Desmond Liew

Desmond Liew is a Partner at Rahmat Lim & Partners, specializing in Tax Law. He advises corporations and high‑net‑worth individuals on direct and indirect tax matters related to restructuring, cross‑border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, employment, real estate, TMT, intellectual property, and insurance. He represents clients in tax disputes before all levels of the Malaysian courts, the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT), and the Customs Appeal Tribunal, and regularly resolves tax disputes and issues through negotiations with the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, and other regulatory authorities.

Desmond has been involved in numerous significant tax matters, including representing a property developer before the Court of Appeal, High Court, and SCIT in defending against income tax claims on the gain from the disposal of land, with the amount in dispute being approximately RM120 million; representing a company director in the High Court in connection with criminal charges for failure to file tax returns, resulting in the director being acquitted of all charges and a RM2.4 million tax penalty being set aside; and representing a public listed company in a RM29 million stamp duty appeal. Prior to joining Rahmat Lim & Partners, he was a Partner at another Malaysian law firm and, before that, a tax consultant at a Big Four audit firm.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of London and a Bachelor of Taxation (Hons) from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, both with First Class Honours. He was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 2019 and is an associate member of the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia.

Desmond is ranked as Highly Regarded in Tax Controversy by International Tax Review: World Tax, and ranked in Chambers Asia‑Pacific, where clients describe him as a "fantastic lawyer with in‑depth knowledge," "calm, collected, and sharp," with "commendable attention to detail" and "amazing speed of follow‑up." He is a HRDF‑certified speaker and has been invited to speak at seminars in China on Malaysian taxation and foreign direct investment considerations.