Paraguay

The tax team at BKM Berkemeyer is led by tax specialists Federico Valinotti and Mauro Mascareño. The firm is involved in shaping tax legislation, assisting the National Chamber of Commerce and Services of Paraguay with amendments, and helping several companies challenge the constitutionality of new legislation. 

Over the research period, the team advised 30 companies in filing an unconstitutionality class action against the last paragraph of section 15 of the Tax Reform Act which violates several Paraguayan constitutional principles. The ruling by the Supreme Court is currently pending.

Deloitte Paraguay, led by Daniel Fariña, has a robust practice in corporate taxes, international taxes, tax planning, tax advice, global employment services (GES), business process solutions, and since 2021, transfer pricing. The team consists of two partners and 27 professionals encompassing lawyers, accountants, specialists in international trade, economists, and business administrators. The firm services various industries including agribusiness, consumer, energy and resources, financial services, government and public sector, life sciences and health care, and manufacturing.  

During the research period the firm utilized several innovative technological resources to offer quality services to their clients. The specific clients serviced this past year are to remain confidential.  

The firm recruited María Silvia Ramírez from Editorial en Alianza as a compliance and reporting manager, along with Hector Cabral from BKM Abogados as a senior legal advisor.

Client feedback

“Thorough knowledge of Paraguayan tax laws, swift and accurate response to requests for advise.”

Led by partner Nestor Loizaga, the tax team at Ferrere provides tax advice, planning, and controversy support for local and multi-national clients. Ferrere is the only multi-jurisdictional, purely South American law firm, and became one of the three largest Spanish speaking law firms in Latin America.  It has 150+ attorneys across Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay offering international-class service across the three jurisdictions.  

During the past year, Ferrere’s tax practice landed new clients vital to both cross-border and local matters. Such clients include FLS, Meta entities, Amazon entities, Spotify, Gavilon, Emergent, Rabobank, Darling, Grupo Ecipsa. In addition, the tax team assisted clients with submitting the transfer pricing report and advised the main non-resident digital service providers and the Tax Administration on drafting regulations regarding filling the non-resident income tax applicable to the digital service providers. 

The firm saw a departure of Horacio Sánchez to Vouga Abogados, however, welcomed Tanya Moreno from Ernst & Young as a senior associate. 

Grant Thornton has over three years providing a broad array of services, including audit and assurance, advisory, tax and business process solutions (BPS or “Outsourcing”) for dynamic businesses in the private and public sectors. The firm has more than 35 multi-disciplined professionals and are able to provide international knowledge and local experience. 

During the research period, the team met with clients in the cattle industry, an industry important to the Paraguayan economy. Transfer pricing was another item on the agenda this past year as it was the first year of implementing the rules in Paraguay.  By aiding the transition, Grant Thornton was effectively able to set the pace for future filings.  

The firm also recruited Walter Montiel from EY as a supervisor this past year.

Client feedback

“Knowledge of the subject.”

“Our company is dedicated to industrializing a by-product that becomes a product for pharmaceutical use. Considering that this is a very uncommon product, they were very committed in understanding the process and giving us all the support to be able to complete the new requirements of the local government.” 

Peroni Sosa Tellechea Burt & Narvaja is led by Juan Carlos Boggino and supported by Horacio Peroni. The firm handles matters covering the full range of tax and customs on both the contentious and non-contentious side. The team aids in tax structures for corporate transactions, international taxation including transfer pricing and double taxation queries. The defining feature of the firm is its team comprised of lawyers and accountants that are able to provide comprehensive advice from a multidisciplinary perspective.   

This past research period the team serviced Guyracampana, an important local agrobusiness company.  The sale of the company’s real estate property was worth approimatly 5.6 million US dollars.  In regards to contenious work, the firm secured wins on behalf of COFCO Group (refund of VAT tax credits related to export operations) and Cervecería Paraguaya (obtained a 0% custom tariff saving the client 5.5 million US dollars per year).

Client feedback

“In our opinion, it is clear that he has extensive knowledge in tax and administrative law in general, being able to give concrete answers to each case that is presented to him in general counseling, and devising defense strategies for particular cases. In addition to that, we choose his services because of his additional knowledge in corporate law, which allows him to provide comprehensive solutions to the matters at hand, taking into account the commercial/corporate aspects, with the tax implications that this entails. Another favorable attribute is her predisposition and availability to assist clients whenever necessary.”

Vouga's tax department currently has four members, one partner and three senior attorneys: Rodolfo Vouga, Andres Vera, Horacio Sanchez, and Silvia Benitez. The team is qualified and oriented to advising national and international clients in complex tax advice. 

The specific work done throughout the past research period is to remain confidential. 

The firm welcomed Horacio Sánchez from Ferrere Abogados as a senior attorney.

Client feedback

“They have a team of outstanding professionals. Both Andres Vera and Horacio Sanchez are the 2 tax lawyers that have better knowledge of tax matters than all other players in the market. They understand the origin of regulatios, the tax authority position, the best ways to get results and they have deep knowledge of all the regulations. Also they are proactive and client-oriented.”

“Extensive knowledge and professionalism.”

“They have provided as all the advisory for many contracts that the project finance involve, such as Offtake Contract, Provisioning Contract, Credit Contract and so on.”

“Detailed and comprehensive scenario analysis. Accurate and prompt.”

“Extensive knowledge of the tax area, objective opinions, solvency to respond to concerns.”

“Actually, Vouga Abogados are specialists in many areas such as drafting contracts with foreign firms, tax or tax advice, everything that refers to the labor and legal part. They cover almost all the areas that a Company needs. Contractual translations.” 

TPC Group is an international transfer pricing and consulting firm made up of a network of strategic partners in Latin America, the USA, and Spain. The team specializes in transfer pricing consulting and assisting multinational groups with transfer pricing transactions under current legislation. TPC Group caters to various sectors of the economy, mainly: real estate and construction, production and manufacturing, distribution and e-commerce, services, tourism, and retail, as well as domestic and international organizations. 

The specific work done by the TPC Group this past research cycle is to remain confidential. The firm witnessed the departure of various team members to study including Renato Seminario, Jose Daniel Martinez, and Marco Mozombite. Magaly Casasola left for personal reasons. However, TPC Group welcomed two new transfer pricing analysts, Antuane Zanabria Calle and Fiama Guerra Jimenez.