Barry Garven
Co-head of Tax | Johannesburg
Contact
T: +27 11 669 9323
E: barry.garven@bowmanslaw.com
Overview
Barry Garven is a partner and the co-head of Tax in our Johannesburg office Tax Practice.
He specialises in corporate and international tax structuring, especially in the mergers and acquisitions area. Barry has also advised on some of the largest debt and group reorganisations in South Africa. Barry’s expertise extends to acquisition funding and other types of debt and equity funding.
Barry also advises corporate and financial institutions on complex tax litigation issues and has been involved in litigating and settling large tax disputes, particularly in the financial products area.
Barry’s clients include Alexander Forbes, Virgin Active, Northam Platinum, SAB Miller, Rand Merchant Bank as well as other local and international banks. Barry was recently recommended in The Legal500 EMEA 2015 editorial.
Experience
Barry Garven has over 15 years of tax experience in the corporate and international tax fields. In addition to his M&A and reorganisation work, Barry has advised in a number of reported and unreported tax disputes both in the Tax and High Courts. Some of these tax issues include the following-
- Tax allowances claimed by taxpayers for the acquisition of trademarks.
- The tax treatment of “provisions” in the context of a sale of a business.
- The capital/revenue nature of certain types of expenditure including advertising and royalties.
- Various financial products including so-called convertible loans, bare dominium and “debt push-down” structures and the like.
- The application of the GAAR and “substance over form doctrine” to various types of financial products, structures and transactions.
- The meaning of the words “permanent nature” in the context of the section 11(e) wear and tear allowance.
- The meaning of the phrase “actually incurred” and “not of a capital nature” in the context of claiming deductions for expenditure.
- The tax consequences of a cession of dividends as the quid pro quo for a loan.
- Various matters involving the entitlement of a taxpayer a tax deduction for interest and related expenditure.
Awards
- Chambers and Partners consistently recognises Barry’s work in the tax space by ranking him in the top two tiers for the past six years (2018-2023) and prior to that in Band 3 for the two preceding years (2016 and 2017).
- Barry was recently listed as a Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 EMEA 2017 for Tax.
AREA OF EXPERTISE
Qualifications
- B.Com, LLB and LLM (cum laude) degrees and a Higher Diploma in Company Law from the University of the Witwatersrand.
- Higher Diploma in International Tax from the University of Johannesburg.
INSIGHTS
South Africa: Recent tax court case deals with the deductibility of finance charges in terms of section 24J of the Income Tax Act
South Africa: Beware – Your investment in a South African company could be taxed on repurchase
South Africa: Latest tax developments regarding employer-provided scholarships and bursaries
Budget 2018: Important proposed changes for businesses
South African National Budget Speech 2018
South African National Budget Speech 2017
South African National Budget Speech 2017: Important proposed changes for businesses
Brochures
Overview
Barry Garven is a partner and the co-head of Tax in our Johannesburg office Tax Practice.
He specialises in corporate and international tax structuring, especially in the mergers and acquisitions area. Barry has also advised on some of the largest debt and group reorganisations in South Africa. Barry’s expertise extends to acquisition funding and other types of debt and equity funding.
Barry also advises corporate and financial institutions on complex tax litigation issues and has been involved in litigating and settling large tax disputes, particularly in the financial products area.
Barry’s clients include Alexander Forbes, Virgin Active, Northam Platinum, SAB Miller, Rand Merchant Bank as well as other local and international banks. Barry was recently recommended in The Legal500 EMEA 2015 editorial.
Experience
Barry Garven has over 15 years of tax experience in the corporate and international tax fields. In addition to his M&A and reorganisation work, Barry has advised in a number of reported and unreported tax disputes both in the Tax and High Courts. Some of these tax issues include the following-
- Tax allowances claimed by taxpayers for the acquisition of trademarks.
- The tax treatment of “provisions” in the context of a sale of a business.
- The capital/revenue nature of certain types of expenditure including advertising and royalties.
- Various financial products including so-called convertible loans, bare dominium and “debt push-down” structures and the like.
- The application of the GAAR and “substance over form doctrine” to various types of financial products, structures and transactions.
- The meaning of the words “permanent nature” in the context of the section 11(e) wear and tear allowance.
- The meaning of the phrase “actually incurred” and “not of a capital nature” in the context of claiming deductions for expenditure.
- The tax consequences of a cession of dividends as the quid pro quo for a loan.
- Various matters involving the entitlement of a taxpayer a tax deduction for interest and related expenditure.
Awards
- Chambers and Partners consistently recognises Barry’s work in the tax space by ranking him in the top two tiers for the past six years (2018-2023) and prior to that in Band 3 for the two preceding years (2016 and 2017).
- Barry was recently listed as a Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 EMEA 2017 for Tax.
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