Tax planning
AND OTHER TAX SERVICES
Our tax optimization services provide a cost-effective solution for legally minimizing your taxes. We work with you to identify tax-saving opportunities and provide customized solutions that fit your unique needs.
Navigating the complex world of taxes can be overwhelming and time-consuming, especially without the proper expertise. Hiring a tax lawyer ensures that you have a professional, experienced advocate on your side, who can help you legally minimize your tax burden and safeguard your wealth. Trusting an up-to-date tax lawyer to handle your tax optimization needs not only saves you time and energy, but also increases the chances of financial success.
Paula, the founding partner of BOWA, holds two master’s degrees in international taxation. We advise our clients on numerous tax issues both domestic and global. Tax assignments include income tax appeals, preliminary rulings, assisting in tax audits, tax issues related to M&A transactions, assisting in criminal matters such as tax fraud, cryptocurrency tax reporting and various international situations.
We have successfully represented clients in tax litigation up to the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland.
Entrepreneur, do not waste your valuable time
We help our clients in all matters and questions related to taxation
Taxes are often a complex issue for entrepreneurs. Do not waste your precious time wondering why or where you pay taxes, ask us for help! Read more about our services below or contact us and we'll tell you more.
Book a free assessmentOur tax services
Tax return declarations and requests for advance rulings
Feeling anxious about your pre-completed tax return? Are you unsure if your accountant filed in your company’s tax return correctly?
People often blindly trust their accountant when filing their tax return. Few entrepreneurs even understand, let alone check, what is declared on their company’s tax return. However, you are responsible for the tax return – as an individual and as a board member or CEO, you are ultimately criminally liable for ensuring that the tax returns are correctly prepared.
So, don’t hesitate to ask for help. We have got you covered!
Tax processes
Every year, the Finnish Tax Administration makes millions of tax decisions – not all of which fully comply with the law. The tax administration also has the right, under certain conditions, to rectify tax assessments it has previously issued.
Tax processes are peculiar. They often take many years and involve significant legal complexity and interpretation. It is therefore far from true that the tax collector is always right.
Did you receive a consultation letter from the tax authorities? Or a tax adjustment decision?
Never answer the tax collector’s questions yourself. Always seek the help of an experienced tax lawyer, as the protection against self-incrimination in tax matters is not as broad as in criminal law. In the worst case, the information you provide could make your situation worse.
If you have been asked for a statement or want to appeal a decision, do not rush, but book a free assessment with one of our lawyers first!
Advance rulings on taxes
Regular taxation of both companies and individuals raises unclear questions occasionally. If there is no definite answer to your situation, you can request a preliminary ruling from the tax administration.
There is a fee for obtaining a preliminary ruling and the tax authority is bound by the ruling. The application should always be drafted carefully, as the tax authorities will hand out a decision on the question raised in the application based on its contents: If the application is carelessly drafted, it will not be binding in the circumstances envisaged and the time and money spent on drafting it will have been wasted.
Value-added tax
VAT is an item that is added to a good or service and paid by the end user.
VAT is often a major concern for entrepreneurs. It raises business prices and the associated reporting is at worst monthly. VAT is often seen as a necessary evil for the entrepreneur, and it is often thought that nothing can be done about it.
Don’t worry. VAT is one of the most difficult topics of taxation. It is regulated at EU level and thus one cannot escape the interpretative difficulties that come with it.
Our lawyer Valtteri Gundersby specialises in VAT issues and is happy to help if VAT causes you concern.
Corporate tax planning
Business taxation is a question of efficiency. A company’s objective is often to maximise profits, which implies and includes optimising taxes. The purpose of tax planning is not to avoid or evade paying taxes, but to optimise the company’s operations as much as possible.
Tax planning is almost mandatory when a company expands abroad in order to avoid double taxation. If you are thinking of expanding internationally, we recommend discussing it with our partner Paula.
Entrepreneur tax planning
The taxation of business owners is as important as the taxation of the business. The entrepreneur’s capital income is taxed twice in a limited company – first in the company’s income tax and then in the shareholder’s income tax. Do you know how much to withdraw as capital income and how much as salary?
It’s useful for an entrepreneur to calculate exactly how to optimise income tax. Tax planning can and should already be done when choosing the company form – it can be more expensive for an entrepreneur to cash in profits from a limited company than from a limited liability company.
Tax issues can also arise in connection with inheritances, gifts or the transfer of assets in Finland and abroad.
Taxation of corporate transactions
When buying or selling a business, taxation has a big impact: there are big tax differences between different types of transactions.
A business transaction is very different from a purchase and sale, for example, and the two types of transaction are very different. For income tax purposes, previous losses of the business that are deductible may be wiped out upon a change in ownership. Always consult a tax lawyer before selling your business!
Globalisation and taxes
Have you considered expanding abroad? Do you know when a permanent establishment is created and what the consequences are? Are you about to send an employee of your company abroad to work temporarily? What about a secondment abroad?
Establishing or relocating abroad raises a number of tax issues. At BOWA, we can help you plan the internationalisation of your career or business, especially from a tax perspective.
Frequently asked questions concerning tax
Is tax planning the same as tax evasion?
No. Tax planning is not the same as tax evasion.
Tax evasion means the illegal avoidance of tax which aims at maximum avoidance of paying taxes such as by using complex cross-border measures.
Tax planning on the other hand means minimising paid taxes within the framework defined by laws, regulations and other limitations. Tax planning is completely permitted and does not imply pulling fraudulent tricks. For instance, tax planning can mean transferring your fortune to your children in small instalments along the years in order to minimise inheritance tax.
Did you know that tax planning is even a fundamental right? After all, every individual has the right to protect their property under the Finnish constitutional protection of property.
What is the purpose of tax planning?
Tax planning is a recommended pratice as one of the cornerstones of financial management. Typical examples of tax planning include income tax planning for a shareholder in a limited company and minimising the tax on each family’s inheritance.
In some situations, tax planning is practically obligatory. For example, in the case of global companies, tax planning is used to minimise double taxation. If a company has not taken tax into account as part of its internationalisation process, its income can be taxed in several different countries in the worst case.
Why hire a tax lawyer if I already have an accountant?
Accountants are often trained as a tradesmen in vocational schools. Accountants do not have a legal education. Although accountants have often learned practical aspects of tax law on the job and can be skilled, they are rarely qualified to draw legal conclusions.
The role of a lawyer is to argue on legal issues by knowing the framework of law. This is why tax appeals and applications for advance tax should be delegated to a lawyer.
If it is a criminal matter, remember to hire a lawyer as soon as the possibility of criminal proceedings comes to mind. For example, the earlier in the tax audit process you involve a lawyer, the more likely you are to avoid criminal penalties!
At what point should you consider tax planning?
Every situation is unique and there is therefore no clearly defined limit to when tax planning is worthwhile and when it is not.
In principle, tax planning is not worthwhile if the proposed timeline is less than 5 years and/or the financial interest is less than five figures, as the cost of tax planning is usually at least €500 + VAT.
Are you wondering whether it would be worth hiring a lawyer for your tax case? Book a free 30-minute assessment with BOWA to assess your situation at no cost.
What is international tax planning?
International or cross-border tax planning means optimising taxation when, for example, a company or individual operates in several countries. In these situations, each country has an interest in taxing its resident on all its income, so tax planning is primarily utilized to avoid double taxation, among other things.
What is aggressive tax planning?
Aggressive tax planning refers to tax planning that seeks to exploit exceptions, “loopholes” or other special situations or unregulated means in tax legislation. It is operating in the grey area of tax law, where activities are not prohibited per se, but not necessarily permitted either. Both tax evasion and legitimate tax planning can fall under the vague definition of aggressive tax planning.
In case of doubt, a qualified tax lawyer will know to consult the Central Tax Board and ask for a preliminary ruling on the client’s tax affairs in order to ensure that the measures are always in accordance with the law.
Our tax experts
Paula Bock
MANAGING PARTNER
OTM (Helsinki), LL.M (Melbourne)
Valtteri Gundersby
LEGAL COUNSEL
OTM (Helsinki)
Read our Finnish articles on tax law
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