The Legal 500

Baker & McKenzie offers the litigation expertise of Alain Huyghe, who also has excellent experience before the ECJ and local appellate courts, and is an equally good deal adviser. The team advised on Abbott’s purchase of Solvay, including due diligence, tax structuring and tax input on the purchase agreement, in one of Belgium’s biggest M&A deals. Philippe Lion also advised on a rare M&A deal in the Belgian insurance sector, in Baloise’s purchase of Avero.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s ‘open-mind, imaginative, reliable’ service is delivered to a network of large public institutional and financial sector clients, including the Belgian federal and regional governments, Goldman Sachs, Merill Lynch and SocGen. Team leader Axel Haelterman is ‘excellent in terms of his accuracy, responsiveness, knowledge’, and continues to enjoy renown for a strong corporate tax practice, with particular accents on redomiciliation, tax optimization, and tax litigation before the Belgian and EU courts. The team’s work on the Solvay sale to Abbott was a notable plus in representation on a deal of significant size and complexity.

Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick is celebrated for its ‘strong tax practice’, where Daniel Garabedian is particularly well known. The eight partner strong team promoted Edoardo Traversa, of counsel, underpinning a growing reputation in VAT and EU tax law. Simone Nudelholc, was appointed to the twenty-strong Supreme Court Bar, joining John Kirkpatrick, a rare honour. The team reorganised the financing structure of various multinationals after the phasing-out of the coordination centre regime, with an estimated worth of €5bn.

‘Pragmatism and professionalism’ define Linklaters’ tax team, alongside being ‘technically very strong’. It is particularly recommended for all forms of income tax advice, and support work with the corporate and real estate teams. Guido De Wit is ‘good at VAT, real estate and customs taxes’ and also praised for his grasp of ECJ caselaw. Collectively, the team has ‘precise expertise, deep specialisation and extensive experience in complex matters.’ Highlights included advising RHJI on an optimal tax structure for the takeover of Kleinwort Benson, and assisting Movetis with a tax ruling confirming the application of a patent income deduction regime to one of its products. Ivo Onkelink and Henk Vanhulle are also recommended.

Loyens & Loeff offers a balanced mix of tax advisory and litigation services, in which corporate client tax restructuring and tax optimisation play a key part. Xavier Clarebout and Christian Chéruy have also been swift to boost the tax litigation side, due to demand, with Caroline Docclo appointed of counsel, adding to the bench strength exhibited by the eight-partner team and a growing number of associates. Highlights included advising a German based manufacturing group in restructuring its Belgian and Dutch operations, and setting-up a very large Belgian treasury centre for LVMH.

Tiberghien (in cooperation with Altius) is particularly praised by clients for expertise on tax structuring, cross-border financing structures, seeking clarificatory rulings from tax authorities, and the tax aspects of M&A deals. Danny Stas is ‘an ideal sounding board’. The tax firm, with ten partners, is one of the country’s largest independent boutiques. Koen Morbée is praised for ‘making you look better in front of board members’ in ‘working alongside the tax department’. Highlights included acting as Belgian counsel to the corporate and tax aspects of the consortium agreement between Siemens Belgium and the parent company. Senior partner Bernard Peeters is also recommended as being ‘very quick on the ball’.

Afschrift’s tax team provides the full range of tax-related advice, including tax planning, negotiation and corporate support, although it is best known for its litigation work, where it acts for Belgian and multinational clients in both direct and indirect tax cases, in the defence of taxpayers in litigation with the tax authorities- including criminal cases. With eleven partners, the team has good strength in depth, and it also has an extensive office network across Europe, allowing a solid cross-border pedigree to go with Thierry Afschrift’s strong personal following amongst Belgian mid-market clients.

Allen & Overy LLP’s Patrick Smet and his ‘very professional team’ assist a blue-chip client base, where a previous focus on M&A and finance-related tax matters has abated in favour of tax litigation work. With a successful test case relating to a challenge by the Belgian tax authorities on the parent/subsidiary directive, and Supreme Court litigation on VAT and nuclear power taxes, work is of a high standard. Clients include Foruminvest, SPE and UCB.

At Clifford Chance, Thierry Blockerye’s real estate tax work runs neatly alongside corporate and finance tax skills. Together with Katrin Eyckmans, he has worked on the tax optimisation of real estate transactions, saving significant sums of money. The tax treatment of Royal Park Investments, the SPV set up by the Belgian state, Fortis, and BNP Paribas, in a €5.75bn deal, involved immense technical issues, and is testament to his diversity of practice. Clients include Fortis Real Estate and Dexia.

Eubelius has been involved in numerous transactions for various clients, where Philippe Hinnekens is the lead contact. Whether real estate tax-related in providing advice relating to a €60m acquisition (through a split property structure) of the Serclaes building from CBRE investors, or in giving advice concerning VAT optimisation, the team’s quality of work is well regarded by leading Belgian corporates, including Elia, Solvay and Warehouses De Pauw.

Howard Liebman at Jones Day has a strong personal following; clients say he is the ‘ideal person for assisting European subsidiaries of American parent companies’, being praised for ‘quick and accurate judgements and giving sound legal and financial advice’. Recent work includes the financing of the acquisition of the 3B fibreglass group by Platinum Equity. Werner Heyvaert’s arrival from Stibbe, as of counsel, was a bonus, bringing several new clients, including EMP Global, Soros and Unitas Capital.

Monard – D’Hulst ‘has a good pragmatic approach to getting deals done and focusing on what matters most’. Ortwin Carron ‘understands where the risks and opportunities are’ on tax restructuring issues. With Hilde Van den Keybus also appreciated for her litigation work, especially private client cases, the nine-lawyer team includes six partners, spanning Brussels and Hasselt. Joke Vanden Branden’s development of a tax lobbying practice is also bearing fruit with successes for gaming and lottery clients. Clients include Samsung and Punch Graphix.

NautaDutilh has an extensive tax practice, with lawyers heavily involved in tax structuring, optimisation and transactional support work. Clients say team head Jan Werbrouck combines ‘all the skills that one would hope to find in a top tax lawyer’, with praise for his ‘sound international exposure’ and for being ‘flexible and practical’. Tax litigation includes criminal defence work. Clients include Fortis Real Estate, a major US law firm and ING.

Stibbe’s Thierry Denayer continues to attract praise for his work. Market feedback was good, stressing his ability (‘technically strong’), leadership (‘a top-notch team’) and flexibility. Clients note an ability to advise different industries, frequently remarking on ‘good knowledge about our sector’. The team’s tax litigation cases frequently attract precedential value; the tax treatment for excess dividend received deductions being incompatible with the wording of EU directives suggests no exception to this. Clients include BNP Paribas Fortis, and the Flemish regional government.

Bird & Bird LLP’s tax advice is provided by new arrival Christophe Delmarcelle, who has good employment tax knowledge, and Brent Springael. The practice’s experience with high-tech, pharma and other IP-rich clients is a particular highlight. It advised Brant Life Sciences, on cross-border royalties and venture capital tax planning for potentially high-yielding life sciences projects. Clients include Boku, Fujifilm and Strima. Aviation-influenced VAT work is also well covered.

CMS DeBacker provides tax services across a wide range of industry sectors. Practice head Didier Grégoire is a recognised real estate tax expert, especially on the VAT treatment of shopping malls, although his work has included cinemas and developers. Lievin De Wulf advised a large Benelux life insurance provider on the impact of the EU savings directive. Cross-border advice on withholding taxes is also a speciality.

DLA Piper handles both local and cross-border mandates, where Jeroen Gobbin and Marc de Munter can assist on transfer pricing, post-acquisition restructuring, and international VAT optimisation questions. It has acted on the tax aspects of corporate restructurings, and advised a developer client on the application of reduced VAT rates for the demolition and rebuilding of new private dwellings. Clients include a major EU institution, real estate companies and REITs, and social care service providers.

Johan Dumon, Stefan Sablon and Luc Vanheeswijck are all recommended at corporate tax boutique Dumon Sablon & Vanheeswijck, which handles a range of criminal and civil tax litigation work, as well as advisory assistance for Belgian and international corporate clients, including liaison with the Belgian tax authorities on rulings.

Greenille is a niche firm for private clients, and is praised for its ‘pro-activity, efficiency, and “big picture” awareness’. Anton van Zantbeek is seen as particularly strong in advising high-net-worth individuals. Managing partner Alain Nijs is also recommended for work, which includes global wealth structuring, the tax-efficient organisation of a private art collection, and structuring a charitable gift to a Belgian university, worth €2m.

Laga’s Hilde Laga and Johan Speecke are known for their tax litigation work. The team represented a Belgian private investment company, which successfully challenged Belgian tax law before the ECJ, on the double taxation on its dividends under the parent/savings directive. The team also appeared in the Supreme Court for an individual taxpayer on a successful case, turning on the equality and non-discrimination of Belgian subsidiary tax assessment against the Belgian constitution. Of counsel Luc De Broe joined the team in December 2010, whilst former partner Benoît Nibelle left the firm.

Mayer Brown is ‘really proactive, it helped us to realize a project in good time against expected objectives’, and it is ‘much focused on international tax’, say satisfied clients. Astrid Pieron is ‘very proactive with very long experience’, and can handle Benelux tax controversy/litigation cases, if needed. Innovative transactions included the tax impacts of restructuring of bank debts, and the corporate structuring of REACH-related activities. Transfer pricing advice is also a speciality, as Brussels is home to the firm’s European transfer pricing centre. Clients include Numéricâble and LBO France.