Tax Disputes, Investigations & Litigation
When the tax authorities come knocking, your accountant being a lawyer is your best defence.
An audit. A complex investigation. A disputed assessment you need to fight, and may have to litigate. These are the moments where it pays to have someone who knows the law cold and is qualified to argue your case all the way, not hand you off to a barrister at the first sign of a courtroom.
Dr Maheswaran Sridaran is a chartered accountant and a lawyer. He taught tax law at university and led a national tax practice before founding MS Accountants. He does not just know the rules; he understands the reasoning behind them, and where that reasoning is weaker than it looks. Because he is qualified on both sides, your matter can go from the first audit query to the courtroom in the same hands. He has represented clients in tax disputes before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and, with leave, the New South Wales District Court. That is what it takes to push back on the tax authorities and be taken seriously.
ATO and state revenue audits
guiding you through the process, managing the correspondence, and protecting your position from start to finish.
Complex tax-authority investigations
handling the hard, high-stakes investigations the tax authorities reserve for the cases that matter, with a lawyer's eye on every step.
Challenging assessments
building and arguing the case, through objections and appeals, when the tax office gets it wrong.
Tax litigation
running the dispute through to the tribunals and the courts when it has to go that far, argued by someone qualified to do it.
Private ruling applications
getting certainty from the ATO before you commit to a transaction, so you act with confidence rather than hope.
Arguing a tax position is part technical, part advocacy. Few accountants have taught the law, published on it, and argued the disputes; fewer still are also lawyers, qualified to take a matter all the way to litigation. Dr Sridaran is, and he has questioned in print whether the High Court, the Full Federal Court and the Commissioner got it right. The tax authority's position is not the last word; it is an argument, and arguments can be answered, and if necessary, litigated. You want someone who works that way before you respond, not after.
When the ATO and the Office of State Revenue both opened audits, the response had to be comprehensive, correct, and cost-effective.
“Sri assisted us to manage our dealings with the Australian Taxation Office and NSW Office of State Revenue in relation to audits they had initiated of our two colleges. Sri most competently oversaw the work required, providing comprehensive, appropriate and timely responses to both authorities. He also ensured that work was carried out in a manner that was cost-effective to us.”
Ms Neda Morris
Principal Executive Officer, Director · Caprock International Pty Ltd
Tax Advisory & Planning
The hard questions: capital gains, restructures, succession, transaction tax. Studied to doctoral level, applied to your situation.
Tax Compliance & Returns
Every return, every obligation, handled accurately and on time.
Business & CFO Advisory
The strategic financial support of an in-house CFO, without the headcount.
Self-Managed Super
SMSF audits, done properly.
When the tax question is hard, who do you call?
A boutique Sydney firm led by a chartered accountant and lawyer who has spent his career on the hardest tax questions. His team builds every file. He reviews every one.