Léon Borkes

I have more than fifteen years of experience in the area of taxation in respect of property, with emphasis on Dutch and German investment institutions, direct/indirect acquisition and sale of property (portfolios), property leasing and refinancing. In those areas I advise both domestic and foreign clients, including fund managers, investors, project developers and contractors.

Recent projects on which I have worked include:

• Assisting in the initiation, maintenance and termination of property investment funds;
• Property refinancing consultancy;
• Providing advice regarding the sale and acquisition of immovable property;
• Providing advice regarding (the reduction of) the landlord levy;
• Conducting preliminary consultation, and formulating and negotiating arrangements with the Tax Authorities;
• Providing advice in the area of personal income tax (for example: qualification for Box I/Box III), corporate income tax (including depreciations, reinvestment reserves, interest deductibility, fiscal unities), VAT (for example: exemptions, qualification of new manufacture), and transfer tax (such as determination of the tax base and 2-6% rate);
• Assistance in audits for personal income tax, corporate income tax, VAT and transfer tax;
• Conducting tax objection and appeal proceedings.

When needed, I work closely together with my legal and tax colleagues and with external parties, such as civil-law notaries.

I completed my Tax Law studies at Tilburg University in 2003 and the management programme Master of Real Estate (MRE) at the Amsterdam School of Real Estate in 2012, and have studied the Financial Supervision Act as it relates to retail property investment institutions in depth. Before joining RechtStaete, I worked for Deloitte for more than nine years.

Dutch and English