Legal, Tax & Risk Advisory

BUSINESS ADVISORY SERVICES

Our expert teams provide innovative solutions that support the growth ambitions of our clients. As your business grows, our advisory services are designed to help you achieve your goals. Successful growth often means navigating a complex array of opportunities, challenges and risks.

Our Advisory division is one of the fastest growing areas of our firm and we are a genuine alternative to the largest firms, providing clients with standard global tools and methodologies as well as deep industry expertise.

Key services

  • Business Consulting
  • Business Risk Services
  • Internal Audit
  • IT advisory services
  • Cyber Advisory
  • Digital and Analytics
  • Forensic services
  • Corporate Finance

GIA Tax Advisory offers a comprehensive range of tax services, through our team of dedicated tax specialists. Our team has a vast amount of expertise that enables us to pro-actively bring practical, cost-effective tax solutions to our clients and to add value.

Our advice and opinion is based on the interpretation of the relevant provisions of tax legislation and decided tax cases, if any, as well as Practice Notes and Tax Directives issued by the Commissioner of SARS. In dealing with the taxation of cross-border transactions and foreign entities, we base our advice and opinion on the interpretation of the local tax legislation, relevant foreign tax legislation and Double Taxation Agreements (DTA). We rely on the latest technology to obtain and analyse client information in order to provide effective tax solutions.

We adopt a holistic approach to enable us to address our client’s most demanding business challenges. By clearly assessing and understanding each client’s unique circumstances, we are able to design bespoke solutions that meet their individual needs.

Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution, we strive to assemble the right mix of specialists in order to leverage the optimal skill and expertise required for each individual project. This approach means our clients benefit from best practice in execution together with sound technical support.

GIA member firms have tax specialists whose breadth and depth of expertise covers the whole range of tax services. Over 500 tax partners and more than 4,500 tax professionals in GIA member firms worldwide work together to offer detailed, cross-border solutions. We have the capability and expertise to advise large multinationals, privately held businesses as well as public interest entities and individuals on a range of services.

Key services

  • Tax Risk Management
  • Tax Accounting Services
  • Asset Consulting
  • Transfer Pricing
  • Share Incentive Schemes
  • Tax Dispute Resolutions
  • Compliance
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Global mobility services
  • Value-Added-Tax (VAT) services
  • Other corporate tax services

Leading global risk management

Intelligence, investigations and security management company

GIA help the most discerning organisations to manage their competitor, integrity, political and security risks.

As an element of sound organizational governance, risk management focuses on how organizations can successfully achieve strategic business objectives and effectively function with an optimal level of risk taking.  Companies should be equipped to address risks at all levels of the organization in a balanced manner, weighing both opportunities and threats as management deploys resources to achieve enterprise goals.

GIA’s Risk Advisory Services team can assist you in better understanding the risks that are relevant to your company and help develop strategies to respond to these risks in ways that promote enterprise-wide success.  You can trust our experienced team to help you navigate the complex issues facing your business, including industry-specific challenges and applicable regulations.  We can assist you in developing an approach to guide sound execution of strategy, efficient functioning of operations and effective application of technology.

GIA’s service offerings provided by our Risk Advisory Services team include:

  • IT and Business Risk Consulting – We offer you support in designing or evaluating internal controls based on the results of a risk-based evaluation of the entire organization, technology or a specific business function. Further, we also provide you with other process improvement recommendations during the review process.
  • Internal Audit – Bennett Thrasher can support you as a fully outsourced or co-sourced internal audit function. Our approach to internal audit seeks to add value to and improve the effectiveness of your operations, including risk management, control and governance processes.
  • System and Organization Controls (SOC) Reports – SOC reports are independent auditor’s reports on the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls at your organization. Depending on your needs, you may elect to undergo an appropriate type SOC examination to obtain a report that demonstrates the integrity of your business operations and technology environment.

GIA offers experienced resources to assist you in each engagement.  Our multi-faceted Risk Advisory Services team members have proven experience in risk assessments, internal control and operational efficiency.  We draw on our collective expertise as business advisors, consultants and auditors, as well as past members of management of public and private companies, to provide you with insightful advice rooted in experience.  Our deep capabilities allow us to provide you with assurance and advisory expertise specific to the objectives of your engagement across all aspects of business processes and IT.

Corporate Legal Advisory

Our professionals work with subject matter experts to deliver tailored and insightful legal advice to each of our clients.

As part of its diversified portfolio of integrated business services, GIA offers to its clients a broad spectrum of Legal Advisory services, combining knowledge and experience in different legal practice areas with the multi-disciplinary approach of the firm.

In today’s complex and rapidly changing regulatory and business environment, where companies are more than ever exposed to strict compliance requirements and new business challenges, our understanding of the legal regulations and deep industry knowledge help our clients to stay competitive and compliant.

We cover the full range of business law advice with the following main areas of expertise:

  • Corporate & Commercial Law
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Insolvency Law  & Restructuring
  • Real Estate & Construction
  • Contractual Law
  • Banking, Finance & Insurance law
  • Concessions & Public Procurement
  • Employment & Immigration Law
  • Anti-trust & Competition Law

A particular strength of our legal team is that we not only advise clients in particular legal area but we work together with GIA’s Tax and Advisory teams. This enables us to provide creative, complex and practice-oriented services to our clients. At the same time, cooperation with other GIA member firms has helped us to amass a range of experience that enhances the quality of our work and make us part of one of the world’s most extensive legal services networks.

Legal services disclaimer:
Legal services may not be offered to SEC registrant Audit clients or where otherwise prohibited by law.

Why choose GIA Tax, Legal and Risk?

We are tax, legal and Risk advisors, working together to deliver business solutions to our clients. With our unique blend of skills and talents – we work with experienced professionals – we seek, first and foremost, to understand our clients’ issues.

Then, pooling our substantial collective experience in the South African tax legal system, case law and South African legislation, we work together to provide you, our client, with advice that is insightful of your issues, answerable to your unique requirements, and, increasingly importantly these days, adherent to the spirit of the legislation.

So when you choose GIA, not only will you receive solutions, you experience peace of mind.

Our team includes accounting professionals who are fully conversant with current International Financial Reporting Standards. This knowledge is critical to tax and legal advice which is to be applied by corporate clients complying with these standards.   

We operate as an integrated international team, linking seamlessly to tax expertise and contacts across the globe in the international offices of our firm. Via our already-well established, and ever-expanding African footprint, we work closely with our tax colleagues situated in 42 African offices to deliver value and cut through the complexity of operating in these dynamic and ever-expanding markets.