About IFA Brazil

The ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE DIREITO FINANCEIRO – ABDF (Brazilian Association of Financial Law – BAFL) was founded in February 1949 by a group of taxation specialists led by Gilberto de Ulhôa Canto and which included, among others, Erymá Carneiro, Tito Rezende and Rubens Gomes de Sousa.

The principal objective of the ABDF (BAFL) is to stimulate the study of tax law in Brazil. Therefore, the ABDF holds courses, seminars, lectures and debates as well as participating in events realized by two international associations, the International Fiscal Association (IFA) and the Instituto Latinoamericano de Derecho Tributario (ILADT) (The Latin-American Institute of Tax Law (LAITL)), the ABDF being the representative entity of these two associations in Brazil.

The institution's first CEO was Tito Rezende, who held the position for 18 years. He was succeeded by Gilberto de Ulhôa Canto, whose term lasted 28 years until his death in 1995. Agostinho Tavolaro was then elected to the position and held it until 1998, when leadership of the institution was transferred to Condorcet Rezende. In 2005, Ricardo Lobo Torres assumed the position, transferring it in 2010 to Sacha Calmom Navarro Coelho. Gustavo Brigagão assumed the presidency in 2015 and held it until 2021, transferring it in the same year to Heleno Taveira Torres. In 2024, Betina Trieger Grupenmacher was elected, standing out as the first woman to assume the presidency of the institution.

Within the scope of encouraging research and scientific production the ABDF organizes and supports events with a national and international impact. Over the years, the ABDF has had the honour of organizing the following international  events: The III Latin-American Tax Law Conference  (São Paulo, 1962), III Luso-Hispanic-American Conference on Taxation Studies (Rio de Janeiro, 1968); XI Latin-American Tax Law Conference  (Rio de Janeiro, 1983); 43° International Fiscal Association Congress (Rio de Janeiro, 1989), XX Latin-American Tax Law Conference  (Salvador, Bahia, 2000) and I Rio de Janeiro International Tax Law Congress (Rio de Janeiro, 2005);  II Congresso de Direito Tributário Internacional do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 2007); III Congresso de Direito Tributário Internacional do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 2014); 71° Congresso IFA Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 2017); IV Rio de Janeiro International Tax Law Congress (Rio de Janeiro, 2019); V Rio de Janeiro International Tax Law Congress (Rio de Janeiro, 2020) and VI Rio de Janeiro International Tax Law Congress (Rio de Janeiro, 2022).