They say ... all good things have to come to an end. Well so is the case with the IFA Rio Congress, which has seen 4 days of high quality technical deliberations on the burning issues confronting the tax world, with panelists determined to search for "street lights" rather than be content with walking through a dark alley!
The highlight on the last day of technical sessions at Rio Congress - the session on Recent Developments in International Taxation, which is a regular fixture at every Congress. The panelists discussed the impact of transparency on domestic legislations following BEPS. This Panel traced some of the important trends in Latin America region (LATAM) relating to automatic exchange of information (AEOI).
Click here to read our summary of the final day's proceedings at Rio Congress.
When the Multilateral Instrument was signed on June 7 earlier this year in Paris by 65 countries, it was hailed as a historic moment for the tax world.. one for ages! Now, with the excitement behind us, the painstaking work begins ... to cross the 'Ts' and dot the 'Is.' A star studded panel led by OECD Tax Policy Director Pascal Saint -Amans & UK Treasury's Mike Williams deliberated over the MLI ponderables and sought to answer the plethora of incisive questions thrown up by the panel.
Starbucks, Apple, Amazon, Google etc. are the ones courtesy whom the 'tax morality' or 'fair tax' debate started a few years ago. The noise has now reached a crescendo and reached the IFA shores, where it saw an intense, if not an heated discussion yesterday afternoon.
Click here to read our summary of the high quality technical deliberations on Day 3 of the IFA Rio Congress.
If you weren't among the lucky 1500 tax professionals at Rio yesterday, you certainly missed a couple of riveting panel discussions on the future of Transfer Pricing and APA regimes. An added attraction to the already interesting panel discussions - presence of OECD Transfer Pricing Division Head Mr. Jefferson Vanderwolk and European Commission representative Mr. Max Lienemeyer on the panels.
The panel on Future of Transfer Pricing delved into several key TP issues from intangibles to value creation and from BEPS to formulary apportionment and lastly the disputes resolution...
Click here to read our summary of the technical discussions at Rio Congress on Tuesday.
IFA President Porus Kaka mentioned during his inaugural address that Rio 2017 is the first IFA Congress wherein BEPS would be discussed as a full scientific topic. The first plenary session for the IFA Congress began on Monday with the topic of “Assessing BEPS: Origins, Standards and Responses”. The current buzz word in the world of international taxation is “AEOI” i.e. Automatic Exchange of Information, and Seminar B of the day gave updates on the work being done by OECD Global Forum...
Click here the session-wise summary of proceedings on Day 1 at the IFA Congress 2017.
Plenary Session B : The future of transfer pricing
This is a subject which is going to create huge controversies because BEPS Action Plans 8, 9, 10 & 13 have created a major shift in thinking on how Transfer Pricing should be resolved. Interestingly, not even 50% of the developing countries have joined the transfer pricing program so far. The Revenue authorities' capabilities in these countries are inadequate and all of a sudden, this new change, which is a paradigm shift, will be difficult to digest.
Click here to read Mr. Ostwal's take on the impact BEPS Action Plans would have on transfer pricing issues in the countries.
Click here to read Mr. Ostwal's preview of Plenary Session A: Assessing BEPS: Origins, Standards and Responses
Foretold is forewarned... while previewing the Rio Congress, we did predict that if past is prologue, the Brazilians know how to put up a show! Even by those high standards, the Opening Ceremony of Rio Congress yesterday evening exceeded all expectations!
The songs & dances and the acrobatics.. in short on display was the rich Brazilian culture that mesmerised the packed auditorium at the Windsor Convention Centre...
Click here read all the details and view images from the spectacular opening ceremony at the Rio Congress.
It is with great pride that I welcome the delegates and Taxsutra readers to the 71st IFA Congress that opens in Rio on 27th August, 2017. With around 1500 participants expected, Rio will have perhaps the largest International Tax gathering in its history...
Click here to read IFA President Mr. Porus Kaka's Welcome Note for Congress delegates.
BEPS will occupy centre-stage at the 71st Congress of the International Fiscal Association starting at Rio de Janeiro. The first scientific session titled “Assessing BEPS: origins, standards and responses” will be discussed on Monday’s (August 28) plenary session. The background note to the panel states that it shall provide instigating comparative analysis of the implementation of BEPS in various regions...
Click here to read the key Highlights of 900 pages report on BEPS & Future of Transfer Pricing.