Biography
Yvonne Beh is a partner in the Tax, Trade and Wealth Management Practice Group of Wong & Partners. She has been advising on Malaysian tax laws and legal issues relating to corporate and commercial matters in Malaysia.
Chambers Asia Pacific ranked her as a Band 3 practitioner for Tax, having previously listed her as Up and Coming in 2020. In the Chambers guide, clients commend her for having "a deep knowledge base" and as a lawyer who "knows commercial and tax matters." She is also named as a Leading Individual for Tax by Legal 500 Asia Pacific in its 2024 guide. Yvonne is further recognized as being Highly Regarded and a Women In Tax Leader by International Tax Review in the area of indirect tax. Yvonne won the Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Award for the Tax category in 2015 and 2017. She was also recognised in the Asian Legal Business 40 under 40 list in 2016.
She is a frequent speaker at both domestic and international tax conferences and regularly contributes to the Bloomberg BNA’s Asia Pacific Focus Tax Planning newsletter, the VAT Navigator, as well as the Asia Pacific Tax Bulletin published by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation.
Practice Focus
Yvonne focuses on indirect tax issues, in particular sales and service tax (SST) and goods and services tax (GST) (before its abolishment). She has extensive experience advising on broader Malaysian tax issues, spanning across M&A, foreign direct investment and cross-border tax planning issues. She also regularly advises on income tax, withholding tax, double tax treaties, tax incentives, real property gains tax, stamp duty and tax controversies.
Yvonne has participated in various consultations with the Malaysian Ministry of Finance and Royal Malaysian Customs Department to provide feedback on the transition from GST to SST as well as SST-related changes and developments, including the introduction of service tax on imported digital services. Yvonne is often called upon by clients to advise on sophisticated and complex issues relating to the Malaysian tax and indirect taxes. This is particularly so for clients in the e-commerce, technology and digital economy industries, which have products and service offerings which are new, innovative and unconventional.
Representative Legal Matters
- Advised a leading global insurer on the tax issues relating to its global reorganisation. We specifically advised on the stamp duty implications for various agreements and documents required to complete the reorganisation.
- Advised an American multinational technology company on the permanent establishment, income sourcing, withholding tax and service tax implications in relation to the Client's cloud infrastructure investments.
- Advised a US headquartered venture capital firm on the full range of Malaysian direct and indirect tax issues, as well as applicable tax incentives in connection with the incorporation, maintenance and operation of a Malaysian venture capital fund and fund management company.
- Advised a leading payment processing corporation on the income tax, permanent establishment, withholding tax and service tax implications arising from the proposed offering of a buy-now-pay-later option via the Client's payment network and the relevant fees to be paid among parties within the network.
- Advised a multinational technology company on the service tax applicable on digital services provided to Malaysia customers, estimated service tax and penalties arising from various obligations under the Service Tax Act 2018. We successfully assisted the client in obtaining a remission of penalties.
- Advised a multinational technology company operating an online marketplace for lodging, homestays and tourism activities with a broad range of direct and indirect tax issues including new developments relating to service tax on digital services and tourism tax.
- Advised a leading online platform travel operator on Malaysian tourism tax obligations pursuant to the broadened tourism tax regime to cover digital platform service providers (DPSP), advising on legislative developments, guidelines issued by the Royal Malaysian Customs Development (Customs) and practical enforcement risks.
- Advised a multinational technology company on direct and indirect tax implications of potential infrastructure investments including subsea cable investments as part of a consortium.
- Advised the Malaysian subsidiary of a global shipping, logistics management and supply chain company in a transfer pricing audit and appeal.
- Advised a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of medical equipment and devices on the acquisition of a Malaysian manufacturing facility on Malaysian legal, regulatory and tax aspects as well as post-acquisition integration structure and issues.
- Assisted an American diversified global insurer with tax advice in relation to the client’s bid to acquire a stake in a large insurance business, as well as advising the client on subsequent restructuring issues from a Malaysian tax perspective.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia
- Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Malaysia Branch)
- Lincoln's Inn
Admissions
Malaysia (2005)
Kuala Lumpur (2005)
England & Wales~United Kingdom
Education
Cardiff University (LL.B. Hons) (2003)
Languages
English
Malay
Previous Offices
Sydney