The firm has a dedicated team of specialized lawyers knowledgeable in Tax aspects of any emerging tax regime in Nigeria; providing innovative and professional advice, taking into consideration business needs and different jurisdictions. The team has a strong domestic tax capability both from practice qualification and experience.
Tax representation is an important feature of advice to clients in commercial transactions. Clients are routinely guided through tax benefits in corporate alliances and outright mergers and financial arrangements, restructurings and local labour tax implications. Specific areas of recent practice are capital market flotation, project financing, foreign and international participation in Nigerian enterprises including tax exemptions and the grant of pioneer status, employment and pensions regulations in Nigeria.
The process of setting up or acquiring new business interests in Nigeria is specialised. Private enterprise demands a clear overview of foreign participation regulations. We deliver targeted advice on corporate structure to maximize investment objectives. Having advised both public and buyer interests, the firm is a leading advisor in privatization and is positioned to give credible assistance to interested parties in the on-going privatization of enterprises in Nigeria. A & O acted as legal adviser in the Bureau of Public Enterprises in the first privatization of a public enterprise in Nigeria and was solicitor to the issue in the Initial Public Offer (lPO} for the process.
In the event of contentious disputes with tax authorities, a skillful litigation team will pursue protests, petitions and appeals to the tax commissioners and through to the Federal courts. The firm was represented on the committee to review tax legislation in Nigeria.
The firm’s immigration team within this group complements the advisory services we offer to our international clients that do business in Nigeria. The group’s knowledge of the legal, regulatory and procedural requirements of the Nigerian Immigration Service and other regulatory agencies ensures that our clients’ foreign participation is protected.
This group is responsible for procuring residence permits, expatriate quota positions for foreign personnel seeking to work in Nigeria, filing returns with the immigration office, and advising on all aspects of immigration law.
