Tax Advisers

339 Pages·2007·5.34 MB·English

www.expertguides.com
The Legal Media Group Guide to the World’s Leading
Tax Advisers

CONTENTS 2 Methodology
3 Argentina editorial
5 Argentina
Guide to the World’s Leading
10 Australia
Tax Advisers
15 Austria
Research manager 17 Belgium editorial
19 Belgium
Tatiana Hlivka 26 Bolivia
Sub-editors 27 Brazil
34 Canada editorial
Rebecca Skipwith 36 Canada
Maria McGrady 58 Chile
Production manager 62 China
64 Colombia
Richard Oliver 66 Cyprus
Production editor 69 Czech Republic
71 Denmark
João Fernandes 74 Finland
Business manager 78 France
84 Germany editorial
Matthew Lakin 86 Germany
Project manager 104 Hong Kong SAR
108 Hungary
Jonathan McReynolds 110 India
Publisher 117 Ireland editorial
118 Ireland
Danny Williams 120 Israel
Director 121 Italy
124 Japan
Christopher Fordham 129 Lithuania
For additional copies of this publication 130 Luxembourg editorial
please contact: 132 Luxembourg
136 Mexico
141 The Netherlands editorial
LegaTl aMtiaedniaa HGlriovukpa 143 The Netherlands
Nestor House 151 New Zealand editorial
Playhouse Yard 153 New Zealand
London, EC4V 5EX 156 Norway
Tel: [phone] Panama
Fax: [phone] Poland
Email: [email protected] 164 Portugal
RRP £65/€100/US$110 172 Russia
175 Singapore
179 South Africa editorial
©Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
184 South Africa
January 2007
195 South Korea
No matter contained herein may be reproduced, 202 Spain editorial
duplicated or copied by any means without the prior
204 Spain
consent of the holder of the copyright, requests for
which should be addressed to the publisher.Although 210 Sweden
Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC has made 215 Switzerland
everyeffort to ensure the accuracy of this publication, 224 United Kingdom
neither it nor any contributor can accept any legal 245 United States editorial
responsibility whatsoever for consequences that may
arise from errors or omissions, or any opinions or 247 United States
advice given. This publication is not a substitute for 332 Venezuela
professional advice on specific transactions.
Directors: Padraic Fallon, Lord Rothermere, Sir
Patrick Sergeant, Charles Sinclair, Peter Williams,
Index
Richard Ensor, Chris Brown, Neil Osborn, Dan
Cohen, Gerard Strahan, John Botts, Edoardo 334 Index of firms
Bounous, Colin Jones, Simon Brady,Tom Lamont,
Diane Alfano, John Bolsover, Gary Mueller, Mike
Carroll, Christopher Fordham
Cover image © mjutabor/BigStockPhoto.com
The Queens Award for
ExportAchievement 1999
1
Methodology
Welcome to the 2007 Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers,the international legal
market’s leading guide to the top practitioners in the field of tax advice.
When first published in 1994, the Expert Guides were the first ever guides dedicated
to leading individuals in the legal industry. Since then we have continued to focus on
individuals considered by clients and peers to be the best in their field.
The guides for each practice area are updated every two years. Our research process
involves sending over 4,000 questionnaires to senior practitioners or in-house counsel
involved in each practice area in over 60 jurisdictions, asking them to nominate leading
practitioners based on their work and reputation. The results are analysed and screened
for firm, network and alliance bias. The list of experts is then discussed and refined with
advisers in legal centres worldwide.
Our researchers have compiled a list of specialists in 42 jurisdictions for this guide. These
specialists have been independently offered the opportunity to enhance their listing with
a professional biography. The biographies give readers valuable, detailed information
regarding each lawyer’s practice and, if appropriate, their work and clients.
We owe the success of this guide to all the in-house counsel and firms that completed
questionnaires and met our researchers. Thank you. We hope you find the guide to be
auseful tool.
Tatiana Hlivka
Research manager
2 Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers
Argentina
Argentina: time for
comprehensive reform?
Only five years have elapsed since the crisis that rocked
Argentina in late 2001 and early 2002, and yet the economic
outlook has now entirely changed in ways not even the most
optimistic forecaster could have predicted during those
difficult years.
The Argentine economy has recovered well since that time,
with GDP growing 9% on average each year, a growth that
is currently driven mainly by exports, construction,
manufacturing and financial activities. At the same time,
consumption is also stimulated by government spending and
social programs.
Despite concerns on several fronts, such as infrastructure
needs in the energy sector, fears of over-regulation and other
measures that would be required to enable sustainable
growth, economists and businessmen are increasingly
optimistic about the future performance of the country.
Tax revenues
Tax revenues in Argentina have increased sharply, as shown
in the chart below.
Diego Etchepare (top) The federal primary surplus that has been observed lately is
and Andrés Edelstein due to high value-added tax receipts and a strong
PricewaterhouseCoopers performance by income taxes, reflecting the recovery in
Buenos Aires GDP and also a certain degree of success in the fight against
tax evasion and the informal economy.
However, this excellent performance is shadowed by the fact that the fiscal sustainability
greatly depends on a couple of distorting taxes, for example export duties and the tax on
financial transactions – tax on checks – and also on the lack of recognition of inflation
for tax purposes. Notwithstanding that corporate income tax and VAT are imposed at
relatively high rates (35% and 21% respectively), the breakdown of tax revenues shows
that the two main distorting taxes contribute 20% of the tax collection, and have been
playing an important role in the remarkable levels of tax revenues.
These circumstances, among other factors, explain why Argentina has performed poorly
inthe recent survey conducted as part of the World Bank Doing Business report, Paying
Collection of taxes at federal level
3
Argentina
Taxes, the global picture (2006), by the World Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers
comparing tax regimes around the world.
How to reform
There seems to be a consensus on the necessity of reducing or repealing these so-called
distorting taxes through a major tax reform. The dilemma the government has to face is
how to implement these changes without jeopardizing the current fiscal surplus, a crucial
aspect to which the authorities have been paying close attention, and which makes a
substantial reform a challenging exercise.
The government has so far been reluctant to consider eliminating these taxes in view of
satisfactory performance. The enactment of special tax regimes to promote investments
shows that the authorities are conscious of the high level of taxation and willing to
encourage investment projects, although the budget devoted to that end is limited. We
refer to the temporary regime for investments in capital assets and infrastructure works
and the software promotion regime (Law 25,924 and 25,922 respectively, both enacted in
2004), and the special regimes for the production and use of Biofuel and Hydrocarbons
(Law 26,093 and 26,154 respectively, both launched in 2006).
Although there are conflicting views on the impact of tax cuts on the flow of foreign direct
investment (FDI) and no simple relationship seems to exist between the overall level of
taxation and long-term economic growth, studies do find evidence of the negative
influence of high levels of taxation. Moreover, there are clear signs that the level of
taxation has significant influence on investment decisions.
In the context of fierce competition among countries to attract investments, the design
and implementation of a tax system that encourages them, together with other sound
measures aimed at improving the investment climate and the business environment,
should be one of the main items of the Argentine Government’s agenda.
According to the World Bank publication mentioned above, tax reductions are possible
when reforms target increasing compliance and the tax base. Three ways to start a good
reform are discussed in the report: simplification of the tax legislation, which also implies
the repeal of exemptions or special treatments; easing filing requirements, for instance by
making electronic filing possible and eliminating excessive paperwork; and consolidating
taxes. These general guidelines may well be taken into consideration in the establishment
of a friendlier tax system in Argentina, together with other specific initiatives such as the
alignment of tax policies among the different taxing jurisdictions (federal, provincial and
municipal levels), and the expansion of the tax treaty network (composed of 18 treaties,
most of them concluded with European and American countries).
In the meantime, to take advantage of the many opportunities that the Argentine
economy offers, careful tax planning is essential, not only to ensure that all the tax
implications and exposures have been duly addressed, but also to determine whether the
project fits the scope of the various tax incentive regimes currently available.
4 Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers
Argentina
Diego Etchepare
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Bouchard 557
C1106ABG – Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.pwc.com/ar
Diego Etchepare is an expert in all matters related to national and provincial taxation,
and advises international corporations doing business in Argentina.
Hewas the partner in charge of the tax and legal practice in PricewaterhouseCoopers’s
Buenos Aires office until July 2001, when he became the partner in charge of the Buenos
Aires firm. With more than 20 years’ experience in the taxation area, he has been
assisting multinational clients to structure their investments and acquisitions in
Argentina.
Hehas been a professor on taxation at the Universidad de Belgrano for 15 years and is
afrequent speaker at seminars and conferences organized by leading local professional
associations.
He has also addressed international seminars in the US, Canada and other countries in
South America.
He has published numerous articles in the technical press, as well as co-writing four
books on tax practice and theory.
He is a member of the Argentina Fiscal Association and of the Taxation Executive
Committee of the Professional Association of CPAs. At present, he is a member of the
consultative council of the School of Economic Sciences at the Universidad de Belgrano.
He is also a member of the Advisory Council in Argentina of the IDEC – Universidad
Pompeu Fabra, Spain.
5
Argentina
Carlos Iannucci
Deloitte
Pte Gral J D Peron 646, 2nd Floor
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos
C1038AAN Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.deloitte.com
Carlos Iannucci is an international tax partner at Deloitte with 20 years of experience
in tax services. He is the tax department director in Argentina and Latco, and also leads
the Latin American indirect tax practice.
Carlos has vast experience in serving multinational enterprises doing business in Latin
America. He is a senior adviser on international tax planning strategies, indirect tax
planning, cross-border transactions and mergers and acquisitions.
He is a frequent speaker at tax conferences and seminars in various countries and has been
distinguished over the last few years as a top tax adviser in Argentina by International Tax
Review and Mondaq. He is also a professor of taxation at the Universidad Católica
Argentina, and a member of the International Fiscal Association and the Argentine Tax
Association.
6 Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers
Argentina
Pablo F Tonina
Deloitte
Florida 234, 5th Floor
C1005AAF Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel: [phone] ext 2145
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.deloitte.com
Pablo F Tonina is a tax partner at Deloitte, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has
more than 20 years of experience in serving multinationals, major local companies and
financial institutions in corporate and international tax issues.
Mr Tonina is the lead tax partner for several large consumer, manufacturing, technology
and financial services industry clients. He is also responsible for the Latin American
coordination of tax services for several of Deloitte’s global strategic clients.
Since 1988, Mr Tonina has consistently been listed among the leading tax advisers in
Argentina in various market surveys. He is a regular lecturer at business institutions,
universities and professional entities, sharing his expertise in various tax matters. He also
is a contributor to a number of specialized technical publications.
Mr Tonina is a certified public accountant. He graduated from the School of Economics,
Argentine Catholic University, and is a member of the Argentine Tax Association and
the International Tax Association.
7
Argentina
Alejandro Claudio Altamirano
Estudio Beccar Varela,Buenos Aires
Francisco J Antognini
Ernst & Young,Buenos Aires
Rubén O Asorey
Asorey & Navarrine,Buenos Aires
Manuel María Benites
Pérez Alati Grondona Benites Arntsen & Martinez,Buenos Aires
Carlos Casanovas
Ernst & Young,Buenos Aires
Marcelo A Castillo
KPMG,Buenos Aires
Andrés M Edelstein
PricewaterhouseCoopers,Buenos Aires
Diego Etchepare (see bio)
PricewaterhouseCoopers,Buenos Aires
Jorge Gebhardt
Ernst & Young,Buenos Aires
Eduardo Gil Roca
PricewaterhouseCoopers,Buenos Aires
Gabriel Gotlib
Marval O’Farell & Mairal,Buenos Aires
Carlos Iannucci (see bio)
Deloitte,Buenos Aires (see advert on inside front)
Susana C Navarrine
Asorey & Navarrine,Buenos Aires
Matias Olivero Vila
Bruchou Fernandez Madero Lombardi & Mitrani,Buenos Aires
Daniel Rybnik
EnterPricing,Buenos Aires
Alberto Tarsitano
Cárdenas Di Cio Romero & Tarsitano,Buenos Aires
Guillermo Orlando Teijeiro
Negri & Teijeiro Abogados,Buenos Aires
Miguel Alejandro Máximo Tesón
Estudio O’Farrell,Buenos Aires
Pablo F Tonina (see bio)
Deloitte,Buenos Aires (see advert on inside front)
8 Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers