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About Loyens & Loeff
Loyens & Loeff is an independent full-service law firm specialised in providing legal and tax advice to international businesses, financial institutions and government bodies. Thanks to our legal and tax practices working closely together, we have built up a unique and very solid position in the market. Different specialists tackle issues from different sides, offering you the best advice in the most efficient way.

Loyens & Loeff worldwide
With about 1,500 employees worldwide, including more than 850 legal and tax experts, we effectively structure and supervise both domestic and international matters. We provide our services from our six offices in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (together the ‘Benelux’), as well as from our twelve branches based in the world’s major financial centres.

With offices in all major financial centres, Loyens & Loeff is able to identify the needs of clients worldwide and to adapt to specific demands, cultures and expectations. In addition, it enables us to provide our services around the clock.

The Benelux: an attractive climate for foreign investors
In many cross-border transactions, investing through the Benelux brings several benefits. The Benelux tax climate is generally very attractive for Japanese investors because of:

• Low corporate income tax rate
• No withholding taxes on interest, royalties or fees for technical services
• No stamp duties, nor capital taxes
• Dividend tax, which is most often reduced (even to as little as 0%)
• Favourable special tax incentives (e.g. for R&D activities, Energy Investment Allowances, and a favourable tax regime for foreign skilled workers)
• Participation exemption: tax-exempt dividends and capital gains
• Advance tax rulings (ATRs) and pricing agreements (APAs), which can be obtained from the tax authorities
• VAT deferral on goods imported into the European Union
• Practical and proactive approach of the customs authorities
• Reduced compliance burden by filing consolidated tax returns, applying for functional currency
• Extensive tax treaty network (reduction of foreign withholding taxes) and bilateral investment treaty network

A specialised team for the Japanese market
In 2011, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our office in Tokyo. Already back in the 1980s Loyens & Loeff formed a specialised Japan Desk to meet the increasing demand for expertise in all tax and legal aspects relating to investments and trade between Japan and the Benelux. Our Japan Desk assists not only clients based in Japan with all types of outbound investments but also clients based abroad with respect to their inbound investments into Japan.

One-stop service
Loyens & Loeff’s Japan Desk pools all the expertise that we have within our firm with respect to Japan-related matters. It consists of tax lawyers, corporate lawyers and civil law notaries. They participate in Loyens & Loeff teams that focus on specific industries and sectors, such as energy, real estate, private equity, fund structuring, corporate finance and family office investments. This way, through the Japan Desk, clients have access to Loyens & Loeff's full-service tax and legal expertise with regard to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Team members are based in our Amsterdam and Luxembourg offices and frequently work from our Tokyo office.

Broad expertise and in-depth knowledge
With respect to Japan’s outbound investments, our clients consist of Japan's major financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals, multinational corporations and private equity and real estate funds. We work closely with reputable Japanese law firms seeking our assistance in solving international tax and corporate law-related matters for their clients, and in establishing and restructuring overseas legal structures.
 
With respect to inbound investments, our clients comprise both Dutch-based clients and international clients using the Netherlands (and Luxembourg) as a basis to enter the Japanese market or hold shares in Japanese companies.
 
The Japan Desk advises clients on mergers, acquisitions, private equity transactions, international holding and financing entities, labour law, fund formation, investment management, real estate investments and tax planning for high-net-worth individuals. In many cross border transactions, benefits can be derived by investing through or from the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). We would be happy to discuss these opportunities with you.

What others say about us
Each year, Loyens & Loeff is awarded the highest ranking in the Tax category in the Chambers Guide, Legal 500 and International Tax Review’s World Tax. Also with respect to Corporate / M&A, Banking & Finance, Investment Funds, as well as many other categories, Loyens & Loeff achieves excellent results every year in the leading guides on legal and tax services providers.

Please visit the What others say about us web page for a full overview of our rankings and awards.

Contact
For more information about Loyens & Loeff, our Japan Desk, and other services that we provide, please send an e-mail to japan.desk@loyensloeff.com or contact one of the members of our Japan Desk directly. If you wish to speak to a member of the Japan Desk who speaks Japanese, please contact Junko Nakamata. 

Our Tokyo office address:
15F, Tokyo Bankers Club Bldg.
1-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
TOKYO 100-0005  Tokyo, Japan

Legal practice telephone number: +81 3 32 16 73 24  

Tax practice telephone number: +81 3 32 16 73 24