Katarzyna Kopczewska
Biography
Katarzyna Kopczewska heads the tax law practice at the Warsaw office of Baker McKenzie. She is an experienced tax advisor whose passion is providing comprehensive support to clients on tax-related issues. For over 20 years, she has worked at renowned consulting firms, gaining knowledge and experience in various areas of tax advisory.
Her skills include:
- Strategic tax advisory and modeling: She helps clients achieve tax efficiency within the framework of current regulations
- Transactions and restructuring: She advises on the tax aspects of mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and other transactions
- International tax law: She is experienced in working with businesses operating in a wide range of international markets, which has allowed her to accumulate extensive knowledge and skills in dealing with issues related to global tax regulations
- Due diligence: She conducts tax analyses before transactions to identify potential risks and benefits
- Tax proceedings: She represents clients in tax proceedings before tax authorities and administrative courts, helping clients resolve disputes related to interpretations of tax law.
She is active in the legal community, sharing her knowledge at conferences and in articles. Her flexibility, commitment and strategic thinking make her a valued professional in the tax field.
Practice Focus
Katarzyna is experienced in tax support for clients in the real estate sector (Polish and international investment funds, developers and construction companies), as well as entities in the technology sector.
Drawing upon her experience as a lawyer at the Ministry of State Treasury, where she participated in privatizing major state-owned enterprises, she combines civil, corporate and commercial law with tax experience to offer complete solutions for clients. Her extensive tax and legal background, combined with sector-specific knowledge, enables her to provide comprehensive and pragmatic advisory services in transaction structuring, tax planning, tax disputes, transfer pricing and sector-specific VAT issues.
Katarzyna has been recognized as one of the 50 most influential people in Real Estate by Property Forum and is highly rated in international legal rankings such as Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500. Clients appreciate her interdisciplinary knowledge, excellent understanding of the real estate market and pragmatic solutions to tax problems, making her a valuable advisor in complex transactions.
Representative Legal Matters
Clients: international investment funds and development companies – Globalworth, BentallGreenOak, Generali Real Estate, DWS, Summus Capital, Skanska, Echo Investment, Archicom, and technology companies – Google, Bolt, Amazon, Bwin, Binance.
Major projects:
- Advised an international investment fund in a proceeding concerning the application of the anti-tax avoidance clause, successfully winning the case before the Provincial Administrative Court.
- Advised a Scandinavian developer in a precedent-setting case for the recovery of overpaid income tax based on amended regulations regarding the taxation of closed investment funds.
- Advised a leading online platform operating in the field of transport and services on restructuring its operational activities in Poland.
- In 2024, advised Generali Real Estate on the sale of an office building housing Microsoft’s headquarters in Warsaw.
- Advised a German fund managed by DWS on the sale of two logistics parks to Hillwood.
- Advised Skanska Property on the sale of the Studio B office building to Stena Real Estate.
- Advised Google on the purchase of The Warsaw Hub office building from Ghelamco.
Professional Associations and Memberships
Admissions
- Poland (2006)
Languages
- English
- Polish