Tax law firm Lobo Vasques launches in Lisbon

Two former Tax Affairs Secretaries of State during Socrates’ administration have opened Lobo Vasques & Associados, a new law firm in Lisbon

Lobo Vasques & Associados is a new law firm focused mainly on Tax Law. It has been founded by two former Secretaries of State during the José Socrates government: Carlos Lobo (pictured left) and Sérgio Vasques (pictured right).

The new law firm extends its scope no the tourist taxes, the VAT reform in Africa, the biofuels and the alcoholic beverages, among other sectors.

Carlos Lobo is a Law professor at the Lisbon University Law School and a reputed lawyer, who held a leadership position in one of the Big Four for ten years. He focuses mainly on property taxation and the taxation of the public sector. Lobo has significant expertise in high-profile local finance, infrastructure and energy projects, both in Portugal and abroad. He boasts a vast experience working in African markets, from Angola to Cabo Verde. Carlos Lobo served as Secretary of State for Tax Affairs in Portugal between 2008 and 2009.

Sérgio Vasques is both a distinguished Tax Law professor at the Lisbon Catholic University Law School, one of Portugal’s leading law schools, and a top Tax Law practitioner specialising in indirect and energy taxes. Vasques has been involved in several high-profile Tax Law projects in Portugal, including the drafting of the Excise Duties Code, the reform of vehicles’ taxation and the creation of environmental taxes on water and waste, leading the introduction of the tax arbitration system. Vasques has also been acting as a consultant to the World Bank and the IMF and contributed to several tax reforms in Portuguese-speaking African countries, having been responsible for reforming VAT in Guinea-Bissau and the overhaul of tax incentives in Cabo Verde. Sérgio Vasques served as Secretary of State for Tax Affairs in Portugal between 2009 and 2011.