Rafael is one of the founders of the EY member firm in Central America (2002).  He is the Managing Partner of the Tax & Legal Central American, Panama and Dominican Republic Regional Practices based in Costa Rica. He is also part of the Transactions Advisory Services (TAS) team.  Before joining EY, he was partner and founder of S2B Solutions to Business and before that a member of another Big Four.

His experience includes local and international tax planning, corporate restructuring and reorganizations, cross-border transactions design and implementation, financing and investment structures, transfer pricing and supply chain planning, shared services centers design and taxation, overall cross-border taxation in the region, expatriate taxation, project financing, overall mergers and acquisitions advisory, and international trade and tax incentive systems for free trade zones, export systems and tourism.

He is also a member of the Family Business group that specializes in advisory services to family offices and organizations in general in areas such as estate planning, asset protection, international tax compliance, corporate governance and structuring.

Education and Memberships

He contributes in various international tax publications such as International Tax Review.  He has an LLM in Tax from the University of Florida and a JD and undergraduate degrees from the Universidad de Costa Rica.

In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 he was ranked as a leading Band 1 lawyer in Corporate / Tax by Chambers Latin American Guide. He is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), International Fiscal Association (IFA), the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Costa Rican Bar Association.  He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Costa Rica Chapter.