Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has a tax department led jointly by former PwC advisers Joanna Wierzejska and Artur Nowak. Wierzejska has substantial experience in advising on M&A and in structures for private equity investments while Nowak has significant ...
[more]
Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has a tax department led jointly by former PwC advisers Joanna Wierzejska and Artur Nowak. Wierzejska has substantial experience in advising on M&A and in structures for private equity investments while Nowak has significant experience of litigation in the energy sector. They are the firm's two tax partners and are supported by nine other fee earners. The firm's clients include domestic companies and multinationals, such as BRE Bank, Nycomed Pharma, Philip Morris and Inter Yeast. The firm formerly focused on corporate support work, but since the arrival of the new heads of department in 2010 it has developed its stand-alone tax practice. It is now strong in both M&A and in tax controversy matters, which have been common topics in Poland this year. A particularly notable example of their M&A expertise was the coordination of a public/private joint venture between the Warsaw City Office and private investors. The firm created a tax efficient structure for the joint venture company to redevelop the city's public transport systems. Particular attention was paid to the VAT treatment the investments would receive, as it was essential to structure the joint venture to make it an attractive prospect for private investors. The majority of litigation it has handled for clients has concerned either VAT or excise charges, matters that Nowak, in particular, is very capable of dealing with. One such example was the work done for Inter Yeast. With the firm's help, the company successfully appealed the tax authorities' assessment of their VAT liability by illustrating that they had incorrectly classified the relevant goods and their status for VAT purposes.
[hide]