BrazilBig Four firms KPMG, Deloitte and EY dominate Asia Tax Awards for 2018
The International Tax Review’s annual Asian Tax Awards have rolled around for 2018, with KPMG leading the field across the Asia Pacific region.
With a cross-border focus on corporate, indirect, disputes and compliance management tax-related matters, the International Tax Review (IRT) is a respected industry platform for tax professionals, with its annual international awards coveted by tax firms and executives.
Announced at an award ceremony at the Mandarin Orchard in Singapore earlier this month, this year KPMG has scooped the pool, picking up 21 regional and national awards ahead of fellow Big Four members Deloitte and EY with fourteen and eight apiece. KPMG also took home the coveted overall honour of Asia Tax Firm of the Year for 2018 – its third consecutive title since the awards were reintroduced in 2016.
With the awards covering a large portion of the Asia Pacific (including India), KPMG was crowned Tax Firm of the Year in a number of nations, including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The firm was also named the winner in other national IRT awards categories, which included Firm of the Year nods for Transfer Pricing and Tax Disputes & Litigation, in China, Malaysia and Singapore – demonstrating the firm’s diverse regional spread, with the KPMG Asia Pacific Tax Centre having a presence in 23 jurisdictions across the region.
Deloitte, meanwhile, received national Tax Firm of the Year gongs for its practices in Indonesia, New Zealand and Taiwan, while Ernst & Young took the spoils in Myanmar, China and Singapore. Outside of the Big Four, the other top national prizes went to Mekong emerging-market specialists DFDL in Cambodia, long-time local entity Shearn Delamore & Co in Malaysia, South Korean law firm Kim & Chang, and Baker McKenzie member-firm Quisumbing Torres for the Philippines.
Baker McKenzie also featured in the individual awards, with Allan Tan of the firm’s Kuala Lumpur office taking home the Asia Tax Practice Leader of the Year award, while Joanne Su of EY’s International Tax Services practice in China was recognised as the Transfer Pricing Practice Leader of the Year. The Disputes and Litigation Practice Leader crown went to Seok Hoon Kang, of Korean-headquartered internatonal corporate law firm Yulchoon.
Other regional category awards went to KPMG for FACTA/Withholding Tax Team, Disputes & Litigation, and Compliance & Reporting Firm of the Year, as well as Deloitte for Tax Technology and Indirect Tax Firm of the Year and EY for Asia Tax Innovator of the Year.
Further awards went to; Shearn Delamore & Co for Tax Transactions; Du-Baladad and Associates of the Philippines for Tax Policy Firm, and; multinational Australia-based MinterEllison for Global Executive Tax Mobility Team – the legal services and consulting firm also winning both the Transfer Pricing and Disputes & Litigation award for Australia. The last of the Asian winners on the night was GNV Consulting Services of Indonesia, in the Disputes & Litigation category of its home base.
KPMG in Singapore tweeted: “We did it! KPMG won the most Awards @IntlTaxReview Asia Tax Awards, including the coveted Asia Tax Firm of the Year for the third consecutive year. The Singapore firm won the National Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm and National Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year too!”
