Taxand around the world

Taxand members regularly attend the world's major tax and financial conferences, symposia and other events as well as coming together with clients at our annual global conference. Find out more about this and where we'll be at events regionally and locally here.

Taxand 2010 Global Conference > A New Era in Tax Planning
Click here for the delegate pack

The opening plenary session of Taxand’s Global Conference 2010 outlined Taxand’s firm belief that the industry is facing a new era in tax planning. Good tax governance is a must as governments worldwide look to tax to claw-back monumental deficits. The rise in scrutiny and its implications for multinationals was a recurring theme as Taxanders from around the world presented a global view of the key tax issues facing clients today and in the future.

Hosted by Luther, Taxand Germany, this year's Taxand Global Conference took place at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin, from the 14th to the 16th April. Over 125 global Taxand clients attended alongside 250 Taxanders, to present and participate in a range of sessions focused on how to handle complex tax issues as we move into a new age of cooperation and transparency.

Key pointers from the conference included:

• follow 2 test levels for your tax planning: economic substance and business purpose
• tax mitigation is a duty
• avoid more than ever black listed countries
• take a regional / jurisdictional approach as one-size fits all cannot work
• make sure your internal tax governance procedures are robust
• focus on enhancing your relationships with the tax authorities
• always think long term when undertaking tax planning
• understand how to manage indirect tax risk and maximise opportunity
• seek to identify the operational and technological root causes of VAT compliance problems and fix them
• define the business case and direction to take vis-a-vis indirect taxes
• transfer pricing planning is essential to enhance the bottom line
• transfer pricing delivers short and long term benefits as long as there is business motive
• don’t worry about transfer pricing disputes as provided there is adequate documentation, technical and legal grounds, they can be defended
• how to strengthen the balance sheet through the waiver of debts; debt for equity swaps and debt acquisition
• how to maximise the deductibility of financing costs
• how to optimise NOLs in an M&A context

Anecdotes and case studies were also shared to help clients picture how to apply Taxand's experience to their businesses. Dr. Ralph Solveen delivered a stirring keynote speech assessing the soaring public debt and questioning whether or not inflation is around the corner.

All of the materials are downloadable here.

Representatives from the International Tax Review -  the only truly global publication dedicated to technical tax news - also attended the event to present some of the 20 awards Taxand won in 2009, recognising the quality of our international tax advice in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Client feedback from the event has been excellent and many exceptional travel stories by clients and Taxanders alike have been shared as delegates fought the volcanic ash cloud emanating from Iceland to get home. This year’s Taxand global conference will not be forgotten in a hurry as tax issues continue to be hot in the face of scrutiny and travel stories reach unimaginable levels of absurdity!

The 2011 Taxand Global Conference will be held in Paris. Watch this space for further details.

To pick up your conference pointers, review the full presentations and for Taxander contact details select the purple links to download what you seek:

Plenary Session I - Tax Planning and its Limits in the Current Climate
Plenary Session II - The Impact of Indirect Tax Change Worldwide
Plenary Session III - Using Transfer Pricing to Plan Ahead
Keynote Speech - Increase in Public Debt - Is Inflation around the Corner?
Plenary Session IV - M&A Structuring in a Challenging Environment
Client Panel Discussion - How New Political Pressure is Affecting Multinationals' Tax Strategies

Full delegate pack
View all presentations, case studies and speaker details here.

Conference agenda
Revisit the conference agenda and review the synopses for each plenary session here.
Bespoke client meetings were also arranged throughout the conference to discuss specific areas and jurisdictions of interest. Download the full Taxand and client meeting agenda here.

Welcome presentation
Ulrich Siegemund: Host & head of Tax of Luther, Taxand Germany. Our host welcomed nearly 400 delegates to our tenth annual global conference and played the Taxand film sharing our story and Vision for the future in the year of our fifth birthday: 'Our Taxand Story.' 

Plenary Session I –  Tax Planning and its Limits in the Current Climate
Chair: Ricardo Gómez, Spain
Mukesh Butani, India; Ernie Perez, US; Olivier Vergniolle, France
Helping you understand the current framework of anti-abuse measures in place in key jurisdictions; hot topics for tax inspectors and the Courts; and providing best practice guidance as well as recommendations to achieving tax transparency.

Plenary Session II – The Impact of Indirect Tax Change Worldwide
Chair: Laurent Grencon, Luxemburg
Rajeev Dimri, India; Henk Hop, Belgium; Mark McCormick, US
For insights into the latest indirect tax changes in Europe, Asia and the Americas and their implications for multinationals in addition to the key considerations for the future to achieve compliance and prepare for further VAT hikes.
Find out more about our Taxand global indirect tax team and services here.

Plenary Session III – Using Transfer Pricing to Plan Ahead
Chair: Antoine Glaize, France
Mukesh Butani, India; Manuel Candal, Venezuela; Ramon Lopez de Haro, Spain; Dale Hill, Canada; Shiv Mahalingham, UK, Mike Murphy, US, Friedhelm Stock, Germany; Dennis Xu, China
Presenting the main transfer pricing techniques across 10 jurisdictions; allaying fears re transfer pricing disputes and how to use transfer pricing to improve your bottom line.
Find out more about our Taxand global transfer pricing tax team and services here.

Keynote Speech – Increase in Public Debt - Is Inflation around the Corner?
Dr. Ralph Solveen, Dep. Head of Economic Research, Commerzbank AG
For economic research reviewing rising public debt and the threat of inflation which could affect us all.

Plenary Session IV – M&A Structuring in a Challenging Environment
Dealing with the tax challenges derived from refinancing pre-crisis high priced operations; analysing new tax trends in connection with the deduction of financing costs and optimising tax losses in an acquisition are discussed in this session, as well as the latest issues and opportunities to consider in the countries where M&A deals are increasing.
Chair: Albert Collado, Spain
Denis Andres, France; Ian Fleming, UK; Martin Williams, USA
Find out more about Taxand global transaction tax team and services here.

Client Panel Discussion – How New Political Pressure is Affecting Multinationals' Tax Strategies
Three Taxand global clients joined Taxand moderators to discuss how multinationals are reviewing tax strategies across the globe in face of mounting political pressure. The changing role of the tax function; the need to cooperate further with authorities at the same time as generating cash within the business; the firm placement of tax on the Board agenda as governance increases and the difficulty of keeping up with ever-changing legislation worldwide were some of the issues covered.

Key comments were issued to the media over the two days of the conference visit www.taxand.com/media to find out more.

General Queries
If you would like to know more about any of these topics please contact our Taxand speakers or your nearest Taxand advisor. If you would like to be considered for an exclusive invitation to our global conference in Paris next year or have any general queries your Taxand contact is:

Abigail Tarren
T. +44 20 7715 5243
E. atarren@taxand.com

For the Taxand Global Conference 2009 > Cash is King delegate pack please click here.

Taxand Global Conference 2009 > Cash is King
Click here for the delegate pack

In his keynote speech at the Taxand 2009 Global Conference, Tony Alvarez advised delegates that in the current economic climate,"Cash Is King".  This perspective was a recurring theme as Taxanders from around the world presented a global view of the key tax issues facing multinational clients today and in the future.

Hosted by Alvarez and Marsal Taxand LLC, Taxand's US member, this year's Taxand Global Conference took place at The Westin Diplomat Hotel in Miami, Florida from the 18th to the 20th February. Over 200 Taxand delegates attended alongside more than 60 global Taxand clients to deliver and contribute to a wealth of sessions focussed on making the most of the economic downturn.

Key pointers from the conference included how to:

• help our clients generate more cash by managing tax effective supply chain management
• leverage sophisticated advice to deliver tax efficient operations
• prepare for the impact of the OECD business restructuring paper
• structure acquisitions in a cash efficient manner
• identify refund opportunities
• realise value from depreciating real estate through distressed asset investment or divestment
• organise the model tax department of the future
• restructure the debt of your global operations
• leverage from changes anticipated in the tax audit arena
• achieve global tax efficiencies through benefiting from new contract manufacturing regulations

Anecdotes, case studies and surveys carried out across Taxand's 47 member countries were also shared to help clients picture how to apply Taxand's experience to their businesses. All of the materials are downloadable here.

Representatives from the International Tax Review, an influential Euromoney publication, also attended the event to present three newcomer awards given in 2008, recognising the quality of our international tax advice in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Client feedback from the event has been outstanding. One particular client comment really hit home:

                "I would like to thank you [Taxand] on behalf of all of the tax professionals
                 in industry for providing us with an alternative for high quality tax advice".

The 2010 Taxand Global Conference will be held in Berlin. Watch this space for further details.

Delegate Pack 

To pick up your conference pointers, review the full findings of worldwide surveys, view case studies presented on the day and for Taxander contact details select the purple words to download what you seek:

Plenary Session I - Supply Chain Management: Achieving Tax Efficiencies
Plenary Session II - Getting The Deal Done: A Global Guide to Transaction Tax Considerations
Keynote Speech - The Global Economic Downturn
Plenary Session III - Real Estate Tax: Profiting in a Crisis
Plenary Session IV - Emerging Global Tax Issues: A Look Ahead
Plenary Session V - New Contract Manufacturing Regulations: A gentle breeze blowing in the right direction

Full delegate pack
View all presentations, case studies and speaker details here.

Agenda
Revisit the agenda and review the synopses for each plenary session here. 

Welcome presentation
Bob Lowe: Host & CEO of Alvarez & Marsal Taxand LLC, Taxand US
For the conference context, the Taxand story and more ...

Plenary Session I - Supply Chain Management: Achieving Tax Efficiencies
Chair: Shiv Mahalingham, UK
Mike Murphy, US; Laurent Grençon, Luxembourg; Albert Liguori, US; Ramon Lopez de Haro, Spain; Mukesh Butani, India
How to help our clients generate more cash by managing tax effective supply chain management; instigate a repatriation strategy; learn more about the implications of US cost sharing regulations; prepare for the impact of the OECD business restructuring paper and more including detailed case studies.
Find out more about our Taxand global transfer pricing and indirect tax teams and services here.

Plenary Session II - Getting The Deal Done: A Global Guide to Transaction Tax Considerations
Chair: Kevin Hindley, UK
Denis Andres, France; Martin Williams, US; Dennis Xu, China
How to structure acquisitions in a cash efficient manner; restructure financing and planning arrangements to yield efficiencies and collect your tax due diligence check list to guide you through the key considerations surrounding all of your transactions.
Find out more about our Taxand global transaction tax services here and locate your nearest Taxand transaction tax advisor here.  

Keynote Speech - The Global Economic Downturn
Tony Alvarez II, Alvarez & Marsal LLC
An inspiring speech covering how we got to today's economic reality and its implications. Put simply, in line with our conference theme, Cash is King. Liquidity is determining the amount of time and options companies have to acquire, restructure and improve operating performance. "He who has the gold, makes the rules". Never was it truer than in this business environment. And it will get worse before it gets better. But buying opportunities will exist and the economic cycle will eventually move to good times. In the meantime Taxand is positioned to provide the value that its clients seek.

Plenary Session III - Real Estate Tax: Profiting in a Crisis
Chair: Keith O'Donnell, Luxembourg
Pär Sundberg, Sweden; Vince Imerti, Canada; Pedro Saavedra, Spain; Frank Walker, US
How to achieve value from depreciating real estate through distressed asset investment or divestment; take advantage of historically low valuations; structure your investments to lower tax levels and review anecdotes from our Taxand global real estate tax team.
Find our more about our Taxand global real estate tax services here and locate your nearest Taxand real estate tax advisor here.

Plenary Session IV - Emerging Global Tax Issues: A Look Ahead
Chair: Tim Wach, Canada
Richard Baxter, UK; Pedro Fernandez, Spain; Mukesh Butani, India
How to organise the model tax department of the future; restructure restructure the debt of your global operations and leverage from changes anticipated in the tax audit arena. Also provided exclusively here, our Taxand global debt restructuring survey findings delivering a country by country view of the key issues surrounding the application of income tax, indirect tax and stamp in a debt restructuring context.

Plenary Session V - New Contract Manufacturing Regulations: A gentle breeze blowing in the right direction
Chair: Ernie Perez, US
Juan Carlos Ferrucho, US
How to achieve global tax efficiencies through benefiting from new contract manufacturing regulations. Practical guidelines for US multinationals including an overview of US taxation of controlled foreign corporations; new non-physical definition of manufacturing; new branch rules and examples of the application of the new rules.

Client Panel Discussion
Four Taxand global clients joined two Taxand moderators - Frédéric Donnedieu de Vabres, Taxand Chairman and Bob Lowe, US - to discuss the key challenges and opportunities multinationals face today and in particular their expectations from tax advisors and client service requirements. This discussion was an exclusive feature of the day for attendees.

General Queries
If you would like to know more about any of these topics please contact our Taxand speakers or your nearest Taxand advisor. If you would like to be considered for an exclusive invitation to our global conference in Berlin next year or have any general queries your Taxand contact is:

Abigail Tarren
T. +44 20 7715 5243
E. atarren@taxand.com