Portugal

Firm overview

Cuatrecasas is a leading Iberian law firm with its main offices in Portugal and Spain and international presence in 10 other countries. We are nearly 1.000 lawyers in 27 offices worldwide, organized by legal practice areas and multidisciplinary teams with expertise in specific commercial and industrial sectors. In Portugal we have offices in Lisbon and Porto and a total of over 140 lawyers.

Firm overview

The Garrigues Tax Department provides ongoing and bespoke advisory services on Portuguese and international taxation to Portuguese and foreign companies and to multinational groups and individuals.

Its umbrella structure, alongside the quality and experience of its team of professionals, means this practice is ideally placed to provide the solutions required by businesses today.

Firm overview

Founded in 1999, CMS is an integrated, multi-jurisdictional organisation of law firms that offers full-service legal and tax advice. With 70+ offices in 40+ countries across the world, employing over 5,000 lawyers, CMS has longstanding expertise both at advising in its local jurisdictions and across borders. CMS offers specialist, business-focused advice to clients - from major multinationals and mid-caps to enterprising start-ups - operating in complex business and constantly changing regulatory environments.

We are part of the CMS global team, a world leader in the ranking of the Top 10 Global Law Firms with in-depth local knowledge and local experience in over 40 countries.

Clients from CMS Portugal benefit from the experience, the legal know-how, the deep knowledge of several sectors in the industry and also an international coverage, unique in Portugal, that allows us to provide a truly global service with a rapid response capacity.

The high standards required by the digital and traditional world are transforming the markets and boosting new business models. On CMS, we provide a monitoring focused on the client, anticipating the market tendencies in order to develop quick and efficient solutions in the face of constant challenges.

Our office has been active for nearly 50 years combining an international outlook with deep local roots. CMS lawyers are recognized leaders in the field and ranked by the most prestigious international directories.

CMS, the largest organization of law firms in Europe, aims to be the best European organization for legal services, capable of providing legal and tax advice of undisputed quality and agility.

The unique way in which CMS is organized provides its Clients with high quality and consistent advice that is absolutely client-focused and coordinated across borders.

CMS is present in 73 cities, 44 countries.

Firm overview

TELLES is a Portuguese based law firm established 84-years ago, founded in Porto, where it is seen by other firms and peers in general as one of the most solid and reputable law firms. TELLES is a full-service law firm with offices in Lisbon and Oporto that has undergone an expansion strategy in the past years. From a 55-lawyer firm in 2015, the lawyer head count now stands at 22 partners and 98 lawyers, more or less equally divided between our two offices. With a client-oriented culture, TELLES is today one of the top-ten Portuguese law firms.

TELLES’s tax team is today one of the largest Portuguese teams with 5 tax partners and 12 lawyers. It has a track record in transactional tax, international taxation, indirect taxation, private wealth taxation and complex litigation, representing leading companies in some of the most significant pending tax litigation cases. TELLES’ tax team represents clients with an estimated amount of pending judicial and administrative litigation of around EUR 50 million.

TELLES’ tax practice has a wide client portfolio, some of them for more than 50 years, including blue-chip companies, international and Portuguese banks, multinational groups, mid-tier national champions and high-profile family offices. The tax team advises large Portuguese and multinational groups and can make output tax work in complex fields of tax such as debt work-out structures, cross-border business restructuring and acquisitions, private equity, international wealth planning and digital economy. We are today one of the largest tax teams in Portugal in what concerns private client and wealth management advisory.

Our top clients include banking and financial institutions, insurance companies, holding companies, venture capital and private equity management companies, industrial companies active in the textile, packaging, food and beverages, cable, paint and thermal insulation markets, as well as hundreds of private clients, including the wealthiest Portuguese and international families currently living in Portugal or seeking to relocate here.

Firm overview

Morais Leitão is a leading full-service law firm in Portugal, with a solid background of decades of experience. Broadly recognised, the Firm is a reference in several branches and sectors of the law on national and international level.

At Morais Leitão we have a substantial team of tax lawyers with a relevant experience in this area. Our clients include some of the largest national and foreign corporate groups, operating in a wide range of sectors, including industry, services and telecommunications, banking and financial services, securities and real estate investment funds and private equity funds, as well as medium and small companies, public institutions, foundations, non-governmental social support organizations and private clients.

Alongside the tax litigation, we also ensure the best integrated tax advice in relation to the most diverse operations, seeking to complement the tax analysis with an approach to the different relevant areas of law. Our expertise comprises tax planning in corporate restructuring operations, research and development activities, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, securitisation operations, structured finance operations, mortgage credit, debt issuance, derivatives, as well as specific tailored tax support within the scope of each client’s field of activity.

We also accompany inspection actions carried out by the Tax Authority, ensuring a thorough knowledge of the substantive law and a wide experience of legal assistance in the most diverse inspection procedures. In the area of tax litigation, we are proud on having a recognized team, which has sponsored some of the largest and most complex tax complaints and arbitration processes that have been trialed by our courts.

Due to its network of associations and alliances with local firms and the creation of the Morais Leitão Legal Circle in 2010, the firm can also offer support through offices in Angola (ALC Advogados), Cape Verde (VPQ Advogados) and Mozambique (HRA Advogados).

Firm overview

As the world continues to change and we witness the increasing role of technology, discussions around tax are getting more complex and intense.

Also, despite many domestic challenges, tax is more and more a global concern for global organizations (MNCs), demanding global action on managing tax issues.

On the other hand, transparency, ‘fairness’ and tax governance are now everyday topics in MNCs board agendas, as governments take effective steps to make this the new tax landscape for businesses: the BEPS action plan and other OECD statements are strong evidence of this new mindset.

It is in this context where leaders are being called upon to help drive tax uncertainty within their organizations and to make visible their “tax storyline” consistently with the organization’s principles and values, at the same time they are asked to have a positive contribution to society and to add value to the business.

Our tax professionals are forward thinkers with a strong understanding of this new tax landscape, as well as of the business drivers and conditions across the jurisdictions in which clients operate.

 At KPMG we take a holistic approach to tax planning, so that clients have a consistent, robust and effective view on their tax issues and concerns.

Because our tax professionals take the time to understand the clients’ business issues – not just the challenges related to tax – they also know when and how to draw on the experience and knowledge of other local and global service lines to help address these tax issues and concerns.