Luiz Gustavo Bichara

Practice Areas

Tax

Career

Bichara is the founding partner of the firm and has been providing specialised tax legal advice for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience in significant tax discussions before the Brazilian courts, including the Supreme Court, representing associations either as amicus curiae or plaintiffs.

Bichara is a reference regarding taxation, especially the Brazilian Tax reform, always requested by the media to comment on innovations and amendments suggested for the bills. Recently, he was invited to participate, alongside other major legal experts, in the Fórum de Integração Brasil Europa (FIBE) and the IX Fórum Jurídico de Lisboa, where he spoke about global tax trends and Brazilian tax reform. He is also part of the special commissions from the Senate and the Brazilian Bar (OAB) in charge of elaborating improvements to the texts of the Tax and Income Tax reforms in progress in the Senate.

Professional Memberships

• Special Tax Attorney of OAB’s Federal Council

• Member of the Committee of Jurists established by the Federal Senate to reform the legislation on administrative and tax proceedings and member of the Technical Support Committee for diagnosis of National Tax Litigation at the National Council of Justice (CNJ)

• Member of the Chamber for the Promotion of Legal Security in the Business Environment (SEJAN), created by the Attorney General's Office (AGU)

• Vice-President for Legal Matters of Rio de Janeiro’s Commercial Association’s (ACRJ) and a member of the board of the following institutions: STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners)

Publications

Being a reference in the tax area nationally and internationally, Mr. Bichara has already written multiple articles and co-written ten books related to tributation and Tax Law.

Experience

Mr. Bichara is a reference regarding taxation, especially the Brazilian Tax reform. As part of the special commissions from the senate and the Brazilian Bar (OAB) in charge of elaborating improvements to the texts of the Tax and Income Tax reforms in progress in the Senate, he personally believes that both projects penalize the service sector and significantly increase the taxation for liberal professionals. The commissions in which he is part seeks, for example, in both reforms, to avoid a brutal increase in the tax burden, especially considering the moment of the Brazilian economy.

Finally, he is constantly featured in the media and press, demonstrating the recognition for his expertise.

Work Highlights

Under his leadership, the Tax area has led several major transactions in the past few years, including:

• Legal leadership for JBS S.A., Brazil’s largest agribusiness company, in a complex regulatory dispute over restrictions on meat product sales by retailers and wholesale distributors in Rio de Janeiro.

• Advised L’Oréal, a global leader in the beauty industry, on critical tax compliance and regulatory matters impacting its operations in Brazil.

• Led legal strategy in a landmark case challenging the constitutionality of the Telecommunications Services Universalisation Fund (FUST) contribution.

Education