Tax Expert Piia Ahonen Joins Hannes Snellman as Specialist Partner

Piia Ahonen and Heikki Vesikansa

Hannes Snellman has further strengthened its Tax team by recruiting experienced indirect tax specialist Piia Ahonen.

Piia Ahonen joined Hannes Snellman in January 2019 to lead the firm’s indirect tax practice after the former head of its indirect tax practice, Petri Saukko, was nominated as chief judge at the Administrative Court of Eastern Finland. Piia will be responsible for clients in the fields of tax consultancy and tax controversy.

Piia has over 16 years of experience in Finnish and international indirect taxation. Previously, Piia worked for an international audit firm, and she has advised both Finnish and international clients especially in the automotive, real estate, and energy sectors, as well as the manufacturing and retail sectors. She also has particular experience in assisting many non-profit organisations in VAT-related matters. 

Piia is a well-known and popular lecturer in VAT topics relating to global trade, real estate, and general day-to-day VAT issues. In addition, she has published several articles on value added taxation.     

“We are very pleased to welcome Piia to strengthen our Tax practice and to step in to the role as head of indirect tax. Piia’s strong experience and valued advice on indirect taxes will further enhance our established position as a leading Finnish law firm offering high-end tax services, including indirect taxation. We see that the importance of indirect taxes, such as VAT and excise duties, will continue to grow, and law firm experience will be in high demand, among other things, due to the increased amount of tax litigation in this area. I look forward to now being able to combine forces with Piia. Our clients will no doubt find that Piia is someone who will earn their trust with top skills, tireless work for their benefit, and a pleasant personality”, says Partner Heikki Vesikansa, who heads Hannes Snellman’s Tax practice.

“From the first discussions with Heikki, we shared the same vision as to what services the clients might need and what we should do in order to provide the clients with excellent solutions and high-quality tax service. Over the past years, I have learned that indirect taxation has become more and more complicated due to many different reasons, and this means that, more often than before, clients have to ask for the assistance of specialised indirect tax experts. So, I am very pleased to have this opportunity to join one of the finest law firms in the Nordic countries, and in particular its Tax practice”, says Piia Ahonen.

Hannes Snellman’s Tax practice offers tax services ranging from M&A and corporate tax advice and tax litigation counselling to VAT, excise duties, customs advice, and owner and executive compensation tax planning. Hannes Snellman regularly represents large multinational companies, capital markets investors, and private equity and real estate funds in major scale transactions and complex dispute resolution.   What sets us apart is the way we take ownership of matters entrusted to us, through our dedication to reach our clients’ goals.

For further information, please contact:

Heikki Vesikansa, mobile: +358 40 844 2117
heikki.vesikansa@hannessnellman.com

Piia Ahonen, mobile: + 358 44 520 8801
piia.ahonen@hannessnellman.com