John O'Donnell

Tax Disputes and Litigation Services - Consultant

  • Email: john.odonnell@kkmj.co.uk
  • Tel: +44 (0)141 227 8710
  • Fax: +44 (0)141 227 8711
  • Office: Glasgow, 2 Fitzroy Place, G3 7RH
  • Country: United Kingdom
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Expertise

John head’s up the Tax Disputes and Litigation team at KKMJ and is highly regarded as a specialist within HM Revenue & Customs Investigations. John brings more than 27 years of experience in assisting both corporate and individual clients in resolving disputes with HMRC at all levels and advising on tax matters that are subject to serious fraud or investigation.

John’s career was spent mainly with the National Investigation Service of HM Customs & Excise (now HM Revenue & Customs). After leaving HMRC, where he spent 13 years, he joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he spent 8 years specialising in providing fraud and tax investigation services, together with the relevant accounting experience, to corporate clients, high net worth indviduals and the legal profession. In 2005, John joined Chiltern plc (which was subsequently acquired by BDO Stoy Hayward LLP). During his time with Chiltern, the Tax Investigations team grew to become the market leader in handling cases involving serious tax fraud. John moved to BTG Tax to become partner in 2009, and headed up the tax investigations team in Scotland.

John has specialised in contentious tax matters for over twenty years being involved in a variety of fraud, corporate governance and tax investigation cases. He also acts as an Expert Witness giving evidence in the High Court, Crown Court, Magistrates Court in England, and in the Sheriff and High Court in Scotland. He has substantial experience in dealing with matters before the First Tier (Tax) Tribunal.

In 2007, John authored a tax digest entitled “VAT Investigations” published by Tottel’s, a publisher of books and information services for lawyers, accountants and business professionals.

Career

  • HM Customs & Excise Investigation Division, Senior Investigator - December 1984-March 1998
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers, Senior Manager Tax Investigations - March 1998 – October 2005
  • Chiltern plc, Director of Tax Investigations - November 2005 – November 2007
  • BDO Stoy Hayward LLP, Director of Tax Investigations - October 2007 – July 2009
  • BTG Tax LLP, Partner Tax Investigations - August 2009 – August 2011
  • KKMJ (UK) LLP, Head of Tax Disputes and Litigation – September 2011 – present

Practice Areas

Code 9 Investigations
VAT, Excise & Customs duty investigations
HMRC Prosecutions
Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime/Confiscation Cases
Proceedings before the First Tier (Tax) Tribunal