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The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms

Deloitte's service line leader for tax is Erwin Holzer. The tax group is one of the largest in Austria, counting around 300 fee-earners among its ranks.The team provides services across all areas of tax including international tax, local tax, M&A, tax ... [more]

Deloitte's service line leader for tax is Erwin Holzer. The tax group is one of the largest in Austria, counting around 300 fee-earners among its ranks.

The team provides services across all areas of tax including international tax, local tax, M&A, tax accounting, payroll tax, litigation, VAT, customs and transfer pricing. George Knopf has joined this year to set up a separate customs department, which the firm believes is the only one in the big-four.

Holzer worked on the restructuring of the European group of a large US multinational. By using an Austrian partnership held by a Dutch Coop he was able to reduce the overall tax burden of the group.

Holzer and Gabriele Holzinger are advising an Austrian leasing group on a structure to optimise their withholding tax credits. Holzer is also working alongside Georg Erdélyi on the reorganisation of a major project to circumvent any possible capital gains tax exposure.

The group has seen an expansion in transfer pricing work this year in the face of a clampdown by the authorities. This year it worked on transfer pricing for a pharmaceutical group located in Italy that was expanding into Eastern Europe. The group also provided analysis for an Austrian-based telecommunications company with subsidiaries in multiple jurisdictions.

Ernst & Young's tax team in Austria is headed by Andreas Stefaner. Christina Khinast-Sittenthaler is a new partner this year and specialises in transaction advisory services. Alexander Wlasto has also made partner and focuses on assurance work. Competitors ... [more]

Ernst & Young's tax team in Austria is headed by Andreas Stefaner. Christina Khinast-Sittenthaler is a new partner this year and specialises in transaction advisory services. Alexander Wlasto has also made partner and focuses on assurance work. Competitors mention Roland Rief as a leading partner in international tax.

The group is structured across five main service lines. Rief heads the international tax services department, which includes a lot of cross-border advisory work. Ingrid Rattinger is head of the indirect tax group, focusing mostly on VAT. Stefaner leads the transfer pricing group and is joint-head, with Ferdinand Pillhofer, of the business tax services group. Markus Schragl is head of the transactions group.

The tax team has worked on a lot of structuring work this year where an Austrian holding company is used. This involves making sure that a favourable group tax regime is in place so that losses can be offset against the parent company. Transfer pricing work has increased this year too and this is something the practice plans to build on the next few years.

The group represents multinationals and financial institutions, particularly subsidiaries of US companies.

KPMG has a strong reputation in Austria. Hans Zöchling is head of tax and works alongside 170 fee-earners. Helmut Mayer, a corporate income tax specialist, has left, but otherwise KPMG are unchanged from last year. The group is concentrated in its two ... [more]

KPMG has a strong reputation in Austria. Hans Zöchling is head of tax and works alongside 170 fee-earners. Helmut Mayer, a corporate income tax specialist, has left, but otherwise KPMG are unchanged from last year. The group is concentrated in its two main offices in Vienna and Linz with a handful of fee-earners in KPMG's other offices.

The tax practice can be split into seven different service-lines: VAT, transfer pricing, general corporate income tax, expatriate, financial services, private wealth and M&A.

Zöchling is in charge of corporate income tax, Barbara Pollster-Grüll runs the M&A department and Sabine Bernegger leads the transfer pricing team. These three areas make up the bulk of KPMG's work.

KPMG has seen an increase this year in work in other areas as it attempts to distinguish itself from the other big-four firms. Stefan Haslinger leads VAT work, which has increased this year. Johann Mühlener runs the financial services group. He is praised by his peers. One partner said: "he is a well-regarded expert in the area of capital markets and financial products".

KPMG represent mainly big blue-chip Austrian companies – particularly those going outbound -as opposed to the subsidiaries of foreign multinationals. Clients come from Important industries such as energy, production and financial services.

KPMG won the Austria Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year award at the International Tax Review 's European Tax Awards this year.

LeitnerLeitner is probably the strongest tax practice in Austria outside of the big-four. A number of their professionals are frequently singled out as leading practitioners in their field. Sabine Kirchmayr is mentioned for her capital markets work; ... [more]

LeitnerLeitner is probably the strongest tax practice in Austria outside of the big-four. A number of their professionals are frequently singled out as leading practitioners in their field. Sabine Kirchmayr is mentioned for her capital markets work; Gerald Gahleitner is seen as a leading practitioner in cross-border tax structuring work and Reinhard Leitner, head of international tax, is described as "a pope in the Austrian tax market".

The team has continued to expand its numbers this year. Andreas Theuerer has joined from Ernst & Young and Gregor Zorman has arrived from Wolf Theiss.

The group offers a full range of tax services including M&A, private equity, cross-border structuring, criminal tax law and transfer pricing. The group has seen an increase in M&A activity and has worked on a number of the biggest transactions in Austria this year. The group has represented a number of Austrian companies this year going outbound, particularly to Central and Eastern Europe.

The group advises across most of the major industries and has particularly experience in the energy, real estate and financial services sectors.

Herbert Greinecker leads a team at PwC of about 250 fee earners. The team has expanded this year especially in theLinz and Salzburg offices. The number of partners stays the same as last year, however, at 11. Kurt Lassacher has stepped up to partner this year, while Johannes Moertl has retired.

The group is strong across most areas of tax and is growing. Transfer pricing, M&A and international tax form the core of its work. The M&A department, headed by Bernd Hofmann has started to pick up again this year. The transfer pricing group, led by Greinecker,has also seen an increase in work as the authorities have become more aggressive.

Work this year includes advising a large client in the fashion industry on the acquisition of a retailer in a deal worth a few hundred million euros. The practice has a near 50-50 split between local clients and multinationals. The practice is especially strong in the telecommunications industry and has seen an increase of financial services work this year as the team built under Thomas Strobach has grown.

BPV Hügel Rechtsanwälte is seen by its competitors as one of the strongest tax practices in a law firm in Austria. Head of tax Hanns Hügel, whose "name is synonymous with tax in Austria" is often mentioned by his competitors for his corporate tax, cross-border ... [more]

BPV Hügel Rechtsanwälte is seen by its competitors as one of the strongest tax practices in a law firm in Austria. Head of tax Hanns Hügel, whose "name is synonymous with tax in Austria" is often mentioned by his competitors for his corporate tax, cross-border structuring and litigation experience. Christoph Nauer is described as an up-and-coming practitioner.

The tax practice is made up of seven fee-earners though many of these split their time between tax and other groups particularly capital markets and M&A. The practice has a strong reputation in cross-border transactions, particularly those involving the CEE region. The group also has a strong experience in advising on capital transfer tax and stamp duty which differentiates it from other law firms.

This year the team, led by Hügel, advised Immofinanz, an Austrian real estate company on the refinancing of convertible bonds in a deal valued at over €1 billion. This was a highly complex deal which involved the repurchase of existing bonds as well as the issuance of an innovatively structured convertible bond with an aggregate principal amount of €515 million using treasury shares as underlying.

The practice has strong experience in advising clients in the energy sector in particular and is rapidly expanding its expertise in financial services.

The Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer tax team is led by Michael Sedlaczek, recognised for his financial products and structuring work. "I think he is an outstanding tax lawyer" said one partner. "He is very good in tax issues relating to financing and ... [more]

The Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer tax team is led by Michael Sedlaczek, recognised for his financial products and structuring work. "I think he is an outstanding tax lawyer" said one partner. "He is very good in tax issues relating to financing and capital market products, and restructuring in the context of financial institutions."

The practice is strong in the structuring of cross-border transactions and any taxation in the banking area. This year Sedlaczek and Hans-Jörgen Aigner advised PartyGaming on its merger with Entertainment AG to create the world's largest listed online gaming business. Claus Staringer also worked on the contribution of the automotive trading business of Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) to Volkswagen AG for €3. billion.

The group has a strong litigation group. Staringer advised a number of Austrian banks on their complaint at the Austrian constitutional court against the new Austrian withholding tax on capital gains from securities and on income from derivatives for all major Austrian banks.

The financial institutions sector, the automotive industry and the online gaming industry form a sizeable part of the group's client base. Banks that the practice has worked for this year include Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich, Deutsche Bank and UniCredit Bank Austria.

Andreas Bauman has joined Wolf Theiss this year from Schönherr. He is mentioned by his competitors for his strength in corporate tax work. Niklas Schmidt is also mentioned for his financial products work.Wolf Theiss specialises in corporate tax and restructuring. ... [more]

Andreas Bauman has joined Wolf Theiss this year from Schönherr. He is mentioned by his competitors for his strength in corporate tax work. Niklas Schmidt is also mentioned for his financial products work.

Wolf Theiss specialises in corporate tax and restructuring. More than half of their fees comes from these areas and all of the team do some form of corporate tax work. The practice has seen a lot of restructuring work this year, but M&A work is beginning to increase again. Benjamin Twardosz is also advises clients on tax disputes.

This year Schmidt and Michaela Klar advised Verny Investitye, a Kazakh private equity fund, on entity classification issues for Austrian tax purposes as well as on the conditions for the international participation exemption.

About 80% of their clients are multinationals or financial institutions. The firm has a large number of clients from Germany, Switzerland, UK and US in particular. The group also works on a lot of structuring involving Eastern Europe, leveraging off the firm's international network.

Wolf Theiss were awarded 'Austria Tax Firm of the Year' at this year's European Tax Awards.

Nikolaus Arnold leads the tax practice at Arnold Rechtsanwälte and is singled out by his peers for his expertise in cross-border tax work. Wolf-Dieter Arnold left the practice last July. Gerhard Rettenbacher has joined this year.The practice enjoyed ... [more]

Nikolaus Arnold leads the tax practice at Arnold Rechtsanwälte and is singled out by his peers for his expertise in cross-border tax work. Wolf-Dieter Arnold left the practice last July. Gerhard Rettenbacher has joined this year.

The practice enjoyed its strongest year in history last year in terms of turnover. This was due to the increasing scrutiny of the tax authorities where the firm benefits because of its strong litigation practice. This year the practice represented a claimant in a dispute concerning paragraph 25 of the Austrian Stamp Duty Act, which was eventually abolished by the Constitutional Court on grounds of being unconstitutional.

The practice is also well-known for providing advice in niche areas such as land transfer duty, stamp duty and private funds. The practice's strong standing in the last area is shown by the fact, that it advises more than 50 private foundations and administers assets of private foundations with a value of €2 billion.

BDO Auxilia is viewed by its competitors as very strong and a viable alternative to the big-four in the Austrian tax market. "They are very broad and offer good expertise" said one partner.Karl Bruckner, who is singled out by other professionals as a ... [more]

BDO Auxilia is viewed by its competitors as very strong and a viable alternative to the big-four in the Austrian tax market. "They are very broad and offer good expertise" said one partner.

Karl Bruckner, who is singled out by other professionals as a leading practitioner, leads a team of about 200 professionals spread over several offices including Vienna and in Styria, Carinthia and Upper Austria. Bruckner is also chairman of the specialised division for tax law in the Austrian Chamber of Accountants and is active in the media.

The practice offers a good range of tax services including tax planning, transfer pricing, M&A, group restructuring and private foundations work. The practice is particularly strong for international tax.

Clients they have worked for include PORR Allgemeine Baugesellschaft, A-TEC Industries, ATB Austria Antriebstechnik, Frauenthal Holding, CAT Oil and UBM Realitätenentwicklung.

Binder Grösswang has built on its success from previous years and has continued to develop its reputation for international tax. The practice, headed by Andreas Hable and Christian Wimpissinger has worked on a number of important cross-border transactions ... [more]

Binder Grösswang has built on its success from previous years and has continued to develop its reputation for international tax. The practice, headed by Andreas Hable and Christian Wimpissinger has worked on a number of important cross-border transactions this year.

Both Hable and Wimpissinger advised Macquarie last year on the acquisition of all of the shares in INNOVENT Kapitalanlage from Siemens. Other work this year includes advising DCC Energy Group on the acquisition of an Austrian energy distributor and advising Lenzing on its re-IPO.

The practice has added a number of important clients this year including Tommy Hilfiger, Deichman Shoes, Technoglas and Mundipharma. Other taxpayers they have worked for this year include ING, Goldman Sachs, Hewlett Packard, Novartis and Societe Generale.

Paul Doralt is head of tax at Dorda Brugger Jordis and leads a team of five other fee earners. The practice focuses on cross-border work. As a standalone practice, the group generates about 90% of its own work.The group advises a lot of Brazilian clients ... [more]

Paul Doralt is head of tax at Dorda Brugger Jordis and leads a team of five other fee earners. The practice focuses on cross-border work. As a standalone practice, the group generates about 90% of its own work.

The group advises a lot of Brazilian clients because of the favourable tax treaty Austria has with Brazil. Doralt and Tibor Varga advised the Odebrecht group on their leasing structure, which involves an Austrian special purpose vehicle (SPV) holding Brazilian drillships that are then leased out to Petrobras. Other Brazilian clients include JBS, Banco Safra, and Banco do Brasil.

The group has a number of clients in the energy sector, especially those with operations in Russia and Kazakhstan. Clients include Lukoil, Gazprom and AES, a US energy group. Martina Znidaric is advising GDF Suez on the reorganisation of its gas pipeline joint venture with OMV.

The tax team at Baker & McKenzie is led by Imke Gerdes. Andrea Eigner, who joined this year from PwC, is the only other fee-earner.The tax group is unusual for a law firm as it does a lot of transfer pricing work, including documentation and benchmarking ... [more]

The tax team at Baker & McKenzie is led by Imke Gerdes. Andrea Eigner, who joined this year from PwC, is the only other fee-earner.

The tax group is unusual for a law firm as it does a lot of transfer pricing work, including documentation and benchmarking studies. The rest of the work is mainly transactional.

This year the group represented a multinational client in a transfer pricing audit and subsequent ruling. This was the first time a binding ruling request had been submitted since the law was introduced. Gerdes also represented an international group of companies headquartered in Brazil on a restructuring so that its foreign losses could benefit from the Austrian tax regime.

Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati's tax team is led by Clemens Hasenauer and Johannes Prinz. Banking and capital markets partner Peter Knobl also works with the tax team. The practice benefits from the strength of the firm's corporate department and often ... [more]

Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati's tax team is led by Clemens Hasenauer and Johannes Prinz. Banking and capital markets partner Peter Knobl also works with the tax team. The practice benefits from the strength of the firm's corporate department and often advises on some of the largest transactions in the Austrian market, in particular M&A, private equity and cross-border restructurings.

The tax team at DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach has expanded this year. Franz Althuber was appointed head of tax in January. Daniel Varro, Matthias Baritsch and Florian Huemer have all joined; Philip Vondrak has left. The team is strong in litigation, from ... [more]

The tax team at DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach has expanded this year. Franz Althuber was appointed head of tax in January. Daniel Varro, Matthias Baritsch and Florian Huemer have all joined; Philip Vondrak has left.

The team is strong in litigation, from where it derives roughly 60% of its fee income. Althuber and Huemer are advising Visicare, an outsourcing company, and some of its former shareholders on matters relating to tax audits and possible managing directors' liability. The group is also representing a number of airlines in their challenge to the new Flight Tax Act that was introduced in January.

The group has also been busy in capital markets and corporate work this year. Althuber advised Lloyd Funds on the structuring of new investment funds in Austria and Germany. Other work includes advising Brother International on its cross-border restructuring.

Other clients include ÖBB Railcargo, TMF Austria, and SYSTIQ.

The tax team at Saxinger, Chalupsky & Partners is led by Immanuel Gerstner. The practice comprises about 10 fee-earners in total, though many of these split their time between tax and other departments within the firm, especially corporate, M&A, and ... [more]

The tax team at Saxinger, Chalupsky & Partners is led by Immanuel Gerstner. The practice comprises about 10 fee-earners in total, though many of these split their time between tax and other departments within the firm, especially corporate, M&A, and banking and finance.

The practice is able to leverage off the firm's wider strengths and has particular experience in transactions, such as M&A, cross-border structuring, group restructuring, structured finance and banking. The practice is also particularly strong in tax litigation. Partner Wolfgang Denkmair advises clients on criminal tax law matters.

A number of their practitioners are also active as academics. Oliver Plöckinger lectured for many years at Johannes Kepler University in Linz and at Kufstein University of Applied Sciences. Gerstner also lectures frequently at the University of Linz.

Schönherr Attorneys is co-headed by partners Herbert Buzanich and Peter Feyl.The group focuses on cross-border corporate tax issues for multinational clients. Buzanichadvises a number ofUS corporations.This year the group represented troubled Österreichische ... [more]

Schönherr Attorneys is co-headed by partners Herbert Buzanich and Peter Feyl.

The group focuses on cross-border corporate tax issues for multinational clients. Buzanichadvises a number ofUS corporations.

This year the group represented troubled Österreichische Volksbanken on the disposal of its real estate subsidiaries for €272 million. The practice also represented a consortium of large banks in the debt restructuring of Herold Business Data. Buzanich is also advising a large listed company in Austria on the establishment of a joint venture which has raised issues regarding the structuring of payment flows.

The tax team at CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz is led by Sybylle Novak and Johannes Reich-Rohrwig.The group is mostly advises on M&A, corporate restructuring and capital markets work. This year Novak has been advising Petrus Advisers, the private equity group ... [more]

The tax team at CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz is led by Sybylle Novak and Johannes Reich-Rohrwig.

The group is mostly advises on M&A, corporate restructuring and capital markets work. This year Novak has been advising Petrus Advisers, the private equity group and construction group STRABAG on the acquisition of a stake in a listed real estate group. The team also advised the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda on its €9.6 billion acquisition of Nycomed.

Other clients the practice has worked for recently include BC Partners, Sanofi Pasteur, Kronospan, Enkey Castelloy, JP Morgan, Liechtensteinische Landesbank, Austrian Railways, Vienna Stock Exchange, Takeda and IMS.

SchneideR's is a small tax boutique and is headed by sole practitioner Robert Schneider.He mainly provides VAT and customs law advice for international projects. Another area of expertise is advice for companies on structuring their international business ... [more]

SchneideR's is a small tax boutique and is headed by sole practitioner Robert Schneider.

He mainly provides VAT and customs law advice for international projects. Another area of expertise is advice for companies on structuring their international business through an Austrian holding company. Most of his clients are from outside Austria, particularly Russia.

This year he has been advising a major Russian client on structuring a railway manufacturing project, in particular the VAT and customs implications of importing parts from Russia which are then manufactured and sent back.