Robert Newey is an English solicitor, currently serving on the Spectrum Steering Committee. He has both an MA and an LLM from the University of Cambridge. He qualified as a solicitor at Theodore Goddard, a City of London law firm, in October 1982.

Initially he worked in the trust and tax department, dealing with offshore trusts in particular. Later he moved to the corporate department. He then moved to another City firm (Warner Cranston), where he specialised in tax work with a corporate emphasis.

In 1995 he started Robert Newey & Co as his own consultancy practice providing specialist help with tax matters to corporate departments of larger law firms. The firm is based in central London, close to Tower Bridge. In 1996 he became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. For his fellowship he wrote a thesis comparing the UK tax treatment of French and American companies. This covered both direct and indirect tax issues.

Much of his work related to inward investment by foreign companies in the UK. He advised on corporate tax, VAT and employment tax issues, often with a cross-border aspect. For example he advised on VAT aspects of cross-border supplies of services; he adapted overseas share schemes for UK-based employees of foreign companies; and he advised on corporate tax issues for overseas companies with UK activities.

He has been a Visiting Fellow of the Department of Law at the University of Essex. In 1998-1999 he taught Revenue Law to undergraduate law students. He also developed a postgraduate course in International Tax Law, which he taught for some years.

Since the late 1990s he has worked for a range of clients - from individuals to multi-nationals - on tax-related disputes, including litigation in a variety of courts and tribunals.

He is a long-standing member of the VAT Practitioners Group. He is also an Associate of the Institute of Indirect Taxation and a member of the International Fiscal Association.

The firm’s clients include multinationals, small businesses, law firms, accountancy practices, non-profit organisations, trust companies, business people and individuals, in the UK and all over the world.

It advises on the following areas:

Tax issues for businesses, including:

. Corporate tax planning:

Mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganisations;

Cross-border tax issues, including inward investment into the UK;

. Value added tax (and other indirect taxes such as customs duty and the various stamp taxes on shares and land)

Employment tax issues, including employee incentives such as employee share schemes and employee trusts;

International tax planning for individuals; and

Tax disputes and investigations (including litigation).

The firm advises on the best way to proceed, taking into account both commercial and tax issues. It has experience of tax litigation in a variety of courts and tribunals. It has good relationships with advisers in many other jurisdictions and can ask them to assist if required.