Manuel is Tax Partner of EY Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic and Country Managing Partner of EY Guatemala. Manuel’s expertise focuses on both local and international tax consulting for the Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic Region.

He provides tax advisory on areas such as Holding company structuring; cross border treasury and finance; development, ownership and use of intangible property for international organizations in a cross border context. He has taken part in projects regarding tax residency, migration of tax residency or establishing tax residency of corporate entities in a cross border context, and setting-up of green field (joint) ventures involving cross border direct tax issues.

He also assists on corporate reorganizations involving cross border direct and indirect tax issues, including mergers & acquisitions, and post-merger integration work. Manuel also provides tax advisory in Central America, Panama & Dominican Republic for the application of Double Tax Treaties and the potential tax impact for local taxpayers regarding the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Within EY, he has teamed with the Family Business, Consulting, Transfer Pricing, Assurance and Transaction Advisory practices to render services under an integrated approach.

He joined EY in 2004, and is based in Guatemala City. He previously worked as a tax advisor in Guatemalan law firms, where he was also the attorney for judicial proceedings. He was a member of the Technical Advisory Department of the Directorate at the Guatemalan Tax Authority from 1998 to 2002.

He is a Lawyer and Notary Public who graduated cum laude from the Universidad Rafael Landivar in Guatemala. He holds a Masters of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from Levin College of Law, University of Florida in the US. He was a “Fulbright” grantee. He has taken courses for professional updating at University of Münster, University of California at Berkeley and University of California at Davis, amongst others.

He is a member of the Bar Association of Guatemala and member of the International Fiscal Association. He has been a tax law professor in local Universities and takes part in academic forums in Guatemala.