ensafrica tax · 2020-05-04 · • advice on appropriate legal structures per country to ensure...
TRANSCRIPT
ENSafrica Tax
ENSafrica is a longstanding leader in tax Legal 500
ENSafrica’s dedicated tax team is able to offer the full spectrum of tax advice throughout Africa, including advising multinationals who are expanding on the continent.
Our key differentiator is that we are the largest tax team housed in a law firm on the African continent. We are able to offer you a distinct competitive edge by combining unique areas of tax specialisation with extensive African and international experience and an innovative, solution-driven approach.
We have a specialised Africa tax desk which advises on the tax consequences of domestic and cross-border transactions across the African continent.
ENSafrica is recognised by top ranking agencies for achieving consistently high standards when working on the continent.
As Africa’s largest law firm with over 600 specialist practitioners, ENSafrica has the capacity to deliver on your business requirements across all major industries and the continent. We are able to leverage our resources to suit your pricing preferences and deliver within your timeframes.
In addition to our team members based in ENSafrica offices in a number of African countries, we have an extensive network of high quality tax correspondent firms with whom we have built long-standing relationships. This means that we are able to cover every country in Africa.
We are also part of the global Taxand network, which has offices in 50 countries across the world.
We provide expert advice in relation to all areas of tax law, including:
Africa tax• Co-ordination of projects in any particular jurisdiction, as well as assignments which span multiple jurisdictions, is
done through a single point of contact to ensure that that assignments are accurately scoped, competitive fees are negotiated, critical issues are addressed and advice received is at the required standard
• Preparing customised tax and regulatory frameworks per country, providing an overview of material in-country tax implications, including:
◦ An overview of the local tax system, including corporate income tax, value-added tax, withholding taxes and special tax regimes
◦ Exchange control and other specific regulatory regulations• Tax and regulatory compliance checklists, with deadlines and other submission requirements• Advice on the frameworks includes regulatory interpretation and practical application of in-country legislation, with
input from local advisors• Advice on appropriate legal structures per country to ensure tax efficiency, both locally and internationally• Advice on in-country tax implications of projects, business operations and specific transactions• Workshops with senior legal and finance staff to discuss benefits and implications of various alternatives
Corporate tax• Transaction and investment structuring advice• Structuring of mergers and acquisitions• Financing• Investment structures• Property finance• Corporate restructuring, unbundling and corporate finance, including share repurchases, distributions and capital
reductions, share buybacks, and capital and balance sheet restructuring• Project finance• Tax due diligence
International tax• Inbound investment, including funding and thin capitalisation, withholding tax on outbound flows, and tax treaties• Outbound investment, including controlled foreign companies, taxation of inbound flows, authorisation of foreign
tax credits, and tax treaties
Risk reviews• Risk reviews of African countries, including political, economic, operational, tax, legal and security• Practical in-country advice, including tax and regulatory requirements, efficient in-country legal and operating
structures, ongoing tax and regulatory compliance requirements, and assistance with queries from foreign tax authorities and other regulatory bodies
Private clients• Advising high net worth individuals in respect of, among others, formation of local and foreign trusts, tax and
exchange control matters, and estate planning• Formation and tax optimisation of employee share incentive schemes and other arrangements• Structuring of corporate social investment• Expatriate tax planning and compliance issues• Tax planning: structuring employee packages for maximum tax efficiency• Risk mitigation: ensuring compliance in order to sustain a payroll audit• General tax advice: opinions and assistance with all employment-related tax issues
Value added tax (VAT) • VAT compliance reviews, advice and support• VAT training• VAT litigation and alternative dispute resolution• VAT consequences of agreements and transactions• Optimisation of VAT recovery• VAT system developments and implementation• Cash flow planning• Optimisation of VAT positioning in foreign markets
Customs and excise and international trade• Customs and excise compliance reviews• Customs and excise and international trade training• Customs and excise internal administrative appeals and litigation• Customs and excise consequences of agreements, transactions and business structures• Application and defence of unfair trade practice investigations, including anti-dumping, countervailing, safeguarding
and litigation in this regard• Applying for and defending investigations into customs and excise duty increases and decreases, and duty refunds,
rebates and exemptions, as well as litigation in this regard
Transfer pricing• Transfer pricing advisory, including detailed value chain analysis, characterisation of entities, economic analysis and
drafting of transfer pricing policies, also taking into account areas such as corporate tax, indirect taxes and customs, intellectual property law and exchange controls
• Transfer pricing documentation: preparing transfer pricing documentation based on the three-tiered approach endorsed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), i.e. country-by-country reporting (CbCR), master file and local file, taking into account country-specific requirements
• Transfer pricing risk management and dispute resolution: assisting clients in respect of their interactions with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and other tax authorities, from the initial risk assessment process to potential litigation
Dispute resolution• Audits, investigations and queries• Ensuring taxpayers’ rights are upheld• Notices of objection• Lodging appeals• Managing tax litigation• Settling disputes with tax authorities• Utilising alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation
Exchange control• Structuring of international transactions, mergers and acquisitions• Exchange control advice and required approvals for international transactions
highly sought after by blue-chip international and domestic clients Chambers Global
capable of tackling major, high-value instructions spanning the full spectrum of taxChambers Global
heavyweight firm with a highly acclaimed tax practice, offering a broad range of expertiseChambers Global
INVESTMENT VEHICLESThe setting up of various alternative investment vehicles for Liberty Holdings Limited.
CROSS-BORDER M&AA complex cross-border merger and acquisition transaction for Standard Bank.
DE-MERGERThe de-merger and separation by Investec Limited and Investec plc of their asset management business from their banking business. This was implemented by way of a de-merger of the asset management business to a new dual listed company in the UK and a dual listed company in South Africa.
UNBUNDLINGTax advice, and the implementation thereof, in relation to the unbundling by Tiger Brandsof Oceana Limited to its shareholders.
ACQUISITIONAcquisition of 100% of FibreCo Telecommunications by its affiliate SEACOM South Africa, a pan-African telecommunications service provider.
DISPOSALDisposal by AngloGold Ashanti of its remaining mining operations in South Africa to Harmony Gold.
ACQUISITIONThe acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Lonmin plc by Sibanye Gold, and the subsequent restructure of the enlarged Sibanye group.
DEBT RESTRUCTUREA highly complex group-wide debt restructure by the Edcon Group.
MEDIUM TERM NOTE PROGRAMMEEstablishment and registration with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius of Tensai Property Services’ USD250-million medium term note programme and the issuance of the first two series of listed notes under that programme.
DISPOSALProvision of advice to Trencor Limited on the legal, regulatory and tax aspects of certain disposals by a group company.
