The Firm advises clients on both litigious and non-litigious tax issues. On litigious issues, the Firm represents several multinational companies mostly before the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Court of Tax Appeals on tax refund issues and deficiency assessments.

Our experiences include:

• Handling a tax assessment case for a Fortune 500 cement manufacturing company involving a US $ 40 million tax assessment before the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The assessment involved the imposition of deficiency income tax, VAT, withholding tax, excise tax and documentary stamp tax;
• Handling a tax assessment for a Fortune 500 cement manufacturing company involving the availment of Income Tax Holiday incentives worth US $ 20 million;
• Representing an airline at the Court of Tax Appeals on a novel tax issue involving the carrier’s claim for refund on excise taxes paid on imported fuel which is destined for use in domestic flight operations;
• For an electric power producer, we have appeared before the Supreme Court in a case involving the interpretation of the Tax Code provisions on VAT zero-rating, one of the first cases to reach the high court on the subject;
• For an electricity generation company, handling an aggregate of US $ 20 million in VAT refund claims arising from VAT zero-rated sales or zero-rated importation of capital goods;
• For Project EMERGE of the USAID, through the Financial Executives of the Philippines (FINEX), conducting a study on taxation of banks, insurance companies, pre-need companies, and other players in the financial sector to assess instances of tax arbitrage and to promote a tax-neutral financial environment for these industries; and
• On non-litigious issues, advising clients on transfer pricing issues in the manufacturing industry and was involved in a client-company’s transition to a computerized commercial and accounting system which allows for electronic filing of sales receipts with the BIR. The Firm provided advice and guidance to clients on the nuances of the Voluntary Assessment Program (VAP) and No Audit Program (NAP), a tax awareness program of the Philippine Government. We have a good track record in securing tax incentives and tax holidays for our clients, which range from investors to non-profit institutions.