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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.

Baker & McKenzie's tax team is led by Slawomir Boruc and handles a full range of tax issues for its clients. Jerzy Martini, who is highly rated by his contemporaries for his indirect tax and tax controversy work, is to leave the firm within the next ... [more]

Baker & McKenzie's tax team is led by Slawomir Boruc and handles a full range of tax issues for its clients. Jerzy Martini, who is highly rated by his contemporaries for his indirect tax and tax controversy work, is to leave the firm within the next year to set up his own practice. It is not certain how strong Baker & McKenzie's practice will be after his departure which is expected to occur in January 2012. Even so, the firm has a capable team with six associates also working in tax. Boruc specialises in tax planning and structuring and is also capable in tax controversy matters, with rights of audience in the Supreme Administrative Court. He has particular expertise in the IT and chemical sectors and regularly acts for one of the largest telecommunications companies in Poland. The firm has significant expertise in real estate taxes, with Tomasz Chentosz specialising in advising foreign investors in Polish real estate on structures to streamline tax payments. Lukasz Karpiesiuk focuses on indirect tax and has detailed knowledge of the special tax regimes in the country's SEZs.

Alexander Chmelev leads the tax practice of Baker & McKenzie in Russia which has five partners and 13 fee earners split between Moscow and St Petersburg. The firm has consolidated its practice in St Petersburg this year with the arrival of Andrei Serov ... [more]

Alexander Chmelev leads the tax practice of Baker & McKenzie in Russia which has five partners and 13 fee earners split between Moscow and St Petersburg. The firm has consolidated its practice in St Petersburg this year with the arrival of Andrei Serov from Ernst & Young. He is recommended by his peers for his transfer pricing expertise and his presence will equip the firm to handle the new transfer pricing regulations. Others in the department are also well regarded in the market. Arseny Seidov is noted for his expertise in cross-border structuring work while Ivan Smirnov is singled out for his ability in tax controversy. Their clients include several multinationals operating in Russia such as Lombard International Assurance and Brown Forman, known for brands such as Jack Daniel's and Finlandia. They have been active in both transactional tax matters and tax controversy this year. They represented OAO Central Fuel in their dispute with Russian tax authorities over the taxation of the acquisition of shares in a foreign company. They obtained a ruling overturning the interpretation of both the tax authority and the lower courts which would have imposed a significant tax on cross border investments. Cross border structuring was central to the work done for Brown-Forman in implementing distribution operations in Russia. The distribution of alcoholic beverages is heavily regulated in Russia and meant that careful structuring was necessary to optimise tax treatment of both the importation and resale of goods.

Hennadiy Voytsitskyi, who peers recommend for capital markets and financial products, is the leader and sole partner of the tax department of Baker & McKenzie in Ukraine which is completed by six associates. Though capable in all areas of tax, the practice ... [more]

Hennadiy Voytsitskyi, who peers recommend for capital markets and financial products, is the leader and sole partner of the tax department of Baker & McKenzie in Ukraine which is completed by six associates. Though capable in all areas of tax, the practice is especially skilled in tax controversy matters. This year Yuriy Zaluskyy has been representing a fibre optics company in a dispute with the tax authorities over the assessment of back taxes and associated penalties. The matter has yet to be resolved, but the firm commented that this was just one example of several tax controversy matters the team has dealt with recently. The firm also has substantial knowledge of VAT, indirect tax and customs matters. The firm comments that this is pertinent not only to transactional matters, but also disputes with the state tax administration. The tax authorities are said to have increased their focus on VAT this year after changes to the tax code and so the firm expects its VAT expertise to be significant in the coming year. Cross-border structuring is another strong point for the tax team at the firm and this is reflected in the international nature of its clients. Technology company Emerson, steel producer ArcelorMittal, private banking group Kaiser Ritter and pharmaceutical company PAREXEL International all rely on the firm for tax matters in Ukraine.