Show me the money! Tax audits, tax litigation and new taxes

Francesco Gucciardo

Francesco is Practice Group Leader of the firm's Tax Group and a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity Group. His practice focuses on corporate transactions for both public and private companies in the domestic and international sphere.

Francesco’s clients rely on his sophisticated knowledge of domestic and international tax to further their business objectives. A prolific writer and speaker, he stays current on emerging issues and proactively works to keep his clients informed of opportunities and potential challenges.

Francesco has extensive experience in areas of corporate mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and divestitures, divisive reorganizations, structured finance, income funds, REITs, structuring Canadian inbound investment, private equity investment, structuring executive compensation plans, partnership agreements and joint ventures. He frequently advises international clients on doing business in Canada.

Floran Ponce

Floran Ponce is a lawyer and certified tax expert. He advises Swiss and foreign banks, investment funds and corporations on a broad range of domestic and international tax as well as commercial law matters. He advises them on matters relating to mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financing transactions and restructurings, as well as on the management of tax affairs and controversies before Swiss tax authorities. He also assists private clients on complex tax matters.

Floran Ponce is a frequent speaker at professional conferences on tax matters. He also teaches specialized tax courses for the Master degree programs of the University of Lausanne and of the University of Geneva, as well as in the specialized training for the federal tax expert diploma.

Charanya Lakshmikumaran

Charanya started her legal journey with Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan (L&S) in the year 2007. She started her practice in intellectual property and has experience in drafting patent applications, mapping patent claims as well as in Plant Variety Protection laws.

After two years of working in the IP division, Charanya moved to the firm’s tax practice and gained expertise in handling complex tax litigations in Customs, Excise, Service Tax, Anti-dumping, VAT and Income Tax.

Charanya has nearly a decade of experience in tax, and several years of experience in competition law, Insolvency and Bankruptcy law, IPR and electricity laws. Charanya, currently handles tax as well as non-tax litigation at the High Court and Supreme Court as well as other Tribunals and regulatory forums.

She is also a professional Indian Classical vocalist and performs at select events across India.

Annabelle Bailleul-Mirabaud

Annabelle Bailleul-Mirabaud specialises in international taxation with an expertise on permanent establishments, CFC and substance issues, assisting leading multinational groups in tax audits and litigation.

She also assists multinational groups on a day-to-day basis in relation to international taxation matters including transfer pricing and taxation of cross-border flows. Annabelle has a significant experience in the structuring and implementation of worldwide incentive plans.

She joined CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats in 2003 after several months with CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats, New York. She is one of the authors of Business Operations in France (Bloomberg BNA).

Joe Duffy

Joe Duffy is a partner in the tax group at Matheson. Joe has 20 years’ experience in corporate tax law and advises on international restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, tax controversy and transfer pricing. Joe’s clients include many of the leading multinational corporations established in Ireland, primarily in the pharmaceutical, technology, industrial and service sectors.

Joe speaks regularly on international tax matters in Ireland and abroad. He has also written extensively on international tax matters. Joe has been an active contributor to Irish and OECD tax policy directly and through industry bodies for many years and is an officer on the International Bar Association Taxes Committee. Joe is the only Irish tax advisor ranked as a Who’s Who Thought Leader in Tax Controversy for 2019.

Jessica Kemp

Jessica's practice includes advising on mergers and acquisitions in both the public and private space, advising corporates, private equity houses, investee companies, and management teams on a wide range of transactional, structural, and incentive-based issues. She also provides ongoing advisory work to clients including in relation to enquiries and disputes.

Jessica is president of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) Tax Law Commission and is an officer of the Taxes Committee of the International Bar Association. She is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Taxation and sits on the editorial board of Thomson Reuter's Corporate Finance Magazine on Taxnet Pro. She is a member of the board of charitable trustees of the National Children's Choir of Great Britain and of the Ambassador Forum of the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment.

Jessica has been shortlisted as a 'Rising Star' by We are the City and her work has been published by AIJA, the IBFD and Tax Journal. Before joining Travers Smith Jessica worked as a legal professional in Dubai and as a death penalty defender in Malawi. She read law at Merton College Oxford and Harvard Law School.

Antti Lehtimaja

Antti heads our Tax practice. He advises clients on corporate and international tax matters, such as transactions, disputes and general advice. Previously, while working as a corporate tax specialist in the Finnish Tax Administration, he acted also as a presenting officer at the Central Tax Board, a body that gives advance tax rulings in Finland.