Trustees
Kevin Nicholson ( Chairman)
Marian Drew (Vice Chair)
John Whitehead ( Treasurer)
Matthew Ellis
Craig Muir
Jo Wakeman
Gary Jones
Nick Pheasey
Patrons
The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath CVO, Former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The Rt. Hon. Lord Hodge, Former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Ambassadors
Stephen Banyard
I have been a great admirer of TaxAid for many years, initially seeing their work from an HMRC perspective. On retirement I was proud to become a trustee and then Chair – which enabled me to observe close up the great work our people do and the huge vulnerabilities of our clients. Earlier, my main career was at HMRC, where I had a number of outward facing roles, including change and IT programmes, retiring as Director General Personal Tax. Earlier still, in my youth I was a research scientist, determining the molecular structure of proteins using X-ray crystallography.
Rebecca Benneyworth MBE BSc FCA
Rebecca is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant, a past Chair of the Tax Faculty of the ICAEW and serves on the Tax Faculty Board and on ICAEW Council representing the Tax Faculty. She is a lecturer, writer and consultant on a variety of taxes, lecturing extensively throughout the UK, to accountants, business people and also to HMRC and HM Treasury. She has also delivered courses on tax for business people with no knowledge of tax.
She has her own accountancy practice based in Gloucestershire, with a variety of small business and personal tax clients.
Rebecca sits on the HMRC Making Tax Digital Programme Board as an external adviser, and is also a member of the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board. Rebecca has also provided advice to the Government of Jersey regarding scrutiny of proposals to modernise the tax system there.
Rebecca has also appeared on the Martin Lewis Money Show as a tax expert, as well as providing commentary on current tax issues to a variety of media outlets. She was awarded an MBE for services to the tax profession in 2012.
Helen Carruthers
Helen Carruthers is a senior tax leader and long-standing Partner with EY. She brings more than two decades of UK corporate tax professional experience, serving mainly large corporates as a trusted adviser. Helen has also held a variety of practice leadership roles for EY and is currently the Chief Operating Officer for the UKI Tax service line where she contributes significantly to the firms’ operations, transformation, and strategy.
As a TaxAid Ambassador, Helen sponsors the significant EY volunteer team and uses her network to champion the charity’s mission to ensure that vulnerable people are not left to navigate complex tax issues alone.
Helen balances her career with family life through an annualised role and enjoys skiing and outdoor pursuits.
Will Dowsett
Biography coming soon.
Matt Ellis
Biography coming soon.
Karen McNicholls
Biography coming soon.
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca’s practice as a barrister at Devereux Chambers currently consists of the Government’s most complex tax cases and advice on the Attorney General’s A-panel, and litigation and advice for companies and individuals.
She was lead counsel in the following most recent reported cases:
- For HMRC in the Court of Appeal in AD Bly Groundworks v HMRC [2025] EWCA Civ 1443 (whether expenditure was “wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade” )
- For the taxpayer in the FTT on the question of ‘normal expenditure out of income’ for the exemption from inheritance tax (Hosking v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 406)
- For the taxpayer in a penalty appeal in Napoleone v Revenue and Customs (whether circumstances attributable to events out with appellant’s control) [2026] UKFTT 130
- For HMRC on the question whether there was an ‘extraction of value’ for business investment relief (Benoit d’Angelin v HMRC [2025] UKUT 212)
- For HMRC on various questions under the transfers of assets abroad rules (Moran v HMRC [2025] UKFTT)
- For HMRC on Business Property Relief (Beresford v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 952); for HMRC in Trachtenburg v HMRC [2025] UKUT 206 (discovery assessments in relation to the unauthorised pensions surcharge)
- For HMRC in Brindley Place v HMRC [2024 UKFTT 808 (SDLT on acquisition of property complex using JPUT).
Rebecca’s practice includes indirect tax and public law as well as advice to HNW clients in a variety of situations, in particular HNW divorces and cross-border estates. She came to the Bar in 2009 following a career in private practice, latterly as Vice President at JP Morgan.”
Darren Oswick
Biography coming soon.
Jonathan Peacock K.C
Jonathan Peacock K.C has practiced at the Tax Bar in London for over 30 years, as an adviser across the range of tax issues and as an advocate, especially in the appellate Courts. He has been Chair of the Revenue Bar Association, a member of the Bar Council’s International Committee and, for 9 years, a Trustee of TaxAid.
Jonathan is also a member of the External Faculty for the Oxford MSc in Taxation course and is the author of numerous articles and several books on aspects of revenue law.
Nick Pheasey
Nick is Head of the Family Office, Private Client and Equity Reward team for KPMG In the UK. Nick has over 25 years experience in Private Client tax work advising entrepreneurs, shareholders of private companies and business owners in relation to the their personal tax affairs. Nick is recognised as an expert in the field and has been recognised as a Spears 500 Top Recommended Accountant and Tax Adviser and in the 2026 ePrivateclient 50 Most Influential Private Client Advisers.
Dawn Register
Dawn is a Chartered Tax Adviser and STEP member. She leads the Private Client team at BDO in London and specialises in Tax Dispute Resolution. Dawn manages complex tax return enquiries, voluntary disclosures, tax fraud and technical investigations conducted by HM Revenue & Customs. Her cases cover a wide range of tax issues, including tax avoidance, and often involve an international element. Under Code of Practice 8/9 or one of the disclosure facilities. Dawn’s recent work has focused on HMRC’s powers, penalties and campaigns. She helps a broad range of taxpayers from large corporates to small businesses, private individuals, trusts and estates.
Dawn is a CEDR accredited mediator and is using mediation to resolve tax disputes with HMRC. She is a regular presenter and writer on UK tax administration and is also regularly quoted in the national press.
Dominic Robertson
Dominic is a partner in Slaughter and May’s tax practice and is recognised as a leading lawyer for both tax and tax disputes. He advises a wide range of clients, including UK and overseas groups and various financial institutions, on all areas of UK corporate tax law. Additionally, he spends much of his time advising on tax investigations and disputes, at all stages from initial enquiries through to litigation, as well as standalone tax advisory work.
Dominic is Deputy Chair of the UK branch of the International Fiscal Association and a trustee of the Social Mobility Business Partnership.
Sir Edward Troup
Sir Edward Troup has spent his career in tax, retiring as Executive Chair of HMRC in 2018. He headed up the corporate tax team at City law firm Simmons & Simmons until 1995, when he became special adviser on tax to Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kenneth Clarke. After a further spell in the private sector, he joined HM Treasury in 2004, heading up the tax and welfare policy teams and working on numerous Budgets, before moving to HMRC in 2012 as Second Permanent Secretary and Tax Assurance Commissioner.
Since retiring he has worked as a consultant and commentator on tax issues.
Jo Wakeman
Jo led HMRC’s Large Business Compliance Directorate for 6 years before retirement in 2022. She has extensive experience in operational delivery, policy development, stakeholder management and business transformation during a public sector career spanning 35 years, working primarily in HMRC but including a 2-year secondment to HM Treasury. On the international stage, Jo initiated multilateral engagement with other fiscal authorities, developing a joint programme of large business tax compliance projects. Jo was awarded an OBE for services to the Taxation of Financial Services in the 2016 Birthday Honours.
Jo was a member of Newcastle University Business School’s International Advisory Board 2019-2026, and is currently a volunteer internal auditor for Oxfam, and volunteer mentor with Migrateful charity. Jo enjoys many sports and represents London in Masters Hockey. She is Secretary of her allotment group and battles the elements and pests to coax veg from her inner-London plot!
Helen Whiteman, CEO, CIOT
Helen has been CEO since September 2019, joining from the legal services sector. With over 20 years’ experience of working with chartered bodies, membership associations and regulators, she leads the work of the Institute supported by a senior management team and Council members who are all chartered tax advisers.
Helen studied Law at De Montfort University, before undertaking a Masters in IT at the University of Warwick. She is an advocate for continuous learning and has a keen interest in digital and AI technologies.
Helen is a volunteer trustee for Discover Children’s Story Centre in Stratford, London and ecobirmingham. She is a Champion and former trustee of the legal mental health and wellbeing charity, LawCare.