tax law

The Bowman Gilfillan tax practice provides thoroughly considered and legally sound transactional tax advice to local and international financial institutions, corporates and individuals. The tax practice aims to combine its commercial and tax law expertise to provide efficient tax solutions.

The Bowman Gilfillan tax practice is also fully equipped to support clients in tax disputes and aims to resolve disputes as amicably as possible without sacrificing its clients' rights.

Our tax practice is integrated within the firm's corporate offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and London.

The constantly changing nature of tax law, as a result of court decisions and regular changes to South Africa's tax legislation, creates a need for specialised and professional tax advice. For this reason, over the past few years, Bowman Gilfillan has developed its tax practice through organic growth and strategic lateral hires. Today, our tax practice comprises seven experienced tax partners and a professional support team. The tax team offers both depth and breadth in respect of their tax law skills and thorough knowledge base.

The members of our tax practice regularly contribute to publications and write articles on developing tax law. We work closely with the rest of the firm to ensure that the tax aspects of any transaction are thoroughly considered and planned. We also regularly liaise with and make representations to National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service regarding legislative amendments affecting our clients, and the obtaining of tax directives.

rankings and recommendations

The International Tax Review 2009 ranks our practice as a Tier One tax practice, one of only two South African law firms to achieve this accolade for 2009.

Legal 500 2008 gives our tax practice a Second Tier ranking stating that -

"The recruitment of Wally Horak has proved an exceptional boost for Bowman Gilfillan's tax practice (giving the group a name recognised by the market), which is about to gain a further boost with the recruitment of Barry Garven from Deloitte. Highlights include advising Standard Bank on the 20% stake being purchased by ICBC and acting for Morgan Stanley on two structured trades."

Chambers and Partners 2009 ranks Wally Horak in its Band 1 of tax practitioners regarding him as being one of the top five tax practitioners in South Africa. Alan Keep is ranked in Band 2. Chambers ranks our tax practice in Band 2, making it one of the top four tax practices amongst South African law firms. Chambers states -

"The past few years have seen significant growth at this tax department, which has benefited from the firm's role on a number of significant black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions, including Tongaat Hulett's ZAR10 billion BEE deal and Pretoria Portland Cement's ZAR4 billion BEE transaction. The group is ’technically astute’ when it comes to M&A and capital market matters, and the arrival of Wally Horak has also enhanced its international tax capabilities. Working out of the Cape Town office, Horak provides ’exceptionally good and concise advice’ sources say. Alan Keep excels in managing client relationships and is noted for his expertise in M&A-related matters. He acted for Lehman Brothers Merchant Bank Fund 5 on its ZAR10 billion acquisition of a 10% interest in a South African healthcare entity. The five-partner team also wins client praise for its co-operative approach and excellent response times."

We are ranked in Tier One by The International Tax Review 2009   (A Euromoney publication).

our expertise

The Bowman Gilfillan tax practice offers a wide range of services to clients, all of which are provided by tax partners who specialise in the particular field. Examples of the type of services that we provide include:

• structuring all aspects of investments made into South Africa by foreign corporates;
• structuring of debt and equity funding provided by local and international financial institutions;
• tax advice on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including outbound and inbound cross-border transactions;
• tax due diligence investigations and other investigations aiming at minimising and optimising tax charges;
• advising local corporates on their international investments, including exchange control advice, tax treaty planning, effective management issues and all other tax considerations of international investments;
• all aspects of tax litigation, including assistance with South African Revenue Service's queries, audits, objections, appeals, alternative dispute resolution and the negotiation of settlements of tax disputes;
• providing tax advice on all types of commercial agreements;
• the formation of private equity funds and advice on private equity transactions;
• commercial property transactions;
• intellectual property transactions;
• capital gains tax;
• dividend tax;
• employees' tax;
• restructuring of groups of companies in South Africa;
• planning black economic empowerment transactions;
• mining tax;
• share and other incentive schemes and related tax issues for both BEE and general commercial transactions;
• planning, formation and registration of public benefit organisations;
• advising public-private partnerships and modeling and maintaining comparative tax computations over life of contract;
• transaction tax planning, including Securities Transfer Tax;
• Value Added Tax (VAT);
• provision of outsourced tax managerial functions, which include continuous tax planning via tax committees.

Bowman Gilfillan: One of South Africa’s premier tax law firms

In order to adequately comply with tax law and avoid unnecessary legal issues, it is essential to seek the advice of a professional tax lawyer. Bowman Gilfillan can help you to navigate South Africa’s tax legislation as well as assist you with any other tax law concern.

Contact us now to consult one of our experienced tax attorneys.