Michael Reason was called to the English Bar in 2013 having had a long career as a New Zealand barrister and English solicitor, leaving him with a broad background and experience dealing with conflict of laws, international law, mutual enforcement and various foreign law issues.
An active member of our housing and property group, he regularly appears for residential and commercial landlords and tenants in claims, applications and defences for possession, breach of tenancy and damages for disrepair.
Michael’s housing practice includes applications and defences of housing related anti-social behaviour including applications and defences to injunctions, enforcement and committal, public law appeals from social housing homelessness, priority and allocation decisions.
He advises and appears for directors of insolvent companies subject to claims under the Companies Act and Insolvency Act including when threatened with disqualification.
He has experience with VAT and direct tax disputes in the FTT (tax chamber).
In continuation of his former practice as a specialist private client solicitor, in conjunction with financial advisers, he advises individuals and family trusts on asset holding and trading strategies including when migrating to or from the UK.
He completed an LLM (international business law) at the LSE in 1991 and was the principal of Michael Reason & Partners LLP from 1994.
Michael is a qualified direct access barrister and is able to accept instructions from members of the public within his specialist areas.
If you would like more information about Michael’s practice, please contact his clerks or call +44 (0)20 7405 6114.
International Tax and Trusts
Recent reported decisions
- Malik v Messalti [2024] EWHC 2713 (Ch) (25 October 2024)
- Contax Partners Inc BVI v Kuwait Finance House (KFH-Kuwait) & Ors [2024] EWHC 436 (Comm) (29 February 2024)
He specialises in international tax and trusts and advises clients on matters including:-
- private family trusts in England and elsewhere,
- investment structures holding specific investment property and managed portfolio investments,
- trading structures subject to indirect tax and sourced based direct tax issues,
- implementation of Double Tax Agreements,
- corporate holding structures,
- the establishment and operation of UK sourced pension fund investment structures outside the UK, and
- anti-money laundering regulations
His practice includes contentious dispute resolution especially involving breaches of trust, tax appeals, debt related disputes and business disagreements. He acts for and is a former company secretary of a private education provider and has experience in UK and EU education law and regulation matters and education related VAT exemptions.
Civil
Michael advises and acts in a wide range of civil law matters, including landlord and tenant, personal injury, bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, consumer credit matters, civil litigation and costs matters.
Publications
SAE Education ‘eligible body’ for the VAT education exemption, Tax Journal (UK) 12 April 2019
Finance and Business Training: The UK VAT Education Exemption and Fiscal Neutrality, Tax Journal 19 February 2016
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