60-second interview with Emma Chamberlain

Monday, 21 September 2020
Barrister Emma Chamberlain OBE TEP will be considering whether a wealth tax is an alternative to the reform of existing taxes at our Thought Leadership event on 23 October.

What does your firm or organisation do?

I am a barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers in London. I’m also a Visiting Professor at Oxford University and at LSE.

What has STEP done for you, individually, or as a business?

As a member of STEP’s Technical Committee, I find the interaction of opinions and discussion of technical issues very important. STEP supported me in the writing of the Reform of Inheritance Tax in January with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Inheritance & Intergenerational Fairness (APPG IIF) which was very interesting.

What is the most important thing STEP does, in your opinion?

I’d say providing a forum for local groups to exchange ideas and problems. STEP’s regular digests on tax and trust issues are also very useful.

You are on the panel of our Thought Leadership web event on Wealth Taxes – the future of taxation in a post-COVID world on 23 October. Would you be able to give us a soundbite on what the main issues will be for the audience to take away?

I’ll be considering whether a wealth tax (WT) is desirable, and why a country might have one rather than reforming existing taxes. I’ll also look at the public perceptions of a WT, and consider design issues and avoidance. I’ve recently undertaken some extensive work on a wealth tax project with the LSE and Warwick, which has been really interesting: ukwealth.tax.

Why would you recommend that practitioners attend this event?

Practitioners might want to give some thoughtful consideration on the reform of existing taxes. There are a number of options for the UK government.

Do you think wealth taxes are likely to be introduced in your jurisdiction?

We’ll be discussing this on the day!

What effect would introducing wealth taxes have on people investing?

Come to the seminar, where I’ll be discussing this, and the lessons from other countries.

Emma Chamberlain OBE TEP is a Barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers in London. She serves on STEP’s Technical Committee. Emma specialises in the taxation of those with high net wealth. She is the co-author with Chris Whitehouse TEP of both Trust Taxation and Estate Planning and Dymond's Capital Taxes (Sweet & Maxwell), and is the co-author of a chapter in IFS Mirrlees Report on Taxation of Wealth and Wealth Transfers, and a contributor to Current Issues in Succession Law. She is also on the Editorial Board of British Tax Review.

Emma has undertaken various secondments to HM Treasury and HMRC including advising on foreign doms, trusts, the statutory residence test, IHT and residential property. In addition to her work with STEP she is the Joint Chair of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)’s Succession Committee (international); and a fellow and former Council Member of CIOT. She is a member of the GAAR Advisory Board, and sat on the Consultative Committee for IHT set up by the Office for Tax Simplification. Emma is a member of the Advisory Board for the Resolution Foundation: Standard Life Foundation report on taxation of wealth, and a former advisor to the Treasury Select Committee.

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Emma Chamberlain
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Emma Chamberlain

Emma Chamberlain OBE TEP is a Barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers in London, and serves on STEP’s Technical Committee.