Nine independent tax firms have launched the Taxand alliance with 658 tax advisers spread throughout France, Germany, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.

“This is the first initiative worldwide to forge a tax alliance which allows firms to share knowledge and tax innovations, while providing our clients with a real independent network of international tax competencies”, claimed Frederic Donnedieu de Vabres of the French firm Arsene and the man who is coordinating Taxand.

The firms involved are: Arsene in France, Goutier & Partners in Germany, BMR & Associates in India, Fantozzi & Associati in Italy, Atoz in Luxembourg, Garrigues Tax Advisors in Spain, Skeppsbron Skatt in Sweden, Tax Partner AG in Switzerland, and Alvarez & Marsal Tax Advisory Services in the US.

The alliance will total 111 international and 547 tax practitioners in total.

Donnedieu de Vabres launched his own tax boutique after quitting Andersen Legal in 2003. He said that negotiations were underway with other firms so that Taxand would cover all five continents.