Pratice Areas Tax Law
Tax Litigation
We defend companies and individuals in tax litigation, combining technical analysis, procedural strategy, and risk management.
Tax litigation is now a central dimension of the relationship between taxpayers and the tax administration. Administrative appeals (reclamações graciosas), hierarchical appeals, judicial appeals (impugnações judiciais), tax enforcement proceedings, tax arbitration at CAAD, and administrative offenses under the RGIT require swift, well-founded decisions aligned with the client's economic reality under tax law.
The choice of the means of reaction, the procedural timing, and the strategy to adopt has a direct impact on tax recovery, fine reductions, cash flow management, and reputational exposure. The firm's practice in tax law focuses precisely on the preliminary assessment of these variables, defining the best path for each case, and providing technical support throughout the entire proceeding, avoiding merely formal approaches or litigation without a cost-benefit analysis.
Services
We represent companies and individuals at all stages of tax litigation, from administrative reactions to the upper instances of tax courts. We analyze assessments, corrections, summons, and tax audit decisions, evaluating factual and legal grounds as well as the economic impact of the reaction.
We prepare administrative appeals, hierarchical appeals, requests for the review of tax acts, and judicial appeals, ensuring a comprehensive presentation of the facts, evidence, and relevant legal arguments in tax litigation. We follow the proceedings until the final decision, judgment, or ruling, assessing at every moment the appropriateness of settlements, regularizations, or filing appeals.
Coordination with tax, corporate, and wealth management practice areas ensures that each tax litigation dispute is framed within the overall strategy of the company or individual client, rather than treated as an isolated episode.
Within the scope of the Legal Regime for Tax Arbitration (RJAT), we plan and conduct arbitration proceedings at CAAD whenever this path offers advantages in terms of speed, specialization, or predictability within the context of tax litigation. We help determine whether arbitration is the most appropriate vehicle, prepare the request for the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, propose or analyze the choice of arbitrators, and structure the initial petition based on a rigorous reconstruction of the facts and the legal framework.
We collect and coordinate documentary and expert evidence, follow the procedural steps, and defend the client at hearings. Following the decision, we assess the need for a potential challenge or initiatives related to its enforcement, always based on a cost-benefit analysis and the client's global strategy regarding tax litigation.
We support taxpayers targeted in administrative offense and tax crime proceedings under the General Regime for Tax Offenses (RGIT), spanning tax, customs, and social security matters, within the framework of available tax litigation avenues. From the initial stage, we evaluate the alleged facts and the legal framework, define the defense strategy, identify relevant evidence, and ensure compliance with deadlines and formalities.
Whenever legally permissible, we consider resorting to voluntary payment mechanisms or fine reductions, framing these solutions within the client's financial and reputational reality. We coordinate with the criminal defense department and the tax and corporate teams to ensure an integrated response to potential tax crimes, including assessing impacts on corporate bodies, internal governance, and relations with regulators and business partners in the context of tax litigation.
Our approach
Added value
Resorting to litigation must combine a solid theoretical foundation in tax law with a cost-benefit assessment.
Preliminary assessment
We analyze the tax act, the legal framework, and the available evidence to weigh the cost, probability of success, and strategic impact of tax litigation.
Procedural strategy
We select the appropriate vehicle, outline the arguments, and identify the required evidence, aligning the strategy with the client's objectives.
FAQs
The tax assessment, the amount at stake, the available evidence, and the impact on cash flow and reputation are always evaluated. We only recommend reacting through tax litigation when the combination of success probability and cost-benefit is favorable and compatible with the client's global strategy within tax law.
An administrative appeal (reclamação graciosa) is the primary means of challenging many tax acts while still within the administrative phase. We support the analysis of the grounds, the collection of accounting and documentary evidence, the drafting of the appeal, and deadline monitoring, ensuring the taxpayer presents a solid technical position before the tax administration.
The choice between an administrative appeal (reclamação graciosa), a hierarchical appeal, and a judicial appeal (impugnação judicial) depends on the type of act, the deadlines, the value at stake, and the medium-term strategy. We explain the advantages and risks of each avenue, map out the most appropriate path, and follow the process until the final decision, including potential appeals.
Appealing to CAAD can be particularly useful when speed, technical specialization, and procedural predictability are relevant. We analyze whether the dispute is eligible for arbitration based on the RJAT and the binding ministerial order (portaria de vinculação), compare costs and timelines with the judicial track, and, if it makes sense, plan and conduct the entire arbitration procedure.
In proceedings falling under the RGIT, we evaluate the alleged facts, the legal framework, and the potential consequences regarding fines, criminal liability, and reputational impacts. We structure the defense from the outset, define the evidentiary strategy, consider legal mechanisms for voluntary payment or fine reduction, and coordinate the response with the client's financial and corporate reality.
We analyze the origin of the debt, the existence of guarantees, the feasibility of installment payments, and the possibility of suspending the enforcement. We assist in filing tax enforcement oppositions (oposição à execução fiscal), negotiating payment plans, providing or replacing guarantees, and coordinating with potential actions to be taken in tax litigation aimed at annulling the underlying debt.
We work alongside financial departments, certified accountants, and other consultants to ensure that every step in litigation accounts for cash flow, reporting, and future risks. The goal is for the reaction - whether an administrative appeal, hierarchical appeal, request for the constitution of an arbitral tribunal, or judicial appeal - to fit within a consistent tax and business strategy, rather than acting as an isolated measure.
Even without a dedicated internal structure, it is possible to manage tax litigation risk in an organized manner. We perform an initial diagnostic of the case, explain the available options in clear language, handle the comprehensive management of the proceedings, and keep the client informed about deadlines, costs, and next steps, enabling decisions based on complete information.