Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2013, Stefano completed his pupillage in tax chambers in Lincoln’s Inn before moving to Hong Kong, where he practises revenue and chancery law as a solicitor-advocate. Stefano now divides his time between the UK and Hong Kong.
He brings extensive experience in cross-border tax planning, corporate structuring and restructuring, and personal and corporate tax planning. Stefano frequently acts as an advocate in complex tax and trusts litigations and has represented taxpayers at all levels of the Hong Kong court hierarchy, from the tax tribunal to the Court of Final Appeal.
Stefano’s academic contributions include serving as Adjunct Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law of Hong Kong University, a fellow of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law, and as a member of the authorial board of the Encyclopaedia of Hong Kong Taxation, the seminal textbook on Hong Kong revenue law. He has published widely on revenue and trusts law and policy in numerous both peer-reviewed academic journals and industry publications.
He accepts instructions in all revenue and trusts matters, including direct and indirect tax, cross-border tax planning, trust restructuring and disputes, and appeals to tax tribunals and higher Courts. He also accepts instructions to assist in contentious and advisory matters engaging the tax codes of other common law jurisdictions in East Asia and the Caribbean, particularly those whose revenue statutes are based on the Model Income Tax Ordinance and the Stamp Act 1891.
Stefano has extensive experience advising on estate and trusts planning and matters relating to the constitution, reform, and regulation of charities.
Tax Planning and Advisory
Stefano advises on both personal and corporate tax planning, with a focus on cross-border matters and international taxation. From his experience as the head of the tax practice in the oldest and largest domestic law firm in Hong Kong, he collaborated with some of the most prominent corporate tax teams in the City of London on corporate structuring and restructuring with Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific elements. He is also experienced in structuring remuneration packages for executives in the investment and fund management industries.
Stefano accepts instructions to advise on tax codes in common law jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean, which, like Hong Kong, are derived from the Model Income Tax Ordinance and the Stamp Act 1891.
Tax and Judicial Review
Stefano is experienced in administrative law in the tax context. He regularly advises and acts for clients who have been aggrieved by unlawful or unreasonable decisions by the Revenue. In particular, Stefano is experienced in judicial review applications for: (1) undue delay; (2) double taxation of the same income stream; (3) unreasonable refusal to assist with claiming treaty benefits under Double Taxation Agreements; (4) unreasonable failure to abide by the terms of published guidance.
Stefano is also experienced in applications to recover tax paid under a mistake of fact and/or law.
Tax enquiries and audits
Stefano is experienced in handling all stages of tax inquiries, audits, and disputes. He has collaborated closely with ‘Big 4’ accounting firms in successfully resolving tax disputes by way of negotiated settlement with the revenue. His recent successes have included successfully settling a tax appeal shortly before it was scheduled to be heard before the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Board of Review (broadly, equivalent to the UK First-tier Tribunal) entirely in favour of the taxpayer, a European pharmaceuticals multinational, thereby obtaining the repayment of around £20 million of tax, and a tax inquiry by the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department on the deductibility of payments made by a Hong Kong conglomerate to the Government with respect to the exploitation of a natural resource extraction site.
He has also successfully negotiated the settlement of complex stamp duty appeals, recently including matters arising from the transfer of shares following the dissolution of a Luxembourg law trust and from a sale and leaseback agreement of an industrial property in Hong Kong.
Tax Disputes
Stefano accepts instructions in all areas of revenue practice including corporate, international, employment, private client, VAT, SDLT, Stamp Taxes, customs and excise duty, and international tax. Stefano has appeared as sole advocate before the Inland Revenue Board of Review, Magistrates’ Court, District Court, Court of First Instance, and Court of Appeal in Hong Kong. For illustrative experience, please refer to Featured Cases.
Offshore and International Tax
With experience in Jersey and Hong Kong, Stefano assists clients in all areas of revenue involving the revenue law codes of other common law jurisdictions and, in particular, those in the Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean whose revenue law codes present analogous concepts and principles to the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Ordinance and Stamp Duty Ordinance.
Trusts and Charities
Stefano advises on the structuring and restructuring of trusts, and trusts disputes. He also advises charities in all constitutional and contentious matters, including disputes with the revenue and/or charities regulator.
Admissions
Admitted as a Solicitor in 2012 (non-practising) (England & Wales)
Called to the Bar in 2013 (England & Wales)
Admitted as Solicitor-Advocate with higher rights of audience in civil proceedings in 2020 (Hong Kong)
This is the Privacy Policy for:
Barrister: Stefano Mariani
Address: 1EC Barristers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Inner Temple, London, EC4Y 7HR
The Purposes for which Personal Data is Processed:
Personal data will be processed in order to enable the provision of legal services, ie:
- advice;
- representation in court;
- the drafting of legal documents.
It may also be necessary to retain personal data for conflict-checking purposes or for use in the defense of potential complaints, legal proceedings or fee disputes.
The Lawful Basis for Processing Personal Data
In some cases the subject of the personal data will have given consent to the processing of his or her personal data. Where explicit consent has not been given, personal data will be processed only when:
- it is necessary for the performance of a contract with the person whose personal data is processed (or prior to entering such contract, in order to take steps at the request of the person whose personal data is processed); or when
- it is necessary for the purposes of providing legal services.
Special Categories of Personal Data
It may be necessary to process personal data which constitute particularly sensitive special categories, ie personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
Such data will only be processed where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.
Who will receive Personal Data
The recipients of the personal data processed will be:
- instructing solicitors and clients;
- courts and other tribunals to which documents are presented;
- witnesses and potential witnesses, including expert witnesses;
- other barristers, pupil barristers and other legal representatives;
- regulatory authorities.
Retention Periods for Personal Data
Personal data in case files will generally be kept at least the end of one year after the maximum relevant limitation period has expired. The limitation period will be measured from the latest date it is possible to bring any appeal.
The retention period will be reviewed when the work has been completed. The retention period may be adjusted at that time.
International Data Transfers
In cases involving international disputes, it may be necessary to transfer personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area which have different data protection standards to those which apply in the European Economic Area. This will only be done for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. In the event this is necessary, appropriate safeguards will be in place to protect personal data, such as European Commission approved standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Privacy Shield. You have a right to ask for a copy of the relevant safeguard.
Individual’s Rights
If your personal data has been processed or held, you have a right to request access to (and rectification or erasure of) personal data; or to request restriction of processing concerning the data subject; or to object to processing; as well as the right to data portability. These rights may be limited where there is a legal requirement, or other legitimate grounds, to process your data.
If you wish to exercise these rights, please use the contact details above.
If you have unresolved concerns you also have the right to complain to data protection authorities.