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WU Global Tax Policy Center
Current & Future Projects
WU GLOBAL TAX POLICY CENTER
The WU Global Tax Policy Center (WU GTPC) is an integrated part of the Institute for
Austrian and International Tax Law. Following its inception in 2012, the WU GTPC, headed
up by Prof. Jeffrey Owens, has continued in its aim to become one of the leading think tanks
on the interface between tax policy, tax administration and tax law in today’s global economy. All the GTPC events bring together tax policy makers, tax administrators, tax practitioners as well as researchers from around the globe. The Center provides a forum for discussions on tax policy formulation and implementation, drawing upon the experiences of developed and developing countries and economies in transition.
A brief summary of The WU Global Tax Policy Center’s current and future projects follows.
Revised 07.09.15
Who‘s Who
Summary
WU Global Tax Policy Center
The project will identify links between corruption, money laundering and tax crimes in Africa. It will promote the concepts of
good tax governance and the importance to economic development of a tax system that is transparent and free of corruption.
It will explore how law enforcement agencies and tax authorities can best cooperate to counter corruption and bribery.
Rick McDonell
Objectives
Michael Lang
- Project Director
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Jeffrey Owens
- Project Director
- Project Director
Riel Franzsen
- Project Director
African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria
To identify and mobilize stakeholders in national tax administrations, other law enforcement agencies and the private sector.
To set out a research agenda
Jonathan
Leigh Pemberton—Senior Consultant
Former Lead Member of the FTA Secretariat
Jude Amos
- Project Manager
WU Global Tax Policy Center
Alicja Majdanska - Research Associate
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Bernd Schlenther - Research Associate
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Maryte Somare
- Project Associate
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Romina Mattassini - Project Assistant
WU Global Tax Policy Center
Upcoming Events
1 & 2 October, 2015: Conference
Partners
WU Global Tax Policy Center (GTPC)
[email protected]
African Tax Institute (ATI)
[email protected]
To draft model national legislation and to explore how international agreements relating to exchange of information can be
adapted to the situation in the focus countries and to strengthen country specific anti-avoidance rules.
To improve the effectiveness of tax administrations’ efforts to
secure good tax compliance from local and multinational companies, through audit programs and other means, and to foster
better cross-border cooperation between tax authorities.
To build up institutional capacity in African countries and ensure sustainability by creating a network of “ambassadors” in
key institutions in Africa who will be able to disseminate and
promote best practice for tax authorities in combating corruption.
To raise awareness of the vital role tax administrations can play
in countering all forms of illicit activities.
Project Timeline
The project will have three phases:
Development and Research 2015: This phase will identify work
already done elsewhere, see where the gaps are, identify key
players, set up a research agenda for the whole duration of the
project and prepare the groundwork for the next two phases.
Implementation 2016-2017: In this phase, the research will be
focused on national legislation, operation of treaties, developing model legislation and treaty language and best practice
manuals, leading to proposals and country specific recommendations. Research work and input from independent consultants will be discussed at conferences and training events. Dissemination of the work will make sure that project coverage is
not limited to the officials physically attending the project
events.
Transition 2017: This phase will focus on how African based
institutions can take forward the work onto a sustainable basis.
Tax and Good Governance
Retiring Head of FATF
Who‘s Who
- Project Director
Jeffrey Owens
- Project Director
Oliver Günther
- Research Associate
Jasmin Kollman
- Research Associate
Li Na
- Reserach Associate
Bristar M. Cao
- CUFE
Yansheng Zhu
- Xiamen University
Tax and Governance: China
Creating Fair Market Conditions
The long-standing Austro-Chinese Tax Research Network
has led to intensive discussions on European and Chinese
tax policy, which demonstrates the importance of research
and teaching in the area of international tax law with a special focus on Chinese and European business relationships.
In the course of the research projects, as well as the numerous conferences, workshops and lectures, new research
areas of particular importance for Sino-European relations
have been identified. During the latest events the most interesting ideas for future projects were reviewed. In light of
recent developments, such as the planned update of the
OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital, the
OECD “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” (BEPS) project, the
OECD work on tax and crime and the OECD work on exchange of information, it was concluded that the research
cooperation within the established Austro-Chinese Tax Research Network should be updated and intensified by conducting a research project on “Tax and Governance”.
The main purpose of the project will be to identify links between different types of illicit financial flows (money laundering, corruption, trade mispricing or tax evasion) and tax
systems. Moreover, the project will also explore the reasons
for a confrontational relationship between tax administrations and multinationals. There will be pinpointed how China can learn from the OECD proposals and the European
legislation in the fields of exchange of information and on
enforcement of tax claims. Thus, international tax legislation and regulations, which are targeted at improving the
effectiveness of controls and audits of local and multinational companies carried out by tax administrations, will be examined. Additionally, tax treaty provisions aimed at removing barriers to better tax compliance with multinational
companies will be proposed.
Tax & Governance: China - Creating Fair Market Conditions
Michael Lang
China – WU Tax Summit Dialogue
Who‘s Who
Michael Lang
- Project Director
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Jeffrey Owens
On January 19-20, a workshop on the topic Use of Arbitration
in Taxation was held in Vienna at the WU (Vienna University of
Economics and Business).
- Project Director
WU Global Tax Policy Center
Alexander Rust
Summary
- Project Consultant
During the workshops, Use of Arbitration in Taxation was discussed from the perspective of government and business.
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
- Project Consultant
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Raffaele Petruzzi - Project Consultant
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Alfred Storck
This is the first in a series of workshops and conferences and
the aim is to produce high quality and cutting edge research
that will move forward the discussions on mandatory arbitration, addressing many of the conceptual and practical concerns
that non-OECD countries have raised. This program is intended
to provide input into the EU, OECD and UN work in this area.
- Project Consultant
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Laura Turcan
- Research Associate
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Jasmin Kollman
- Research Associate
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
The workshop in January brought together an impressive group
of experts in this field who examined the different technical
issues. Together with these distinguished academics, policy
makers from bodies such as the OECD, UN and the EU Commission - as well as practitioners and government representatives
from all over the world—participated in these discussions.
Alicja Majdanska - Research Associate
Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law
Kristina Pegg
- Project Coordinator
WU Global Tax Policy Center
Upcoming events
12-13 October, 2015: Conference
One of the aims of this program is to prevent unresolved tax
disputes from becoming a significant barrier to cross border
investment.
The next conference, “International arbitration in Tax Matters:
The Lead Up to the G20 and UN Meetings” will be held on 1213 October 2015. This conference has 7 sessions.
International Arbitration
Claus Staringer
Who‘s Who
Jeffrey Owens
- Project Director
Jonathan
Leigh Pemberton - Project Director
Summary
Recent years have seen an unprecedented public interest in
the ways in which MNEs and tax administrations approach the
issue of transfer pricing. Today, more than 80 countries have
Raffaele Petruzzi - Project Consultant
Alfred Storck
- Project Consultant
Hafiz Choudhury
- Project Consultant
Joe Andrus
- Project Consultant
Kristina Pegg
- Project Coordinator
in place detailed transfer pricing legislation, backed-up by reporting requirements. International organizations such as the
OECD, World Bank, UN and EU have put in place new reporting standards which will require a major compliance effort
by companies and which will require that tax administrations
agement. MNEs will be required to provide unprecedented
standardized information both in the form of country-bycountry reports and in the form of the master transfer pricing
TOPICS FROM SEMINAR IN
APRIL 2015
Recent Developments in Reporting
Requirements
Understanding Business Tax Infrastructure
and Challenges Related to Country by
Country Reporting
files, which will be complemented by informational provided
locally.
The aim of this program is to bring together all of the major
Understanding the Challenges and Potential stakeholders to build a shared awareness of tax technology
for Developing and Emerging Economies
capabilities to meet some of the information reporting reIssues and Challenges Facing Tax
quirements; particular emphasis will be placed upon how LDC
Administrations and Taxpayers
Options for the Future: an integrated
technical platform?
Next Steps:
Taking the Debate Forward
can access the newly available information. This first meeting
is seen as the start of an ongoing 3 year project.
Upcoming Events
On 13-14 April 2015, a “by-invitation-only” seminar on
February 9-10, 2016: Conference
“Operating Transfer Pricing Rules in the New Transparent
Environment: Exploiting the Potential of New Technologies”
was held at the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. This seminar was organized by the WU Global Tax Policy
Center and brought together academics, government representatives, business, international organizations and service
providers.
The next Tax & Technology Conference
will take place on:
09-10 February, 2016
Tax & Technology
rethink the ways they use such information in their risk man-
Who‘s Who
Jeffrey Owens
- Project Director
Jonathan
Leigh Pemberton - Project Director
- Project Consultant
Lynne Oats
- Project Partner
Jasmin Kollman
- Research Associate
This project will examine the legal, administrative and political constraints in getting more countries to adopt a relationship between tax administrations and MNEs which is
based on trust, openness and constructive dialogue.
It will examine why this is the case and how some countries
have managed to overcome these constraints and what can
Maryte Somare
- Research Associate
be learned from their experience.
Alicja Majdanska - Research Associate
Particular attention will be paid to less developed countries
and how they could benefit from a cooperative compliance
approach, including how to deal with BEPS related issues.
Partners
Tax Administration Research Centre
(TARC) University of Exeter
The research will be backed up by a number of pilot studies
in Africa and Asia.
This project will bring together groups of Researchers from
all over the world, Government, MNEs and Representatives
Upcoming Events:
28 September 2015: 1st Meeting
Cooperative
compliance
from International Organizations.
Cooperative Compliance
Theo Poolen
Summary
Summary
Who‘s Who
Jeffrey Owens
- Project Director
The extractive industries (oil, gas & mining) play a
critical role in the development of a country’s natural
- Project Consultant
resources, which can bring significant benefits to the
host country and potential opportunities or risks for
Martin Zagler
- Project Consultant
Chris Sanger
- Project Consultant
Li Na
- Research Associate
Laura Turcan
- Research Associate
the extractive industry company. Although there has
been considerable research on the subject of international tax issues related to the extractives industry,
the GTPC has decided it can make a real contribution
and has therefore decided to launch a new project
called “taxation and the extractives” which is led by
Jeffrey Owens and Alexander Rust.
Viktoria Wöhrer - Research Associate
Kristina Pegg
- Project Coordinator
The main goal of the taxation and extractives project
is to support the UN’s work in this area with the Institute’s expertise in this field. It involves the preparation of working papers on the topic, and participation
in the work of the Subcommittee on Extractive Industries Taxation Issues for Developing Countries. Currently, the focus is on contributing towards the Subcommittee’s deliberations on the specific tax treaty
issues that arise in the oil and gas industry, contributing to the work on VAT and the Tax aspects of decommissioning. Potential seminars and conferences
would follow and research groups are currently being
formed.
Taxation and the Extractives
Alexander Rust
PREVIOUS GUESTS & TOPICS
The WU Global Tax Policy Center is delighted to
David Rosenbloom
Prospects for US Tax Reform
inform you about our popular event called,
David A. Harnett
The New Politics of Tax Administration
“Fire Side Chats"
Vieri Ceriani
Promoting growth-friendly
Tax Policies in the EU and beyond
In these events, Prof Jeffrey Owens and leading
Xiong Wei/Yansheng Zhu/Bristar Cao
Chinese Perspective of Global and Domestic Tax Policy issues
Michael Sell
Emerging International Tax Policy Issues in a
post BEPS world
Rick McDonell
Tax and Crime: Is there a Middle Ground
for Cooperation?
Walter Hellerstein
The Digital Economy: A New Opportunity
to Reconsider Some Basic Tax Concepts
which are currently preoccupying governments,
business and civil society.
These Fire Side Chats enable a wide range of people to participate in policy debates providing input from their various fields of interest. The
“chats” have a live studio audience and are also
broadcast online. The one and half hour informal
discussions focus on topics which are not too
Eric Zolt
Inequality & Taxation
technical but which are controversial!
Pascal Saint-Amans
Beyond BEPS:
The OECD’s Wider Tax Agenda
The audience is encouraged to put questions to
Richard Stern
Is Tax a Pillar for Development?
the speakers during each round and our virtual
Reuven Avi-Yonah
Can Income Tax Survive Globalization
audience post questions via the internet as well.
UPCOMING GUESTS & TOPICS
The Fire Side Chats have become a successful and
Philip Baker & Nina Olson
enjoyable event which we all look forward to and
01 October, 2015
we hope that you will join us.
Protecting Taxpayers’ Rights
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE GTPC, CONTACT
Dr. Jude Thaddeus Amos
Project Manager
[email protected]
Fire Side Chats
Michael Lennard
Giving Developing Countries a Voice
in the International Tax Debate
players in the field of tax policy discuss issues