Laura Charkin

Laura Charkin is a partner in Goodwin’s Tax practice and a member of the Private Investment Funds group and specializes in all taxation matters affecting the private investment funds industry. She advises fund managers and investors across a wide range of asset classes including private equity, debt, real estate, venture capital, infrastructure funds, and secondary funds. She has particular expertise in structuring private funds, separately managed accounts, executive incentive arrangements, the structures through which funds invest, and investment management platforms.

Laura advises on a broad range of tax issues including VAT, employment tax, capital gains tax in relation to partnerships, BEPS related tax changes and tax rules relating to carried interest and executive investments into funds. She also has considerable knowledge of international tax issues arising for investment structures with a cross-border dimension and experience with multijurisdictional fund management teams.

Laura is a member of Invest Europe’s Tax Committee and is Chair of the BVCA’s Business Tax Sub-Committee. She is recognised as a Band 1 practitioner in Investment Funds Tax by Chambers Global and UK and as a leading tax practitioner in the Legal 500.

• Ares Management on the structuring and fundraising of Ares Management’s flagship opportunistic real estate equity fund, Ares European Real Estate Fund VI
• Urban Partners’ Northern European real estate business NREP on closing of NREP Nordic Strategies Fund V SCSp which has raised in excess of €3.6bn, making it the largest European focused value-add real estate fund to date
• Kreos Capital, one of the leading venture and growth debt providers in Europe and Israel, on its acquisition by an American multinational investment company
• Bregal Unternehmerkapital on the structuring and fundraising of their latest fund, Bregal Unternehmerkapital IV, which was over subscribed and closed at €2.65bn
• Antin Infrastructure Partners on Project Kapany, which was a GP-led secondary, in which Antin sold a minority strip of four of the assets (three of which comprise fibre networks businesses) from its existing Fund III to Antin Infrastructure Partners III-B SCSp - raising over a billion euros of further commitments from a consortium that includes lead secondary investors Pantheon and Ardian
• Polaris on the formation of Polaris Private Equity V
• Endless on establishing its fifth fund, raising £400m
• Macquarie Green Investment Group on the structuring and fundraising of its latest fund, Macquarie GIG Renewable Energy Fund 2 (“MGREF2”), which raised €1.635bn
• Advised longstanding client Novastar Ventures on the structuring and fundraising of its latest fund, the $108m Novastar Ventures Africa Fund II
• Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) on the structuring and fundraising of its latest fund, Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 6 (MEIF6). MEIF6 closed at its hard cap of €6bn – exceeding its target of €5 billion

Laura is a member of Invest Europe’s Tax Committee. Invest Europe is the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors, as well as their investors. She is also Chair of the BVCA’s Business Tax Sub-Committee. The British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) represents the interests of members of the private equity and venture capital industry in taxation matters. Laura is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

In Legal 500 UK 2026, Laura has been recognized as a “Leading Partner” for Corporate Tax. Laura has also been recognized as a Top 10 Most Influential UK-Based Tax: Investment Funds Lawyer in 2023 by Business Today.

Laura is recognized ranked in Band 1 by both Chambers UK and Chambers Global for her work in Tax: Investment Funds. Laura is described as “very knowledgeable in her subject and takes the time to talk fully through issues… She is one of the best funds tax practitioners in the market.” Clients also note "Laura is an excellent adviser. She's technically very strong and she's fantastic at explaining very complex situations to different stakeholders clearly."

• Co-Author, “Keep Calm and Carry On?  Navigating the UK’s New Regime for Carried Interest Taxation,” BVCA Technical Bulletin, Autumn 2025
• Co-Author, “UK Government Announces Update on New Carried Interest Tax Regime,” Goodwin Alert, June 9, 2025
• Co-Author, “IBCI: Worth a Second(ary) look,” BVCA Technical Bulletin, Spring 2025
• Co-Author, “Key Takeaways from the Autumn Budget 2024,”  Goodwin Alert, October 31, 2024
• Co-Author, “Horizon Scan for Private Investment Funds: Tax Developments to look out for (Autumn 2024),” Goodwin Alert, October 31, 2024
• Co-Author, “Horizon Scan for Private Investment Funds: Tax Developments to look out for (May 2024),” Goodwin Alert, May 2024
• Co-Author, “BEFIT for a FASTER Future: A Review of the Latest EU Tax Developments,” BVCA, November 23, 2023
• Quoted, “Tax-evasion rules require compliance plans by 30 September,” Private Funds Management, September 2017 
• “One minute with …Laura Charkin,” Tax Journal, September 2017
• Quoted, “Proposed UK tax shake-up may hit PE,” Private Equity International, July 2017 
• Co-Author, “Legally Speaking: It’s a Competitive World When It Comes to Carry,” Private Fund Management, June 2017
• Quoted, “Spring 2017 Budget: Sowing the Seeds,” Practical Law Tax, March, 2017 
• Co-Author, “FATCA: Private equity funds and the UK/US IGA,” practical law for companies, September 2016
• Co-Author, “Carried interest: the new landscape,” Tax Journal, February 2016
• “FA 2015: Disguised investment management fee rules,” Tax Journal, April 2015
• Co-Author, “Draft FB 2015: Proposed disguised fee income rules,” Tax Journal, January 2015
• “Structuring the Fund in Tax-Efficient Private Fund Structuring,” PEI 2013
• “FATCA Fun for Funds,” Emerging Markets Private Equity Association Legal and Regulatory Bulletin, Spring 2013
• “Why the U.S. matters for European private equity firms,” Private Equity International, Autumn 2012
• “Taxation of private equity funds and carried interest,” A Practitioner’s Guide to Private Equity, Sweet & Maxwell, 2009

Speaking Engagements

• “Changes to the UK Carry Tax Regime,” BVCA Technical Policy conference, November 2025
• “UK Carried Interest Reform,” Informa: Tax for Private Equity Funds conference, June 2025
• “Let’s talk about tax,” SuperReturn CFO/COO 2020 virtual event, September 2020
• “Non-resident capital gains tax on UK real estate,” Private Equity Tax Practices conference, September 2019
• “Post-Brexit fund structuring,” Private Equity Tax Practices conference, September 2018
• “Re-domiciliation of operations outside of the UK: Practical Issues and Considerations for Private Equity Houses,” Private Equity Tax Practices conference, September 2017
• Webinar on “BEPS and what does it mean for fund managers?,” Funds Europe, September 2017
• Keynote address at Tolley Tax Planning for Private Equity Conference 2013
• “Practical implications and implementation of FATCA & Dodd Frank,” EVCA CFO-COO Summit 2013
• “FATCA, it is here, now do something about it,” International Bar Association 13th Annual Tax Planning Strategies - U.S. and Europe Conference, 2013
• “Understanding how your business can plan to manage the FATCA requirement,” PEI Private Fund Compliance conference 2012