Women Lawyers in Tax: Q & A with Manjit Singh, partner at Miller Thomson LLP

  • October 08, 2020
  • Kathryn Walker

Hello, Manjit.

I have a set of questions to get to know you better and to hear about your tax law experiences. Our intention is to provide not only myself, but also other lawyers with insight into the many career possibilities that women can have in tax. I also want to graciously thank you in advance for your sage advice and practice points to keep in mind as I, and many other practitioners, become more senior in our tax practices. 

  1. Can you describe your career progression in tax law, including why you chose tax law or did it choose you?

I went to law school fairly certain that I wanted to pursue a career in tax. I had already completed several tax courses in my undergraduate and enjoyed them, but when I considered my options—to be a chartered accountant or a lawyer, the breadth of legal studies was more appealing (plus I watched too much of L.A. Law growing up so I believed it would just be fun). I have utmost respect for accountants who complete the audit process to get their certification, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around having to do that, so the decision to practice tax as a lawyer just made sense.   

  1. Can you elaborate on the focus of your tax law practice? If you had a pie chart, how would you apportion the slices of that pie?

My practice is 100% general corporate tax and that really covers a whole bunch of everything. To put some colour on that,  I advise on tax planning and tax aspects of M&A transactions such as reorganizations, acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, cross-border structuring, as well as corporate securities transactions, such as privatizations, securitization, ipo’s, financing, securities offerings and private placements.Over the years, I have advised public and private companies, partnerships, trusts, investment funds and across diverse industries, including, in particular, real estate and asset management. Along the way, I have picked up a few areas of specialization as well--things like payments in lieu of taxes, taxation of REITs, executive compensation and policyholder insurance taxation.