Alastair Morphet

Summary Profile

Alastair Morphet is a director in our Tax practice. He has extensive experience in tax planning, which includes opinions on a variety of transactions such as financial instruments, corporate restructurings, application of the Eighth Schedule, estate duty, donations tax and the GAAR. Alastair also has experience in the areas of tax litigation, projects and project finance.

Career

Alastair began his legal career as a candidate attorney in 1983. After qualifying in 1985, he joined the banking sector in corporate finance and worked his way up the ranks with First National Merchant Bank (senior associate in corporate finance), Firstcorp Corporate Banking Group (senior manager, 1989 – 1993; Vice-President, Structured Finance Unit, 1994 - 1996), Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank (senior manager, 1996 – 1997) and FBC Merchant Bank (Head of Structured Finance, 1998 – 2000).

In 2000, Alastair joined Deloitte and Touche as associate director in tax practice. In 2003, he joined Edward Nathan and Friedland as a director. In 2008 he became a tax partner at Eversheds (formerly Routledge Modise) and took over the department in 2009. Alastair joined Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr as a director in January 2011.

Education

• BA LLB, University of the Witwatersrand
• LLM (Mercantile Law), University of South Africa
• HDip Tax Law, University of Johannesburg
• Year of admission as an attorney: 1985

Memberships

Law Society of the Northern Provinces

Experience

• Advising on structured finance transactions, structured financial products and the deductibility of plant and machinery purchased through structures.
• Extensive experience on tax avoidance.
• Consulting to pension funds on pension fund taxation under the Taxation of Retirement Funds Act of 1996.
• Providing opinions on corporate restructurings, tax litigation, projects and project finance.
• Advising on the law of partnerships and trusts and advisory work on pension fund tax complications.
• Advising on property loan stock companies and their linked units.
• Acted for General Electric with regard to local structuring of their partnerships for US tax purposes.

Publications

Alastair Morphet has contributed to the following publications:

• Capital v Revenue Debate Continues: Any Further Clarity?’ (2004) 54 The Taxpayer 163 and 2004 Butterworths Property Law Digest 3 (quoted in T E Brincker Taxation Principles of Interest and Other Financing Transactions (Revision Service 5, March 2008) at T-6)
• 'Australia v South Africa’ (2005) 19 Tax Planning 129
• ‘Fiscal Statutes’ (2006) 20 Tax Planning 78
• ‘Michael McGregor Corbett’ (2008) 22 Tax Planning 6 and 54
• ‘Residence and ordinarily resident’ (2008) 22 Tax Planning 123
• ‘A turbulent year’ (2009) 23 Tax Planning 5
• ‘De-grouping provisions’ (2009) 23 Tax Planning 42
• ‘Misuse or abuse?’ (2009) 23 Tax Planning 143
• ‘Amazing Grace’ (2010) 24 Tax Planning 6.