Hayden Roberts

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Hayden is a specialist income tax lawyer with experience in tax disputes and litigation.

Hayden has been a member of Bell Gully's income tax team for eleven years.

Hayden advises on all aspects of New Zealand income tax law. He has experience advising domestic and foreign clients on various corporate tax law issues, including those arising in mergers and acquisitions, financing arrangements, securitisation structures and employee remuneration arrangements. Hayden prepares and negotiates tax related clauses in sale and purchase agreements, financing arrangements and other documents.

He has been involved in a number of disputes with the Inland Revenue Department, acting for taxpayers throughout both the taxpayer disputes procedures and in subsequent litigation. He has acted for a number of taxpayers in obtaining binding tax rulings and indicative views from the Inland Revenue Department on a range of complex matters.

Hayden also has experience providing advice on income tax issues encountered by individual taxpayers.

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 lists Hayden as a 'Next Generation Partner' in tax and as someone who "provides excellent customer service."

In 2021, Hayden was named in NZ Lawyer's 'Rising Stars’ report.

Work highlights

Tax disputes and litigation
Advising clients involved in IRD audits and investigations, and in litigation with the IRD. Recent experience includes:

Acting for various taxpayers including Alesco New Zealand and Telstra New Zealand in disputes with the IRD on tax positions adopted in connection with convertible note funding arrangements;
Acting for Sovereign Assurance Company in its dispute with the IRD on the tax treatment of an international reinsurance arrangement;
Appearing as junior counsel in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court on behalf of the taxpayer in the Frucor Suntory New Zealand Limited v CIR tax avoidance litigation;
Acting for taxpayers in numerous disputes concerning the capital / revenue boundary; and
Acting on behalf of taxpayers in transfer pricing disputes relating to the pricing of inter-company debt.

Rulings and indicative views
Liaising with the taxpayer rulings and large enterprises divisions of the Inland Revenue Department to obtain binding tax rulings and indicative views for clients.

Transactional advice
Reviewing and advising on income tax aspects of various domestic and cross-border transactions. Recent experience includes advising on the taxation clauses in various merger and acquisition documents, securitisation transaction documents, and other financing agreements.

Legal opinions
Advising taxpayers on complex income tax issues, including:

Advising investors on the taxation status (i.e. as capital or revenue) of various shareholdings;
Advising various clients on the potential application of the land taxation rules to parcels of land held by them, and
Advising clients on the taxation status and acquisition date of various high value assets.

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Work highlights

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