Liam has over 17 years' experience working in the accounting industry having held a number of senior leadership positions at the Big 4 accounting firms, in addition to working off-shore in London and New York. 

Having recently joined the Tax Services division of RSM in Sydney, we sat down with Liam to uncover his passion for tax,  why he is our resident International Tax and Transfer Pricing leader and his thoughts on multinationals' tax affairs. 


Q. Before you started your professional career, you did some computer programming. How did you get into that?

I always wanted to do tax – but at university, I had a fairly mundane data-entry job at in insurance company in my first year to help pay for my study (and beer fund). I could see that there was a lot of repetition and a high error-rate and thought there must have been a better way of doing it – so I went out and bought a computer programming book for about $120 (a big investment for a first year student!) and taught myself how to process automation. In the end, I ended up automating pretty much all of the communications for the whole company over about 3 years part-time through university - and got paid rather well along the way! After I’d funded Law school and my accounting degree, the rest of it went on a fair amount of overseas travel – which gave me the chance to see a lot of the world while I was still young. asset_17.png


Q. That’s interesting! Is there anything you learnt from that which is still relevant to you in tax?

Well, I sometimes like to pretend to my friends and colleagues that I am the Godfather of modern-day Robotic Process Automation! Of course that isn’t true but that understanding of how software is constructed can be really valuable when understanding the international tax issues relating to intellectual property (IP) – whether something is a royalty for example – or also when explaining to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) how an algorithm operating overseas might work in relation to an Australian entity. The ATO is increasingly sophisticated in its understanding of technology and looking to understand that level of detail. 


Q. How about your travel? Is that just for a personal enjoyment thing or do you believe it has some benefit to your professional life?asset_36.png

Since those days at university, I’ve now been to some 90-odd countries. I love going to different places – seeing sights, experiencing cultures (and wines), and understanding how different societies function. That is actually really beneficial for me as an International Tax and Transfer Pricing adviser. So often, the black letter law only tells you so much – you really need to understand the cultural (and practical) overlay as well. Also, understanding cultures gives you an insight into how someone is likely to react to what you’re saying. For example, someone from the Netherlands is likely to prefer a somewhat direct discussion whereas with a Japanese client or adviser, subtlety and deference is important. 


Q. What do you enjoy about international tax and transfer pricing?

asset_15.pngIt is so dynamic and fast-changing which means that your knowledge is constantly needing to evolve. It is hardly ever the case that I would consider exactly the same matter twice. I also enjoy passing on the knowledge I’ve gained over the years and seeing people grow into specialists themselves. Even someone who is relatively new to tax generally can take ownership of understanding a new law and becoming a specialist in that specific area. For me to then be able to learn about something new from a junior person in my team whom I’ve coached is actually quite rewarding in itself. 


Q. What are your thoughts about some of the press coverage regarding multinationals and their tax affairs?

Everyone will have seen the regular headlines about multinationals not paying their “fair share” of tax. Some of the criticism has been fair, but rather a lot of it has not. From a purely domestic perspective - a lot of these exotic names like the Swiss Roundabout and the Double Irish and/or the Dutch Sandwich we’ve heard of basically have nothing to do with the Australian tax net or Australian groups. asset_45.png

In my view, there are a lot of considerations from a policy perspective that are relevant here. Are current tax laws up to speed with the modern economy? To the extent that US multinationals have been mentioned, is this due to deficiencies in Australian law, or perhaps it’s more a case of the obvious deficiencies in the laws of other countries (including the US)? Is it appropriate to solely rely on income tax rules to bring more tax in “end of the line” countries or would it be more efficient and appropriate to increase consumption/indirect taxes instead?  It is actually a very complex matter but it has always struck me that the quality of the debate and reporting of it has never been that great and it has become deeply politicised, though it’s actually very hard to explain international tax and transfer pricing to a layperson. My experience is that the vast majority of multinationals simply want to comply with their obligations but even that is becoming increasingly harder and more resource-intensive. 


Q. What do you like to do to unwind? 

Well, on a somewhat regular basis, running for exercise helps me unwind. But for that occasional well-earned holiday, it would be skiing, snorkelling, scuba diving or relaxing at a nice beachfront hotel somewhere tropical.


Contact Liam

To get in touch with Liam, email [email protected] 
or call +61 2 8226 4704.

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