News

On Friday 14 May 2010, the "Second Symposium on EC Tax Policy" will take place at the University of Linz, Austria.

In 2008, NYU, the University of Connecticut, and Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) initiated this symposium series, and the first symposium took place at NYU. The second symposium will be at JKU in Austria, and this full day symposium will deal with current and developing issues in the area of tax evasion, harmful tax competition, exchange of information and countering tax haven abuse. Please find attached the program.

Participation is free of charge. To register, please send your registration by e-mail by 15 April 2010 to simone.loeffler@jku.at.

On 29 and 30 April 2010, the Academy of European Law (ERA) is organising a conference on "The Impact of the ECJ Case Law on National Direct Tax System".

This seminar is aimed at analysing the growing influence of European Union law on the national tax systems of the EU Member States. Although direct taxation in the EU has traditionally been a national issue, decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) have directly affected national tax legislation. ECJ decisions affect diverse areas including tax treatment of foreign workers, tax treatment of outbound/inbound dividends, withholding taxes, cross-border loss relief, CFC rules, exit taxes and infringements of state aid rules. In most ECJ decisions, the national tax law has proven not to be in conformity with EU law. The seminar will analyse implementation of this ECJ case-law across the EU member states. The seminar will be taught by distinguished academics and practitioners from across Europe.

More informaiton can be found on the ERA website.

On 26th and 27th May 2010, the OECD Forum 2010 will take place at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris.

The annual OECD Forum is your chance to take part in the debate on major international policy issues alongside the OECD Ministerial meeting. More than 10 000 people from all parts of society have already exchanged ideas and experiences, and played their part in shaping the responses to global challenges.

More information will follow soon.

On 12 January 2010, a hearing of Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner-designate for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud took place before the Committees for Budgetary Control (CONT), Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) of the European Parliament.

For more information please see the attachement.

On 1st and 2nd March 2010, The European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union is organising his fourth edition of the Brussels Tax Forum. The theme for this edition will be "Tax Policies For A Post-Crisis World".

More information can be found on the European Commission website.

On 11 December 2009, the Annual Russian Conference of members of the Chamber of Tax Advisers took place in Moscow. More than 300 delegates of professional community of tax advisers have gathered to discuss topics of their interest and exchange views on a number of issues. Stephen Coleclough - president of CFE, Jiri Nekovar – Vice-President of CFE, President of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic, Gottfried Schellmann - Chairman of the Fiscal Commitee of CFE and the delegation of the Union of the Tax Advisors of Lower Saxony/ Saxony-Anhalt (Germany) also took part in the conference.

The main topics of the Conference were:
- Standardizing of the Tax Consultancy in Russia;
- Draft law on "Tax Consulting”.

More than 4 000 tax advisers from 72 regions of Russia are members of the Chamber of Tax Advisers of Russia. Until now the Russian tax consultants are following the Professional Ethic Regulations (code of conduct) adopted by the Board Members of the Chamber of Tax Advisers of Russia in December 2004. Today the members of the professional society recognize the vital need of forming the high Russian tax consultancy standards.

The European Commission - DG TAXUD organised a one day conference on “What taxation for a low carbon economy?” in Brussels. The conference focused on ways to address global warming through targeted taxation instruments, in theory and in practice and taking into account broader economic and social considerations. It was chaired by DG TAXUD Director General Walter Defaa and keynote speakers included professors, professionals from different areas, MEP and others.

For more information, please see the attachment.

The Institute of Indirect Taxation and the Chartered Institute of Taxation are organizing together their first Joint International Indirect Tax Conference, which will be held on Thursday 25 February 2010 in London. Keynote speakers will be Richard Lyal, Legal Adviser, Legal Service, The European Commission, Charles Meechan of Ernst & Young and Alan McLintock of Sabre Holdings, as well as Stephen Coleclough, President of the CFE.

For more information, please see the attachment.

The Czech Tax Academy, the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic and the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Russian Federation, under the auspices of the Chamber for Commercial Relations with the Confederation of Independent States are organising the International Conference titled Tax and customs aspects of foreign trade with the Russian Federation, which is to be held on December 2, 2009 from 9:00 to 16:30 hours in the Blue Hall of Charles University, Ovocný trh 3, Prague 1.

The official languages will be Czech, Russian and English. Simultaneous interpreting will be ensured. The registration fee is CZK 3.900. (ca. EUR 150) 

Attachements:
Invitation to the conference
Registration form for the conference

Conference “Recent and pending cases at the ECJ on Direct Taxation”

The Institute for Austrian and International tax law is organising a conference on recent and pending cases at the ECJ on Direct taxation. From 12 to 14 November 2009, experts from various member states like AT, Belgium, F, D, UK, Greece, Hungary, IT, NL, Poland, Portugal and Spain will analyse recent cases and their importance to the EU Member States and third countries. The conference starts on November 12 with the inaugural lectures of Professor Albert Stock and Professor Bertil Wiman.

For registration and further information read more…

On 25 to 27 November, the first Central and Eastern European regional congress IFA took place in Warsaw. Keynote speakers were the chairman of the Polish national chamber of tax advisers, Mr Zbigniew Maciej Szymik as well as Professor Kees Van Raad and Gottfried Schellmann, the chair of the CFE Fiscal Committee. For more information, please click on the attachment enclosed.

The conference was a high-level conference, combining both theoretical and practical aspects of the EU membership-related changes in the tax laws of European countries.

CFE – ECJ SEMINAR
Luxemburg, Tuesday 20 October 2009

The number of taxation issues that are being brought to the ECJ by the national courts is significant

The central purpose of this seminar is to address a key question which the European tax professionals are increasingly confronted with: “How do I ensure to advise my clients efficiently on tax dossiers which are (or are liable to be) affected by an ECJ decision?”

The participants had an unusual opportunity to find themselves right into the EU decision making process by assisting to an audience at the Grand Chamber. The functioning of the ECJ, the proceedings of the legal cases, the requisites and guidelines for the set up of effective taxation dossiers were expanded upon in further presentations made by professionals which are dealing with these issues on an almost daily basis. The afternoon session was dedicated to an open discussion with a panel of experts from the tax advice profession and from the EU institutions.

CFE 50th Anniversary!

The CFE celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2009. To highlight this event the CFE, together with the Institut des Avocats Conseils Fiscaux (IACF) and Union Professionnelle des Sociétés d'Avocats (UPSA), organized an Anniversary Conference on Friday 25 September 2009 in Paris. The topic of the Conference is "Making Europe more competitive - Where are we after 50 years?".

The CFE was delighted to announce that Christine Lagarde, French Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment, was the opening speaker of the Conference.

What about?

• Programme (EN)

• Programme (FR)

• Programme (DE)

Presentations Panel

• Stephen Matthews, Head of the Tax Policy and Statistics Division, OECD (replacement of Jeffrey Owens, Director , Center for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD)
• Gottfried Schellmann, Chairman CFE Fiscal Committee
• Daniel Gutmann, Avocat, Professor Université Paris, 1 Panthéon, Sorbonne

Report

• Report from IBFD

IBFD Offer

• More info can be obtained on IBFD / ECJ Special Offer

Pictures

• Follow this link to see the pictures from the CFE 50th anniversary

The European Commission organized the Brussels Tax Forum on 30 - 31 March in Brussels. The topic chosen for 2009 was 'Tax Systems in a Changing World' and the conference focused upon how to design direct and indirect tax systems that are robust, efficient and fair.

A report of the conference can be found in the CFE Newsletter 1/2009

The complete video of the conference is now available at the European Commission's, Taxation and Custom Union, website. To see the recordings please follow this link

The CFE Past-President Paul Morton (Tax Director of Reed Elsevier) held a very interesting speach on 'Modern VAT systems: a business' perspective' during the second day.

The CFE annual Forum was held on 23 April 2009, between 9.00 hrs and 17.30 hrs. The Forum took place at the Representation of the State Saxony-Anhalt to the European Union in Brussels.

CFE Forum Topics 2009:

Direct Taxation

Crossing Borders - Exit taxes and transfer pricing in the EU – The forum  considered the recent EU Council resolution inviting Member States to coordinate their policies on exit taxes to avoid discrimination and double taxation and in the light of ECJ judgments on the incompatibility of some existing exit taxes with the EC Treaty freedoms. The forum also considered recent OECD proposals on the transfer pricing aspects of business restructurings. Finally it examined the recent German legislation on exit taxation.

Presentations Panel 1:

• John Neighbour
• Bert Zuijdendorp
• Dr. Achim Roeder EN DE
• Isabelle Richelle

Indirect Taxation

Cross-Border VAT Structures – During the session issues such as FCE Bank, VAT grouping, Societas Europeae, and cost sharing groups were discussed. The topic was examined from various perspectives, such as; business, third country, the European Commission and the German administration.

Presentations Panel 2:

• Moderator Jeremy Woolf
• Dr. Rolf Diemer
• Dr. Ruud Zuidgeest
• Werner Widmann (DE)
• Prof. Dr. Pierre-Marie Glauser

Follow this link to see the photos from the CFE Forum 2009

On 19 January 2009, CFE invited to its yearly dinner with representatives from the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. Please find some photos from the evening.

The Hellenic Federation of Self-employed Tax Consultants (P.O.F.E.E.),  organized on December 5 - 7, 2008 in the town of Drama its 2nd International Conference of Accountants – Tax Consultants on the subject: “The Accountant – Tax Consultant and the European reality”. The conference focused primarily  on Professional Affairs matters.

Mr Deligiannis (PR Mgr/POFEE - Director/IN-FORO) was moderating the 1st day of the conference. Mr Panidis’ (President/POFEE), Mr Henk Koller (Chairman CFE Professional Affairs Committee), Mrs Mihaela Mitroi (representing the Romanian Fiscal Chamber), Mr Knut Henze (Gen.Director, Steuerberaterkammer) and Mr Todor Tabakov (Bulgarian Federation of tax consultants) were speaking during the 1st day of the conference. Mr Koller and Mr Henze also addressed the conference audience on the 2nd day.

For more details please contact POFEE: pofee@otenet.gr Tel. +3021008253445

Mr Deligiannis, Mr Henze, Mr Koller, Mr Panidis, Mrs Gaousi , Mr Vassilopoulos

The Chamber of Tax Advisers of Russia organized on December 12 a Nationwide Conference in Moscow. Within the framework of this event Ing. Jiri Nekovar, CFE Vice-President, held a presentation about the CFE.

The CFE was organising the conference “The Tax Adviser profession: ownership and cooperation - How much regulation is needed?” on Wednesday 26 November 2008. The intention of the conference was to reflect on how regulations on the tax adviser profession are pervading the profession particularly as regards of ownership and cooperation. The Conference contained two sessions focusing upon “Risks of external ownership and regulatory responses; multidisciplinary activities under the EU Directive on Services” and “The pervasiveness of European Community Law”“.

Presentations:

Russell Wallman, Director of Government Relations, The Law Society, London (EN)

 
Sophie Maletras, European Commission, DG Internal Market, Brussels (EN) 

Hans Gilliams, Partner, Eubelius, Brussels (EN)  

Philippe Léger, Former Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, Paris (FR)

  Hans Gilliams, Russell Wallman, Sophie Maletras, Philippe Léger and Henk Koller, moderator of the CFE Professional Affairs Conference and Chairman of the CFE Professional Affairs Committee

Videorecording of the event:

Panel 1 + Panel 2 + Discussions

For more pictures from the event click here.

The Romanian Chamber of Fiscal Consultants organized on November 4, 2008, in Bucharest, an International Seminar on “The Tax Consultant profession against the European background”.

The future CFE President, Stephen Coleclough, was invited to speak about “The Confédération Fiscale Européenne (CFE) and its role in organising fiscal consultancy in Europe”.
For more detailed information please see Mr Coleclough’s presentation.

The topics to be considered and discussed are:

• Location and migration of holding companies
• New interest deduction rules
• The VAT package - planning for 1 January 2010
• Loss relief carry forwards and effective corporate tax rates