Brazil

Firm overview

The service provided by Silva Gomes Advogados is highly specialized and personalized, offering excellence in the provision of legal services with commitment and quality in a personalized way.

With extensive expertise in tax litigation, the firm was founded by partner Luis Augusto da Silva Gomes, who has a professional trajectory of over 20 years of experience establishing solid partnerships with clients and companies in general, always aiming at solving tax issues, administrative, tax and judicial litigations, tax consultancy, among other areas of expertise. By understanding the language, the business and the needs of its clients, the firm offers the best recommendations and legal alternatives, thus ensuring security in the resolution of the most varied matters and tax issues.

Silva Gomes Advogados law firm’s differential is its exclusive and specialized services established through personalized and direct contact with clients. This way, it is possible to understand the scenario and all the factors that affect the client’s needs.

Understanding that each case is unique, Silva Gomes Advogados makes a point of investing in the relationship with the client to provide the most appropriate, speedy and sound solutions. We believe that it is necessary to deeply understand the client’s business and opportunities in order to seek the most suitable answers that he and his company need.

The firm has extensive experience in conducting tax processes for companies of various sizes, from small companies to multinationals, in the most diverse segments and sectors of the economy. The secret to adjust to our clients’ different realities is our dedication to understanding and handling the client’s demand in a deep and individualized way.

With knowledge gathered over two decades working in the tax area, Silva Gomes Advogados also provides tax consulting services, including in the pre-litigation phase, due diligence of tax proceedings, in the administrative and judicial spheres, as well as in tax matters involving customs law.

Firm overview

Machado Meyer provides innovative legal solutions by combining expertise in various areas of law, broad knowledge of legislation and a thorough understanding of the matter. The firm has organized professionals specialized in advising clients abroad, creating multidisciplinary groups, especially in Germany, Latin America, Iberia, and Asia.

Firm overview

Utumi Advogados was born from a long-held dream of tax practitioner Ana Cláudia Akie Utumi. After more than 25 years leading tax teams in consulting company and big law firms, Ana Cláudia launched in 2017 Utumi Advogados, a boutique firm dedicated to tax law. Alongside her is partner Camila Abrunhosa Tapias, high qualified tax professional whose experience includes having worked in one of the largest Brazilian full-service law firms for almost 20 years.

Utumi Advogados’ team is known for its excellence and creativity in devising legal solutions to clients, when handling both tax consultancy and litigation matters. Our expertise includes strategic tax consulting, legal tax opinions, tax policy and tax litigation. 

Its clients include large national and multinational companies from a broad range of sectors, such as banking and finance, beverages, cosmetics, telecoms and technology, and also Brazilian and foreign private clients. 

We offer our clients a 360º view, taking into account not only the specifics of each business, current legislation and case law, but also potential risks, trends in tax interpretation by the courts and potential changes in law, as well as possible related economic issues. 

Firm overview

Bocater, Camargo, Costa e Silva, Rodrigues Advogados was founded in 1999. In addition to solid work experience in corporate law, capital markets and pension fund regulation, the firm also provides services in other business law practices, such as tax, banking, civil, labour, real estate, corporate governance, insurance, administrative (public affairs).  Bocater Advogados brings together lawyers with strong academic backgrounds and expertise in their respective areas, forming teams that are able to provide legal advice and assistance that meets their clients’ expectations, in both consulting and litigation. Bocater Advogados fundamental commitment is to provide clients with services of high technical quality, following ethical and professional standards, and offering practical and objective solutions to clients’ issues. Over the years, the firm and many of its professionals have been recognized among Brazilian leading lawyers in their practice areas by national and international publications.

Firm overview

Our team has far-reaching and innovative expertise across the entire tax spectrum. The practice coordinates its efforts with other disciplines in the firm to provide the best team approach to each client matter. Also, our attorneys have vast experience gained in both private practice and government, including deep knowledge in the academic sphere of Tax Law, Constitutional Law and Financial Law, to mention a few. 

The strategic litigation’s tax practice advises clients in trial and appellate proceedings with an emphasis in appellate litigation at the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Court of Justice. Our team also has substantial experience in advising clients and business associations on strategic legislative proposals and direct engagement with public and private actors related to the Brazilian Tax System.

Our services include legal advice and specialized legal opinions addressing the applicability of Brazilian Tax Laws and the interpretation of these laws in foreign proceedings and legislation context. Our extensive experience in judicial litigation enables us to handle a wide range of matters involving municipal, state and federal taxes. Our partners have an exceptional ability to litigate in the trial of the most relevant tax discussions before the higher courts with a strategic view of all-important aspects involved in the decision-making process. 

Moreover, as we have an established advocacy team, our work focus on developing a 360° strategy for each case. We are proud to say that our team has an intelligence process, which considers four different outlooks: social, economic, political and legal. Therefore, we have a broader view determined always to establish the best approach and strategy to defend our clients’ interests.

Our tax team is recognized for the keen ability and experience to assess the impact of judicial and political tax decisions in the legal, political and economic environments. The tax partners provide extensive critical analysis and advice on the preparation of position and engagement papers, with suggestions for improving strategic legislative proposals and direct engagement with public and private actors.

We are committed to understanding our clients' businesses and provide tailor-made solutions for a variety of situations, from business strategies to specific legal services applied in structuring transactions to mitigate succession liabilities and also our singular vision of the litigation and legislative procedures.

Firm overview

Machado Associados - Brazil

Machado Associados’ tax practice has long been one of the most reputable in Brazil. The firm is proud to have a solid and impressive client list, mainly in the automobile, cosmetics, education, energy, infrastructure, pharmaceutical, and technology sectors.

The partners and associates at Machado Associados have an in-depth knowledge of the complex Brazilian tax laws and the business of the clients, which allows the firm to offer efficient, strategic, and high-quality services.

Machado Associados has around fifty professionals in the tax department divided in five sub-areas: (a) direct taxes/transfer pricing; (b) indirect taxes; (c) tax litigation; (d) labour taxes; and (e) international taxation.

The headquarters are in São Paulo and there are offices in Brasília, and Rio de Janeiro.

Several of Machado Associados’ partners have a strong background in accounting, economics and business administration, which gives the firm an advantage in relation to both traditional law firms and accounting/consulting firms, making it regular for foreign law firms to consult with Machado Associados about tax matters in Brazil.

Machado Associados’ consulting practice continuously seeks to provide a unique and comprehensive approach to each case, combining an extensive experience and understanding of the Brazilian tax scenario with the careful analysis of the factual context and the goals of the clients, to deliver objective and accurate solutions to add value to their businesses.

The firm successfully advises the clients on disputes regarding tax matters, at both the administrative and judicial levels. Machado Associados´ lawyers take all measures against tax assessment notices and prepare and follow-up lawsuits to challenge tax collections or obtain the refund of taxes unduly paid. The team develops innovative legal arguments, capable of reflecting the most appropriate application of the tax rules to the clients’ businesses.

International Alliances

WTS Global: Machado Associados is the member firm in Brazil of this respected international network, which is strongly focused on the tax area and recognized as one of the worldwide leaders in the sector. WTS Global is headquartered in Germany and is present in over 100 countries. For more information check: WTS Global

Latin American Tax and Legal Network – LATAXNET: Machado Associados has founded LATAXNET in 2002. The network relies on 17 top tier law firms that cover the Latin America. Lataxnet allows Machado Associados, as an important differential, the possibility of executing projects simultaneously, quickly, and efficiently, throughout the whole region. For more information check: LATAXNET