Expertise

Through a breakthrough decision of the Court of Appeals, our firm secured for two of our individual clients a win leading to the refund of an allegedly time-barred tax claim. Adjudicated interest, accrued as a result of the tax authorities’ refund denial, almost doubled the amount returned to our clients. In particular, the dispute related to the circumstances under which a tax audit would cause a prescription period in respect of a refund claim to start anew, where a tax assessment issued as a result of an amending tax return resulted in an increase of the taxable base as compared to the initial tax return. The team was led by partners Dimitris Gialouris and Daphne Cozonis. ...

Our tax litigation team has successfully defended before the Dispute Resolution Committee, on behalf of a major consumer electronics company, the deductibility of warranty costs incurred by the company in the context of the warranty it provides to customers for its products sold. The successful outcome has led to the annulment of the respective multi-million income tax assessment the company was burdened with. The tax auditors had considered that the warranty costs incurred by the company (a Limited Risk Distributor) did not meet the tax deductibility conditions (set by art. 22 of the Income Tax Code), since these expenses were not recharged to the associated manufacturing entity of the group. The Dispute Resolution Committee, with its groundbreaking decision, not only did it follow a ...

We are happy to be the exclusive contributing firm to the Chambers Tax Controversy 2023 Global Practice Guide, featuring 32 jurisdictions. Partners, Alex Karopoulos, and Dimitris Gialouris, and senior associates Diana Tsourapa, George Vlachakis and Eva Yotakou authored the chapter for Greece, providing insights and expert commentary on the legal issues around Tax. The guide features 32 jurisdictions and provides the latest information on causes of tax controversies; tax audits; administrative litigation; judicial litigation, including appeals; alternative dispute resolution (ADR); administrative and criminal tax offences; cross-border tax disputes; international tax arbitration options; and costs/fees. To access the full version online please click here: https://practiceguides.chamb...

Thrivest Holding Ltd, an investment company owned by individual investors, namely Messrs. Dimitrios Mpakos, Ioannis Kaimenakis and Alexandros Exarchou, acquired on 28 April 2023 a 4.91% minority stake in Attica Bank, a medium size Greek bank that has been struggling to raise regulatory capital for more than a year, by subscribing for rump shares in Attica Bank’s €473.3 mln share capital increase. This acquisition follows Thrivest’s purchase earlier this year and in 2022 of a 43.63% stake in Pancreta Bank, a regional Greek bank, where we had also acted for Thrivest. Thrivest’s investment in Attica Bank is the first step towards initiating the merger between Attica Bank and Pancreta Bank, the completion of which is, for the time being, subject to numerous conditions, including corporat...