Sandra Viviana Africano Franco

Director of the tax law department with over 12 years of experience in planning and tax litigation (territorial, national, and international), structuring business and cross-border transactions with a focus on tax and exchange aspects, as well as wealth, inheritance, and family structuring. This experience spans the construction, education, religious and non-profit entities, healthcare, medical, pharmaceutical, commercial, industrial sectors, and law firms.

PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

• Annulment of administrative acts in which the Municipality of Chía denied the refund of an excess payment related to urban delineation tax due to a partial renunciation of construction license execution.

• Reduction of the higher income tax and complementary taxes for a non-profit entity during a tax audit, primarily questioning the reinvestment of the entity's net benefit or surplus.

• Legal representation in a judicial process against the Special Administrative Unit of Cadastre for the improper and disproportionate valuation of commercial spaces in a shopping mall owned by a Latin American business group.

• Wealth, inheritance, and family structuring for individuals, enabling a family organization that aligns with client needs and desires, accompanied by tax efficiency.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Legal and tax advisory for the development of national and cross-border business and transactions of various types.

• Legal and tax advisory to different commercial and corporate structures.

• Personal and family budget organization.

• Development of wealth and family planning strategies.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

• 2024: Master’s in international law with an emphasis on Business Law from Universidad Externado de Colombia and Panthéon-Assas University Paris II.

• 2019: Specialist in International Tax Law, Universidad Externado de Colombia.

• 2017: Specialist in Tax Law, Universidad Externado de Colombia.

• 2013: Law degree, Universidad del Rosario.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

• Lecturer in the Tax Law module in "Real Estate Legal Management," Universidad del Rosario, 2023 and 2024.

• Lecturer in Tax Law at the Faculty of Commercial Engineering, Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales, 2019-2020.

• Co-author of the Tax Statute of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 2016 and 2017 editions.

• Researcher for the book "Critical Studies of Tax Jurisprudence, Volume II," Colombian Institute of Tax Law, 2012.

• Researcher in the Department of Tax Law at Universidad del Rosario on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements, under Dr. Esperanza Buitrago Díaz, 2012.

• Monitor for the Tax Law course, Universidad del Rosario, 2012.

• Researcher for the book "Women’s Rights in the Jurisprudence of the Colombian Constitutional Court 2005-2009," a study supported by the Colombian Presidency and the Presidential Advisory for Women’s Equality, 2011.

RECOGNITIONS

• Recognition in "Legal 500 Latin America" for the Tax Law team in Band 5, 2025.

• Recognition in "Legal 500 Latin America" for the Tax Law team in Band 4, 2023 and 2024.

• Recognition in "Leaders League" for the Tax Law team, 2022.