RSM Bentley Jennison appoints Head of Tax Risk & Dispute Resolution

RSM Bentley Jennison has expanded their tax team with the recent recruitment of[private] Gary Ashford, who takes a leading role as Head of Tax Risk and Dispute Management for the firm.

Gary, who joined the firm from Grant Thornton, takes on the challenge which has recently come to the fore following the two Disclosure Opportunities, plus the extension of the US disclosure to 15 October.
Gary Ashford commented “For those both here in the UK and for the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility who failed to come forward when the NDO was launched in 2007, HMRC and the Government are looking to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of tax and ultimately fill their coffers! There really will be no hiding place for those who continue to seek to evade paying tax.
“Recently at the Labour Conference, Alastair Darling announced that the Government is looking to recover over £1bn from the 100,000 names that are now at HMRC disposal following the co-operation from the 308 banks who have now supplied information to them. Their attack tax evasion and the increasing number of countries who are supporting the proposals to ‘Name and Shame’ tax defaulters are certainly gaining momentum.”
Gary will be leading the UK team, predominantly based in Birmingham, London and Leeds. He brings to the firm a wealth of experience, having worked for HMRC for over 10 years in a variety of roles, ultimately progressing to Corporate Tax Investigator. Gary, who has been based in the Midlands region for over 20 years, has been a tax investigation specialist covering many high profile large corporate investigations across the country.
John Hodgson, National Head of Tax for RSM Bentley Jennison commented: “Gary is a great addition to the firm and a powerhouse of energy and technical expertise. He has a strong team working with him and will be a significant leader in taking the firm forward, both at home and abroad as the international focus tightens in the UK with the attack on tax evaders.”
Gary is a regular contributor in Tax Technical publications and is called upon frequently by business press to give his expert opinion. He has recently written the Tax Faculty guidance on Schedule 36 information powers and is the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s (CIOT) lead representative on the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO). Gary is also Chairman of the CIOT’s Management of Taxes Technical sub-committee, a full member of the CIOT Technical committee and is a past-Chairman of the Birmingham and West Midlands CIOT Branch.[/private]