Julia Choate

Julia Choate is a Partner in the Tax Practice at Bowmans in Cape Town, specializing in Tax Law. She has extensive experience in tax dispute resolution and has been involved in litigating and settling several large income tax and customs and excise disputes, with a particular interest in the application of constitutional and administrative law principles to tax administration and disputes. She holds a PhD in Tax Law from the University of Cape Town.

Julia also specializes in indirect tax and international trade, advising clients on customs, excise, and VAT implications of import and export transactions, tariff classifications, customs valuations, and the claiming of customs and excise duty refunds and drawbacks. She advises on the implementation of multilateral trade instruments, particularly the SACU Agreement and the AfCFTA Agreement. Her clients include SABMiller / AB InBev, African Rainbow Minerals Ltd, Chevron Corporation, Massmart, and Investec Asset Management. She also advises on corporate tax issues for South African and multinational groups, including business presence establishment and cross‑border transaction structuring.

Julia holds an LL.B and a Postgraduate Diploma in Tax (with Distinction) from the University of Cape Town, and was conferred a PhD in Tax Law from the University of Cape Town in 2022. She was shortlisted as a semi‑finalist for the Professional Services category in the TransUnion Rising Star Awards (2024).