fund management company in a GST appeal regarding zero-rating treatment.

• Concluded a protracted and complex matter with the IRAS and achieved a total discharge of the corporate income tax assessment amounting to approximately S$100 million, the highest recorded tax assessment completely discharged without resort to litigation in the history of Singapore.
• Successfully represented a mall owner before the Valuation Review Board in challenging the Chief Assessor’s valuation method.
• Tax representation to the IRAS on behalf of a leading commercial group in Singapore in respect of tax assessment amounting to $110 million.
• Representation on behalf of a major motor car importer in respect of valuation settlement for import duties.
• Advised a major Swiss bank in the restructuring of their Singapore and regional companies.
• Advised a major European tour operator in their Asia Pacific restructuring including transfer pricing advisory.
• Advised on asset-backed securities issues by both local and foreign issuers.
• Advised several companies in the optimization of section 44 credits by way of corporate finance structured products.
• Design and submission of a new GST incentive for a major international procurement hub.
• Permanent establishment analysis and advisory for international oil and gas group.
• Advised on the tax efficient restructuring of the region-wide remuneration package for a private equity group.
• Advisory and formulation of management fee and transfer pricing policy for a leading blue-chip listed group in Singapore for its overseas operations.

• Successfully represented a high net worth individual in a stamp duty dispute matter involving the stamp duty treatment on her purchase of 83 units in a high-end luxury condominium development.
• Advisor to the chairman and family of a leading Japanese listed company in the establishment of 2 family trusts with assets valued in excess of S$800 million for succession, asset protection and charitable purposes.
• Advisor to a Singapore government-linked company on the creation and on-going operations of a charitable foundation with assets worth in excess of S$500 million.
• Advisor to a prominent Singapore individual on trust structuring with assets valued in excess of S$1 billion.
• Advisor to a leading Singapore family in the re-settlement of their existing trusts and the establishment of a private trust company.