Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Tax, a New Player on the Romanian Tax Advisory Services Market

Leading local independent law firm Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații expanded its current practice in tax advisory services by launching a tax consultancy division, a separate legal entity to the law firm, combining lawyers, tax advisors and former Ministry of Public Finance’s experts. Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Tax S.R.L. specialises in providing tax advisory services and operates as an affiliate of Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații law firm.

The core team consists of five certified tax consultants having worked for the past 8 to 10 years with the “Big 4”. Five other attorneys experienced in tax law and related contentious disputes are also part of the team. Alexandru Cristea, Tax Partner and Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa, Partner with Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații supervise the strategic development of the business. The team also comprises two other experts with vast experience in large audit companies and in the Ministry of Public Finance.

According to the law firm’s representatives, the expansion of the tax business as an independent player will enable the firm to fulfill the growing needs of local and international clients in Romania while also putting at better use the experience gained by its attorneys in the past 7 years. “For us, setting up a dedicated tax advisory independent firm complements an existing internal structure and allows us to provide a wider array of services and a greater depth of knowledge and expertise to our existing and prospective clients. Besides, this step is in line with the “one stop-shop” policy that we have been promoting in other areas of practice as well, such as insolvency, intellectual property, structural funds, mediation, etc.” says Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa, Partner at Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații.

Short and medium-term plans envisage further expanding the tax team, clients and project portfolio and reaching a turnover of approx. EUR 500,000 to EUR 600,000 during the first year of operation. Such projections are based on a constantly growing demand for tax advisory services against the background of a dynamic and volatile regulatory framework and in the context where companies increasingly favor operational structures that are fiscally optimized inasmuch as possible and, last but not least, in view of control authorities’ aggressiveness and harsher audits.

“Tax advice rounds up a range of existing services, our clients benefitting from an integrated and unitary view on various legal and tax matters and from the same standard of quality as the services provided by Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații. This means saving costs and ensuring increased flexibility. We are determined to make our mark in this market and provide feasible alternatives to the services currently offered by other audit companies or various entities, our business model involving no independence issue, but being backed-up by a multidisciplinary team and a well-positioned law firm”, points out Alexandru Cristea, Tax Partner of Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Tax S.R.L.

During the last seven years, Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații developed a widely recognised tax practice, the firm being constantly ranked top by worldwide international directories, such as Chambers Europe. Also, the firm was awarded the “Tax Law Firm of the Year Award 2010” at the World Finance Review Legal Awards and the “Corporate Tax Law Firm of the Year Award 2010” at ACQ Law Awards.

The firm’s dispute resolution practice group has also successfully assisted and represented clients from a wide array of industries in relation to tax-based litigation at all levels and with regard to a full range of taxes, duties and contributions of any kind to the State budgets; assistance and representation in front of the fiscal and judicial authorities on fiscal incentives issues.

About the core team in Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Tax S.R.L.:

Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa is a Founding Partner of Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații, having built up a career of 16 years of legal experience in corporate/M&A, real estate, taxation. Further to his expertise in real estate matters, he combines tax and corporate law skills, offering multidisciplinary strategies and solution in relation to a broad spectrum of property matters. He has been directly involved in many of the most important projects taking place in Romania, including acquisitions and disposal of real estate, investment and development real estate projects, and real estate finance. Răzvan regularly offers planning advice on investments to major institutional investors, as well as international companies from a variety of industries, such as retail, consumer goods, steel, energy, telecommunications, oil and gas, pharma. In addition to his role as one of the coordinators of the firm’s real estate practice group, he co-heads the firm’s specialised tax division, Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Tax SRL.

Alexandru Cristea is a Partner with Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Tax SRL, an affiliate of Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații law firm. Previously working with Deloitte and PricewatehouseCoopers, Alexandru has over 10 years of experience focusing primarily on indirect taxation. Alexandru has broad knowledge in tax planning and international efficiency structures, as well as in VAT and excise duty audits. He served major local and multinational clients from a wide array of industries, mainly Energy, Finance and FMGC. He acted as a local consultant in the PHARE program for the implementation of EU Harmonised Romanian VAT legislation, being involved in the drafting process of the law, as well as in organizing training sessions to professionals from the Romanian Ministry of Finance. Also, he actively managed Pre-Accession and Post-Accession projects, consisting in mappings, ERP implementations and industry-focused training sessions for top companies in Romania. Alexandru is a reputable speaker at various tax conferences and seminars and plays an ongoing role in the tax groups of AmCham/Foreign Investors Council (FIC) for the modernization of tax legislation, as well as in the discussions with the Ministry of Finance. Alexandru is a certified tax consultant and holds an MBA degree in Finance.