Melanie Hall KC > Monckton Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
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Melanie Hall KC
Position
Melanie Hall has been an acknowledged leader in the field of VAT for decades, having appeared in many of the iconic cases which have built the foundations of the tax such as Abbey National, Kretztechnik, EC v Ireland, The Wellcome Foundation, Midland Bank, Weald Leasing, EDS, Church Schools Foundation, Redrow, Dr Beynon, ICAEW, Mobilx and Sub-One to name a few. Melanie is instructed by both HMRC and the private sector in high profile and complex cases. This not only deepens her understanding and experience of the tax but ensures that any legal opinion she expresses will be respected by the other side. There are very few areas of VAT upon which she has not advised.
In addition to VAT, Melanie continues to take a lead role in shaping the response to sector-wide challenges concerning landfill tax and the aggregates levy which have been litigated in the domestic and Europeans courts during the past decade.
Career
Qualified 1982; Inner Temple. Made QC 2002.
Memberships
Melanie is a member of the editorial board for The Tax Journal, a Trustee of Somerset House and co-founded the charity The Circle with Annie Lennox to support disempowered women and girls. She is an Honorary Fellow of Law at Durham University.
Education
Durham University (1981 BA).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Tax: VAT and excise
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Monckton Chambers
is praised as a ‘leading set for VAT’ and other indirect tax matters, and the set’s expertise in EU and public law enables its members to handle a wide range of complex cases for both taxpayers and HMRC. Melanie Hall KC has significant experience advising clients in the financial services sector. Of recent note, she was instructed by the taxpayer in E-Zec Medical Transport Services Ltd v HMRC, which concerned the refusal of HMRC to allow private ambulance operators to claim zero-rate VAT. Philip Moser KC has notable expertise in EU-related tax, VAT, and customs matters, in addition to VAT fraud. Valentina Sloane KC also has an impressive case load, and is representing Fenix International – operator of OnlyFans, a subscription content platform primarily used by sex workers – in one of the last British to reach the European Court of Justice, concerning if VAT should be charged on the full cost of content, or on the part of it which is the platform’s fee.