Prof. Gustavo Miguez de Mello

Gustavo Miguez de Mello earned his law degree from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro in 1963. In his fifth year, he won a nationwide competition for Law, Economics, and Accounting students adjudicated by the Brazilian Financial Law Association, and his article was published in the book “Compulsory Loans.” His thesis prevailed and was subsequently adopted by the Constituent Assembly, which treated compulsory loans as taxes.

In 1966, he wrote the introduction to “A Guide To Income Tax Law of Brazil,” published by Interamerican Tax Research, New York. In 1968, representing Brazil, he published a study on territorial jurisdiction in relation to inheritance and property taxes in Cahier de Droit Fiscal International – Studies on International Fiscal Law. From 1968 to 1969, he attended the International Tax Program at Harvard Law School. In 1991, he founded Miguez de Mello Advogados, where he practiced for more than 30 years. Leading the MMA team, he has successfully litigated several direct actions of unconstitutionality before the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF). The Brazilian Academy of Tax Law awarded him the Rubens Gomes de Sousa Award as Tax Personality of the Year in 2004, and the International Insurance Law Association – AIDA Brazil named him Outstanding Personality of the Year in 2010; he is the only Brazilian attorney to have received both honors. His work before the STF resulted in Binding Precedent No. 32 (ICMS does not apply to insurers’ sale of recovered property from claims), while his work before the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) led to the overruling of Precedent No. 152. Throughout his career, he published studies on Tax Law almost annually in publications including Cahier de Droit Fiscal International and Cadernos de Pesquisas Tributárias.