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Tax
The experienced team at Gruba Caganda Advincula Melo & de la Fuente represents various local and foreign clients. It is well-regarded for its work on a wide array of contentious and advisory tax matters. Its impressive mix of clients includes an energy corporation, Fortune 500 companies and other financial institutions. Lily Gruba is a key figure who advises multinational companies on effective strategies for tax planning. Gruba also has considerable expertise in handling cases relating to deficiency tax assessments both at the administrative and judicial levels. Antero Caganda is another leading partner in the tax team; Angelo Advincula advises on a broad spectrum of tax matters such as tax assessments; whilst Jorge Alfonso Melo is skilled at advising on both contentious and non-contentious tax matters. Juan Miguel Victor Dela Fuente, Salvador Andrew S. Tugade and Kimberly Joy L. Baraoidan are also recommended.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘All the senior partners are very hands-on and involved in the delivery of legal services to the clients. I like that the firm is very personalised.'
‘The senior partner is reachable and available and senior partners are always involved.’
Key clients
- Westcon-Comstor
- Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association Inc. (AFPMBAI)
- Hotel Enterprises of the Philippines Inc.
- The Keepers Holdings Inc.
- Philippine Airlines
Work highlights
- Advised Westcon-Comstor, a leading global technology provider and distributor of business technology, in tax assessments valued at $3.15m and $1m through successfully navigating the intricacies and ambiguities regarding the taxation of software distribution and cloud-based subscriptions in the Philippines.
- Secured a favourable settlement for the Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association Inc., the mutual benefit organisation of the armed forces, through navigating the application of percentage tax on other related revenues arising from insurance-related activities and reducing payments by 98.2%.
- Acted as counsel to The Keepers Holdings Inc., a publicly-listed retail conglomerate, for the backdoor listing via a share-for-share swap transaction and secured a tax-free ruling from the Bureau of Internal Revenue in one of the largest transactions of this nature for the year worth $80.8m.
Lawyers
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Practice head
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Lily Gruba, Antero Caganda, Angelo Advincula, Jorge Alfonso Melo, Juan Miguel Victor dela Fuente, Salvador Andrew S. Tugade, Kimberly Joy L. Baraoidan