Just four years old and Avanzia Taxand has already scooped its first major international award.
The Mrieħel-based adviser was named Malta Tax Firm of the Year at the International Tax Review's European Tax Awards ceremony at The Dorchester in London recently, beating Deloitte, Ernst & Young and Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Malta firms. A total of 57 awards were presented on the night; Taxand, the global network of independent tax advisers spanning 50 countries, was nominated in 14 national tax firm of the year awards and picked up eight.
Opening the fifth annual ceremony, International Tax Review managing editor Ralph Cunningham recognised the challenges tax specialists faced in the current climate.
"The last 12 months, particularly since September 2008, have been difficult for companies," he observed. "Most are not making as much money as they used to, others are making heavy losses. One certainty is that, even if the issues have changed, these companies have still had to deal with their tax affairs. And the nominees and winners reflect that in times of difficulty, as well as in times of prosperity, nothing beats quality."
Avanzia Taxand managing director Walter Cutajar says the award will boost the firm's visibility in the industry and is optimistic: business is good, he says, but times demand even more dedication to Taxand's professed "passion for tax".
Avanzia Taxand is structured to advise larger clients, and already enjoys the trust of a respectable clientele, including many multi-nationals like sanitary group Kimberley Clark and consumer goods manufacturer Sara Lee of the US.
Middle Eastern clients on Avanzia Taxand's books have also flourished. A leading global law firm, currently heavily engaged in the Arab world, has also sought the Maltese firm's services.
Avanzia Taxand's strategy moving forward is to continue to grow its client base and offer increasingly fine-tuned services to diversified foreign business interests attracted to Malta by the advantageous tax framework.
"The legislation and our membership of the European Union have been key to attracting clients to Malta," Mr Cutajar told The Times Business. "Tax is a dynamic issue. Malta has made good inroads in taxation, and legislation has placed us firmly on the international map.
"Our firm keeps track of competing jurisdictions and is constantly updated on international movements. We pride ourselves on being a responsible tax firm and the quality of the service we deliver is a crucial factor in this business."
Avanzia Taxand's primary focus is to minimise clients' tax leakage through a range of services, including advice on tax treaties. It offers expertise in mergers and acquisitions, international tax planning, restructuring and financing, and offers specialist services for holding companies, treasury and finance operations, professional investor funds, and intellectual property companies.
The post-Enron environment has enabled firms to collaborate more frequently and closely, and Avanzia Taxand has healthy working relationships with its fellow award nominees.
Mr Cutajar believes Malta's business attractiveness could soar if authorities' decision-making processes on issues like Shariah-compliant frameworks gained some speed and if some important adjustments were made to the tax policy.
"There are a number of tax discriminations still prevalent in our system," he points out. "Malta's double taxation treaty network could rise from 48 to 60 in the next few years but we shouldn't just look at the number of treaties being concluded - a treaty may have a wide limitation of benefits, making it very difficult to use in international tax planning."
Taxand was established in 2005 by nine firms at the top of the market, many of whom were former partners of Arthur Anderson. The Enron scandal in 2001 caused the accounting firm to dissolve. International rules changed - advisory and audit services had to be separated - and demand for independent tax advisory services rose.
Mr Cutajar, who previously worked for KPMG and Ernst & Young in Malta, is also a former Arthur Anderson partner. Set up in May 2005, Avanzia Taxand was the first membership firm to be taken into the new network's fold which today includes over 300 tax partners and 2,000 individual advisers. It is the world's only global tax-dedicated network.
Structured similarly to the Big Four, Taxand's network has a common database and is able to tap expertise across member firms. The network, however, does not share member firms' client base.
Mr Cutajar heads a six-strong team of tax specialists, including accountants and lawyers, with an average age of 30. Maltese Taxand professionals have been seconded to other partners overseas, and have been trained at the network's tax school in The Netherlands and Spain.