One minute with Rob Sharpe, tax partner in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP.
What’s keeping you busy at work?
Many of our clients are fund managers and we’ve been advising on a variety of GP-led transactions, including preferred equity transactions and continuation fund deals. We have also helped a number of our clients raise liquidity with GP stakes transactions, selling minority or majority interests in their businesses.
These transactions are all hybrids which fall at the intersection of our corporate M&A, finance, and funds practices, which makes them especially interesting to work on as they inevitably present interesting, and in some cases novel, tax points to work through.
Otherwise, in addition to a range of other M&A and finance transactions, I have been advising a number of clients recently on ‘upper-tier’ reorganisations of their structures. This has required particular care in navigating the extremely broad DIMF, transfer of assets abroad and disguised remuneration rules, as well as the consequences of the Anson decision where US LLCs are involved.
Clients have also been seeking advice from us recently on the possible implications of a change in government next year, including potential changes to the carried interest tax regime.
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
I’d either abolish or greatly simplify stamp duty on stock and marketable securities, which feels like an anachronism in 2023. The legislation as it stands is arcane and too often results in clients incurring fees seeking advice on obscure points; not to mention the farcical situation where parties expend time, effort, and costs to execute and retain documents overseas.
While the practicalities of stamping have undoubtedly improved since the electronic stamping procedure was adopted, it really shouldn’t be impossible to design a system which provides confirmation of stamping within days, rather than weeks, of filing.
It won’t surprise you to find out that I am therefore supportive of the government’s consultation this year on how these rules could be simplified, as well as the very recent announcement that the 1.5% charge on issues into clearance services and depositary receipts, and the bearer instrument charges are to be repealed with effect from 1 January 2024.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
One important thing I wish I had appreciated at an earlier stage is that tax is enormously wide-ranging and complex, and that clients and colleagues are generally very accepting of this fact and rarely demand an on-the-spot answer to any question. Clients would much rather be advised accurately than in a rush. A related point that I wish I had recognised earlier is that, if someone gives the impression that they know everything about every topic straight away, they are most likely bluffing.
Another thing I wish I knew is that you never know where a career in tax is going to take you. If you had told me as a trainee that qualifying into the tax group would lead to me flying to Dar es Salaam to litigate a withholding tax case in the Court of Appeal of Tanzania, or presenting on the corporate criminal ‘failure to prevent’ offence to a room full of Premier League footballers, I never would have believed you.
Finally, a pearl of wisdom which has stuck with me is that, even when you think you’ve found the answer to a challenging question, ‘always read to the end of the Part’ of the statute. This has proved many times to be sage advice!
You might not know this about me but...
I’ve recently taken up running and am absolutely hooked. I find it’s the perfect way to clear my head and reset after a busy work week. My weekends now revolve around discovering new Parkruns and races around the country (as well as encouraging my kids to achieve a PB each week at Junior Parkrun).
I am also running the London Marathon next year in support of the Free Representation Unit, who provide vital legal advice and advocacy to low-income clients facing a range of difficult situations.
One minute with Rob Sharpe, tax partner in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP.
What’s keeping you busy at work?
Many of our clients are fund managers and we’ve been advising on a variety of GP-led transactions, including preferred equity transactions and continuation fund deals. We have also helped a number of our clients raise liquidity with GP stakes transactions, selling minority or majority interests in their businesses.
These transactions are all hybrids which fall at the intersection of our corporate M&A, finance, and funds practices, which makes them especially interesting to work on as they inevitably present interesting, and in some cases novel, tax points to work through.
Otherwise, in addition to a range of other M&A and finance transactions, I have been advising a number of clients recently on ‘upper-tier’ reorganisations of their structures. This has required particular care in navigating the extremely broad DIMF, transfer of assets abroad and disguised remuneration rules, as well as the consequences of the Anson decision where US LLCs are involved.
Clients have also been seeking advice from us recently on the possible implications of a change in government next year, including potential changes to the carried interest tax regime.
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
I’d either abolish or greatly simplify stamp duty on stock and marketable securities, which feels like an anachronism in 2023. The legislation as it stands is arcane and too often results in clients incurring fees seeking advice on obscure points; not to mention the farcical situation where parties expend time, effort, and costs to execute and retain documents overseas.
While the practicalities of stamping have undoubtedly improved since the electronic stamping procedure was adopted, it really shouldn’t be impossible to design a system which provides confirmation of stamping within days, rather than weeks, of filing.
It won’t surprise you to find out that I am therefore supportive of the government’s consultation this year on how these rules could be simplified, as well as the very recent announcement that the 1.5% charge on issues into clearance services and depositary receipts, and the bearer instrument charges are to be repealed with effect from 1 January 2024.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
One important thing I wish I had appreciated at an earlier stage is that tax is enormously wide-ranging and complex, and that clients and colleagues are generally very accepting of this fact and rarely demand an on-the-spot answer to any question. Clients would much rather be advised accurately than in a rush. A related point that I wish I had recognised earlier is that, if someone gives the impression that they know everything about every topic straight away, they are most likely bluffing.
Another thing I wish I knew is that you never know where a career in tax is going to take you. If you had told me as a trainee that qualifying into the tax group would lead to me flying to Dar es Salaam to litigate a withholding tax case in the Court of Appeal of Tanzania, or presenting on the corporate criminal ‘failure to prevent’ offence to a room full of Premier League footballers, I never would have believed you.
Finally, a pearl of wisdom which has stuck with me is that, even when you think you’ve found the answer to a challenging question, ‘always read to the end of the Part’ of the statute. This has proved many times to be sage advice!
You might not know this about me but...
I’ve recently taken up running and am absolutely hooked. I find it’s the perfect way to clear my head and reset after a busy work week. My weekends now revolve around discovering new Parkruns and races around the country (as well as encouraging my kids to achieve a PB each week at Junior Parkrun).
I am also running the London Marathon next year in support of the Free Representation Unit, who provide vital legal advice and advocacy to low-income clients facing a range of difficult situations.
