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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.

KPMG is capable across indirect tax, international corporate tax, M&A, transfer pricing and tax controversy in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Noted adviser Steve Austwick leads firm's tax practice in the region from their office in Tallinn. Their practice ... [more]

KPMG is capable across indirect tax, international corporate tax, M&A, transfer pricing and tax controversy in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Noted adviser Steve Austwick leads firm's tax practice in the region from their office in Tallinn. Their practice in Estonia has been reinforced this year by the arrival of Tõnis Jakob from Ernst & Young. The firm's client base consists of multinationals such as GlaxoSmithKline, British American Tobacco and DSV, as well as financial institutions such as Nordea Bank and Nordea Finance. Their work this year included advising the city of Tallinn on establishing a municipal sales tax system. The team led by Joel Zernask assisted in creating the relevant laws, administrative capacity and structure to implement the tax. KPMG also advised Wizz Air Hungary on the relocation of the group's holding company to Vilnius. This was a tax driven operation which required detailed analysis of the interaction between Hungarian and Lithuanian tax regulations and careful structuring to ensure compliance in a tax efficient manner. In Lithuanaia, the firm note that they have seen a significant increase in the number of their clients seeking advice on transfer pricing with documentation requirements shortly to be made compulsory there.

KPMG's tax practice is led by Kalin Hadjidimov and consists of about 60 people, which includes bookkeeping and legal staff. The team is largely unchanged over the last few years. The practice provides services in direct and indirect tax, transfer pricing ... [more]

KPMG's tax practice is led by Kalin Hadjidimov and consists of about 60 people, which includes bookkeeping and legal staff. The team is largely unchanged over the last few years. The practice provides services in direct and indirect tax, transfer pricing and M&A tax.

Corporate tax and VAT make up the bulk of the practice's work, though the practice has noticed more transfer pricing work as the authorities increasingly scrutinise existing international structures. Merger & acquisitions work has also started to pick up again over the last nine months.

The practice is particularly experienced in advising Bulgarian companies looking to go outbound. This year the team advised a large Bulgarian company on a new tax structure which involved changes to the existing shareholding and trade operations.

The tax practice at KPMG is headed by Jan Zurek, who is praised by his competitors for his financial services work. He is one of seven partners and leads a team of about 95 professionals. Eva Doyle is also mentioned for her M&A work.The group seeks to ... [more]

The tax practice at KPMG is headed by Jan Zurek, who is praised by his competitors for his financial services work. He is one of seven partners and leads a team of about 95 professionals. Eva Doyle is also mentioned for her M&A work.

The group seeks to distinguish itself from the rest of the big-four by the breadth of tax services it offers, which include corporate tax, cross-border tax, transfer pricing, VAT and other indirect tax services, and M&A. The practice has also set up a legal services team this year to assist during transactions.

Transactional work has grown this year and the group has worked on a number of cross-border mergers as well as initial public offerings. The transfer pricing team, led by Marie Konecná, has also seen a steady growth in work and this is something that the group expects to continue. The practice advises mostly multinationals and has particular experience advising clients in the financial services, real estate, energy, manufacturing and public sectors.

KPMG's tax practice in Hungary is led by Mike Glover. Its revenue has grown every year since 2003, even during the 2008 global recession. The number of professionals has also grown during the same period, increasing from around 35 to 130 today. Partner ... [more]

KPMG's tax practice in Hungary is led by Mike Glover. Its revenue has grown every year since 2003, even during the 2008 global recession. The number of professionals has also grown during the same period, increasing from around 35 to 130 today. Partner Csaba László, previously with the Ministry of Finance, is well-known in the market.

The practice is structured across four main service-lines: M&A, VAT, corporate tax and transfer pricing. The practice has undertaken a shift in emphasis since the recession since with a greater emphasis placed on compliance work than M&A. The VAT compliance centre, headed by Philippe Norré is a market leader and serves as a centre of excellence for KPMG globally.

This year the group advised on two out of the three largest property transactions in Hungary. The group has a good balance to its clientele with 60% coming from the local economy, as opposed to being sourced from the KPMG network.

KPMG in Poland advises domestic and international clients. The firm has a good reputation among tax practitioners and competitors regard them as competent in a range of areas. Indirect taxes, transfer pricing and litigation are the particular strengths ... [more]

KPMG in Poland advises domestic and international clients. The firm has a good reputation among tax practitioners and competitors regard them as competent in a range of areas. Indirect taxes, transfer pricing and litigation are the particular strengths of the practice. The head of the tax department is Peter Kay, with a partner responsible for each service line. Jacek Bajger, who leads the transfer pricing service line, is noted by his peers for his work in that area. Dariusz Malinowski leads the firm's tax controversy practice which advises clients on matters ranging from risk management to representing clients in disputes with the tax authorities. The firm has a service line dedicated to providing advice to banks and financial sector companies under Grzegorz Iachtchouk, which provides clients with advice on structuring, issues of permanent establishment and the tax treatment of certain financial products.

KPMG's tax practice is led by Mark Gibbins, who is particularly strong in the areas of foreign direct investment and also restructuring and M&A. He leads a team of about 100 fee earners.The practice is structured along both tax specialties and also industries. ... [more]

KPMG's tax practice is led by Mark Gibbins, who is particularly strong in the areas of foreign direct investment and also restructuring and M&A. He leads a team of about 100 fee earners.

The practice is structured along both tax specialties and also industries. Some of the service lines offered by the practice include VAT, transfer pricing, international executive services and international corporate tax, while the practice covers all of the key industries but is particularly strong in the financial services and energy sector, though this is more a reflection of the Romanian economy than any niche specialism.

Madalina Racovitan, an indirect taxation specialist, particularly VAT, was appointed partner recently.

The practice has been growing over the last few years, transfer pricing and tax litigation perhaps at a faster rate than other areas. The practice also has a strong bookkeeping and tax compliance service and has noticed more demand for this work too.

The practice serves domestic and international clients. The senior practitioners are active in the market and are members of professional bodies such as the Foreign Investors Council and the American Chamber of Commerce.

Former Deloitte partner Graham Povey leads KPMG's tax team in Moscow which expanded significantly between May 2010 and May 2011. A total of more than 100 new fee earners, including partners, joined the practice in that period. The recruitment was part ... [more]

Former Deloitte partner Graham Povey leads KPMG's tax team in Moscow which expanded significantly between May 2010 and May 2011. A total of more than 100 new fee earners, including partners, joined the practice in that period. The recruitment was part of a reorganisation of the firm, which involved the creation of new service groups including tax audit, tax management advising and corporate tax compliance, customs, litigation and indirect tax. The firm created these distinct departments to focus on individual clients' particular needs. This year, Mikhail Orlov led the litigation team in a case for Amcor over its cross-border management fees. The case was the first time that courts have sided with the taxpayer in a dispute over such fees, setting an important precedent for multinational businesses which use service agreements with Russian providers. The Russian M&A service group was also one of seven teams from the firm who advised on TNK-BP's acquisition of BP's upstream and pipeline assets in both Venezuela and Vietnam. This involved tax structuring advice, particularly on holding structures being used in the Netherlands and Germany, and tax modelling to ensure compliance with local legislation and special tax regimes. Substantial due diligence of the tax issues involved in such a quad-jurisdictional transaction was also a key feature, something the firm is well equipped to handle with almost 500 fee earners in their Russian tax practice. Competitors have noted that they are more visible in the marketplace than in previous years and Povey's addition from Deloitte is widely expected to see the firm's profile expand.

KPMG's tax practice is led by Tomas Ciran and has been active in Bratislava since 1991.The practice provides a broad range of business tax services including corporate tax advisory, international tax, VAT, customs and excise, M&A tax, transfer pricing, ... [more]

KPMG's tax practice is led by Tomas Ciran and has been active in Bratislava since 1991.

The practice provides a broad range of business tax services including corporate tax advisory, international tax, VAT, customs and excise, M&A tax, transfer pricing, global tax outsourcing and in personal tax, payroll services and international executive services.

The practice is particularly used to dealing with foreign companies investing in the Slovak Republic, especially since the country's accession to the EU. The practice has developed a Ton Verbraeken-led service covering investment incentives and EU structural funds which deals with analysing and negotiating with the authorities to obtain investment incentives.

The practice serves a broad range of clients, mostly multinational.

KPMG has been active in Slovenia since 1993. The tax practice is led by sole partner Nada Drobnic, who leads a team of 10 professionals. The practice provides a comprehensive range of tax services in four key areas: VAT, corporate income tax, transfer ... [more]

KPMG has been active in Slovenia since 1993. The tax practice is led by sole partner Nada Drobnic, who leads a team of 10 professionals. The practice provides a comprehensive range of tax services in four key areas: VAT, corporate income tax, transfer pricing, and M&A and restructuring.

Transfer pricing has been the real growth area since the introduction of documentation requirements. This accounts for between 20% and 25% of all fee income. The practice has recently been advising a major pharmaceutical company on their transfer pricing policy. Other work this year includes advising a local retail company on the transfer pricing implications of a group restructuring.

Though the team admits that the amount of cross-border work has fallen over the last year because of the economy the practice did help a European chemical company to establishing a business in Slovenia, which included obtaining a binding opinion concerning VAT. The practice is strong in the automotive, pharmaceutical and telecommunications sectors.

Craig Richardson joined KPMG in December 2010 from the Moscow office of another big-four firm as the new head of the tax practice. The new man signalled his intent shortly afterwards by speaking of his plans to significantly expand the department. "We ... [more]

Craig Richardson joined KPMG in December 2010 from the Moscow office of another big-four firm as the new head of the tax practice. The new man signalled his intent shortly afterwards by speaking of his plans to significantly expand the department. "We will be doubling our team this year, and I see huge opportunities ahead," he said. Sergey Popov is an especially notable member of the firm's tax department as he is identified as aleading practitioner by his competitors and is said to be highly capable in several areas of tax. Peers recommend him for corporate tax, M&A, cross-border structuring, transfer pricing and capital markets matters. KPMG offers its clients a full range of tax services including transfer pricing advice.