Independent Perspective
Why Velten Advisors
Four decades of tax experience. An independent boutique model. Direct partner access on every engagement.
Velten Advisors was founded to offer clients an alternative to the large accounting and law firm platforms: independent cross-border tax advice delivered with the technical depth of a major firm, but without audit independence constraints, platform overheads, or leverage models that delegate senior work to junior teams.
The firm is not chasing scale, top-line growth or breadth for its own sake. It is built for the next chapter of cross-border tax advisory, not the last.
Structural Strengths
How the firm works, and what it costs
Principal-led
Every engagement is shaped and led by Michael. The person you engage is the person you reach.
Independent
No audit mandates, no platform cross-selling pressure, no vendor relationships. Independence shapes how mandates are scoped, priced and delivered, and who Michael partners with on any given matter.
Built around technology
Not bolted onto an existing model. Rather than licensing a research platform, we built one for our own use and run it under a documented verification discipline.
Flexible in engagement
Direct client work, alongside law firms on transactions, with in-house tax teams, and with incumbent advisers on defined-scope independent reviews.
Fairly priced
Independent firms operate on lower cost bases than the large platforms; technology and disciplined process further compress delivery costs.
Selective by design
Mandate volume is controlled so senior time remains genuinely available. The work is built around long-term advisory relationships rather than one-off mandates.
Proprietary Research Engine
Our own technology
We built proprietary AI-enabled Singapore tax research tooling rather than licensing generic platforms. We use it exclusively in our own practice; it is not sold, licensed or offered externally, and it is not a commercial product.
Two things follow from that. The first is delivery: a deliberately small senior team can work across the full depth of Singapore tax law without the leverage pyramid that scale normally requires. Research that would otherwise consume junior hours is compressed, and the time released goes into judgment rather than into the bill.
The second is credibility. Designing, governing and operating a live AI system in a profession where mostly correct is unacceptable surfaced the failure modes (hallucinated authority, silent drift, unverifiable outputs) in our own environment, before they reached client work. That operational experience informs our AI governance advisory.
Track Record
Representative Mandates
Structural tax review and governance framework design
For a Singapore-based single-family office across three Asia-Pacific investment jurisdictions.
CRS 2.0 readiness diagnostic and remediation roadmap
For a fiduciary platform administering trust structures across five jurisdictions.
Capital allowance study across a regional group's fixed-asset base
Identifying material unclaimed and misclassified positions.
Independent tax governance review for a multi-family office platform
Following divergent reporting outcomes across four custodian banks.
IRAS audit support and dispute resolution
For a regional holding structure involving cross-border transfer pricing and substance challenges.
Tax workstream on a regional M&A transaction
Delivered alongside legal counsel.
AI governance architecture and professional indemnity exposure assessment
For a regional tax advisory firm.
Cross-border structuring extending into Africa and South America
Delivered with specialist partner firms.
Practice Leadership
Senior judgment on every mandate
Velten Advisors operates without a leverage pyramid. Every engagement is shaped and led personally by Michael Velten, bringing four decades of Asia-Pacific tax counsel directly to your mandate.
The people who scope a mandate are the people who deliver it. There is no delegation of judgment and no handover to an unfamiliar team.
Arrange a Confidential Discussion
All enquiries are handled personally by Michael Velten and treated in confidence.