Lakatos, Köves and Partners’ tax team provides cross-practice support across the firm, working in tandem with the employment, real estate, banking and finance, employment, and corporate groups. The department advises on international holding and finance structures, double taxation treaties and VAT planning for cross-border trading. The team’s practice also covers contentious matters, and it represents clients in tax litigation, inspections and negotiations with the tax authorities. Certified tax advisor Balázs Kántor leads the team, advising on both national and international tax-related matters. Petra Rózsahegyi is a member of both the employment and tax teams, so frequently provides advice straddling the two disciplines.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Commercial tax advice in clear and concise language from a responsive and proactive team.’

  • ‘Balázs Kántor is simply excellent - he understands the problem and works constructively to provide a solution.’

  • ‘The tax team of LKT offers a top-quality service, flawless technical support and advice, strong reactivity and continuous commitment. Balázs Kántor and his team provide valuable and personalised support throughout our projects concerning operational tax matters. Their advice is timely and supplements our thinking well.’

  • ‘Balázs Kántor provides outstanding work and very strong commitment. He's very thorough, has good technical and analytical skills but does not lose sight of the pragmatic side. The advice he provides is get-to-the point and makes sense from a business perspective.’

  • ‘They were available whenever we needed them and valued our timeline of when we needed the information by. I was very impressed with Balázs Kántor. I thought he was knowledgeable and direct and a pleasure to work with.’

  • ‘Balázs Kántor is a tax advisor who is very familiar with the prevailing tax laws and rules in Hungary.'

  • ‘We appreciate the team’s expertise in tax-related matters, not only the required legal items, but also a very strong understanding of the tax issues, as well as the bigger picture. Collaboration with the team is always very fruitful and leads to important structural innovations and considerable added value. Extensive experience, strong financial and tax views, outstanding legal competence and practical approach.’

  • ‘Balázs Kántor and his team are highly professional, very helpful, and very agile in their response time. They know the market and what clients expect, and they really fulfil expectations. They deliver practical and to the point service of highest quality.’

Key clients

  • Vodafone
  • Soulbrain
  • JP Morgan
  • Deutsche Bank Hungary
  • Indotek Group
  • Aviation financings
  • DZ Bank
  • DVM / Horizon Development
  • Fidelidade – Companhia de Seguros, S.A.
  • Care Park Pty. Ltd.

Work highlights

  • Advised Vodafone plc on the sale of Vodafone Magyarország Zrt. to 4iG Nyrt. and Corvinus Zrt for a total cash consideration of €1.7bn.
  • Providing continuous tax advice to Deutsche Bank Hungary, including advising on transactional duty liability with regard to foreign investment service providers of the bank, tax implications of employee loans and withholding of tax guidelines from clients.
  • Advising Rothschild & Co Bank AG as a foreign bank on setting up such securities accounts for high-net-worth individuals as fulfill the requirements of long-term investments accounts enjoying preferential tax treatment under the Hungarian tax laws and the tax implications of transferring investments to such accounts by the high-net-worth individuals.

Lawyers

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Balázs Kántor

Other key lawyers

Petra Rózsahegyi