SK- At the time, the primary motivation was the opportunity to make a major contribution to a growing international tax practice. While at KPMG, I may have been Partner but I would have been a junior Partner at a massive organization with very little influence. I was influenced by the very entrepreneurial opportunity at DLA Piper Rudnick.

KJ-What are the benefits in working with a law firm versus a public accounting firm?

SK-There are many benefits in working with a law firm. Obviously, the benefits to the clients are the availability of attorney-client privilege and no Sarbanes Oxley hurdles. We can also as an example, set up a transfer pricing model for our client, we can implement and maintain the transfer pricing model and we can defend it.

KJ- Please describe what you do.

SK-Broadly speaking, I work on international structuring which means that when a company decides to expand in multiple jurisdictions, they need to structure the taxes so that they are efficient and it will accommodate their business objectives.

KJ- What do you enjoy most about the tax work that you do?

SK-The complexity of the issues keeps my work fresh as every company and business model is different. For example, we are working with a new and upcoming industry client and it is different! In some ways, you see things you have seen before and in other ways the issues are very different. Another example would be the German market which is huge and is currently providing a lot of subsidies. There are many opportunities to learn here so this part of the world is a good area for people who are naturally curious about how the world works, and how a company based in the United States makes headway in disparate places. Another example would be tax structuring in China which is very different from the way things work in the United States. I genuinely enjoy the ability to reconcile and structure the difference in the rules and regulations while tying in the cultural issues. Often I will make parallels related to a Rubik’s Cube where it is easy to get one side in line but very complicated to get all six sides to line up; this parallels what many of these international structuring projects are like. It is easy to think about one country or it is easy to think about just tax, but then you have to fold in the company operations and the multiple jurisdictions and this is where the complexity and challenge of the task comes into play.

KJ- You used China as an example so I would like to ask you of your impression of working on China issues.

SK-You will need to have a healthy dose of deference to the way that other countries work. Many people have a natural tendency to think that everyone in the world should work the same way; a lot of times this is just not the case. For example, if you go to a tax audit in China it is very different from an IRS tax audit in the United States. We had a client where the Chinese Tax Authorities just knocked on the door of the company and told them they were going to audit them that day. They just walked in and told the company that they were going to audit them that day. They also told the client that if they did not comply that the Chinese Audit authorities would disallow deductions and write them up that day and provide them with one day to come up with a rebuttal.

KJ- You tell me that if the local Chinese Auditor walks in and issues demands you must comply with immediately. Is this a fact?

SK-In China, it is what it is! You do not want to make the auditors irritated with you and If that happens, they can shut you down and freeze your bank account. There are companies who have gone through this and have learned their lesson. What is important to remember in China is that relationships are critical and treating people with respect is the best way to handle things.

KJ- Do you have any experience in working in India that you can share with our readers?

SK- India is very interesting; the industry segmentation is very different. There is a lot of venture capital in India; you do not need capital from the United States venture capital firms. In fact, the United States venture capital firms go out there and compete with the indigenous firms in India. There is this notion of how capital is truly fluent in the market.

KJ-What advice would you give someone coming into the tax profession?

SK- You must make the effort to be good to people and take care of them the way you would like them to take care of you. You should go out of your way to make the extra effort because people will remember the effort you put into your work years down the line. Remember that kind gestures go along way!
You also need to have strong technical abilities to distinguish yourself. Read, read, read anything you can get your hands on to continually improve upon your current technical abilities. People will put their faith in you to do a good job and obtain good results for them. You must work hard to get things done so people will know that you drive the projects to completion.

KJ- Sang, thank you for the time you have taken to answer these questions. Your perspective is very valuable and we appreciate the time you have taken to share your experience with us!

Kathleen Jennings
Editor, Tax Intelligence Report
Kathleen@etsearch.com