Administrative law and tax law

Here at Almgren & Sankamo we manage a broad range of legal issues relating to public administration and taxation. We have decades of experience in this field to draw on, so we can provide pertinent professional advice.

Administrative matters

Since the administrative process is mainly in written format, an official decision or court ruling is mainly based on written evidence. If a lawyer drafts the application, report and other documents on behalf of a client, the opportunity for a successful outcome greatly improves.

We provide the assistance our corporate clients need with public administration applications and appeals, and we also help them in legal proceedings in administrative courts.

Taxation issues

Taxation issues are an important area of Almgren & Sankamo’s specialised expertise. We provide our corporate clients with professional input backed by solid experience in all types of tax matters throughout a company’s lifecycle – from preparing the founding documents through to cessation of trading. Our experts will help you find the most tax-beneficial, optimised and sustainable solution for your company.

Taxation issues should be addressed right from the start. When founding a company and selecting the form of the company, the tax treatment of different company types should be reviewed. Taxation and tax penalties vary according to whether the business is a sole trader, partnership or limited liability company.

Once the company is founded and operating, the important question from the taxation perspective is the type of income the company’s revenues will be treated as and, for instance, how this will affect deductions for losses. In Finland, companies are taxed at a fixed rate.

Some of the most complex issues are:

• How is taxable income defined?
• How can that be influenced?
• Which expenses and interest payments are tax deductible?

What is important from the perspective of tax implications is which Income Tax Act is applied to which business activity. Careful proactive planning can produce significant tax savings. Whenever necessary, we help our clients in applying for a binding advance ruling from the Finnish Tax Administration and in completing tax returns.

During a company’s lifecycle, a situation may arise where changing the operating mode would reduce the tax burden. Even more common are various corporate reorganisations, such as merging or demerging. It is worth enlisting professional help in such cases because, with certain provisos, the arrangement can be tax neutral, in which case the reorganisation does not attract additional tax. We also assist in other corporate reorganisations, such as taxation in cases of asset transfers or share swaps. We analyse the situation, prepare a report complete with tax calculations, and advise our clients in selecting the method best suited to their needs and wishes.

Business assets can be transferred to a new owner through a corporate acquisition. Taxation issues are intricately linked also to the different circumstances of the transfer. A corporate acquisition can be effected in different ways and with different sequences of events involving, for instance, share transfers. When a corporate acquisition is impending, we recommend that you contact our lawyers early in the planning stage. We also assist our clients with change-of-generation arrangements, where choosing the right method can drastically reduce tax impacts for both the person transferring the business and the recipient of the business.

Put your public administration and taxation affairs in order with the assistance of Almgren & Sankamo’s experts!