Indirect Tax Leaders · 2013-08-09 · INDIRECT TAX LEADERS | 2 Introduction International Tax...

Indirect TaxLeadersThe comprehensive guide to the world’s leadingindirect tax advisers

www.internationaltaxreview.com

SECOND EDITION

1 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERS

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Contents

2 Introduction and methodology3 Argentina5 Australia11 Austria14 Belgium22 Brazil36 Canada44 Chile45 China

Implementing VAT reform in China54 Cyprus54 Czech Republic55 Denmark61 Finland66 France71 Germany81 Greece82 Hong Kong83 India

No tax on export of services: Boon or bane?95 Ireland97 Israel98 Italy105 Japan108 Luxembourg110 Malta112 Mexico119 Netherlands125 New Zealand128 Norway131 Philippines134 Poland137 Portugal142 Romania143 Russia146 Singapore153 South Africa157 South Korea158 Spain167 Sweden171 Switzerland174 Turkey176 UAE177 UK

Missing trader intra-community fraud: Arebusinesses really prepared?

199 US

210 Index of firms

INDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 1


IntroductionInternational Tax Review launched its Indirect TaxLeaders guide last year in response to the growingimportance of indirect taxation. The publicationwas designed as a tool to help taxpayers identify theforemost specialists in this area of tax advice.

With falling corporate tax rates and revenues,governments are increasingly turning toVAT/GST to make up the shortfall. There is also agrowing emphasis on indirect tax to tackle specificproblems, such as carbon taxes to bring downemissions and financial transaction taxes to con-strain risky trades while clawing back money fromthe banks blamed for the crisis and given moneyfor their survival by their governments.

If anything, that trend has only accelerated inthe last year. Rates of VAT are rising across theworld, while new jurisdictions are introducing thetax – most significantly China, whose pilot pro-gramme is set to be rolled out nationwide in August. And more and more countries are intro-ducing carbon taxes

While taxpayers generally welcome the shift from direct to indirect taxation, it carries withit its own compliance costs and issues to navigate such as exemptions, reduced and zero rates,market distortions, place of taxation and measures to tackle fraud. And while companies areincreasingly paying attention to the complexities of indirect tax, only the biggest maintainsizeable specialised VAT/GST departments.

As a result of this, many companies will have to rely on external advisers to help them withtheir indirect tax affairs. And with this in mind, International Tax Review brings you the sec-ond edition of its Indirect Tax Leaders guide to help you chose the right adviser for the rightjob.

Salman Shaheen, Editor, International Tax Review

Methodology

Indirect Tax Leaders is a list of theleading indirect tax advisers in theworld.

Inclusion in the guide is basedon a minimum number of nomina-tions received. Besides the requirednumber of nominations, entrantsmust also possess (1) evidence ofoutstanding work in the last year;and (2) consistently positive feed-back from peers and clients. Firmsand individuals cannot pay to berecommended in Indirect TaxLeaders.



Carlos G. Iannucci is the Tax & Legal Managing Partner of theDeloitte member firm network in Latin America. He has morethan 25 years of experience in serving multinational and majorlocal companies. He has developed extensive experience in cor-porate and international tax issues, and also acts as lead tax part-ner for large consumer, manufacturing, and oil and gas industryclients.

He is a regular lecturer at business institutions, universitiesand professional entities in different tax matters, and is in chargeof the Tax subject at the Business Administration career of theArgentine Catholic University.

He also contributes to a number of specialized technicalpublications, and has been consistently listed among the leadingtax advisers in Argentina since 1998 in different market surveys(International Tax Review, Mondaq.)

Carlos is a Certified Public Accountant, graduated from theSchool of Economics, Argentine Catholic University, and is amember of the Argentine Fiscal Association and theInternational Fiscal Association.

Argentina

Carlos G Iannucci

Deloitte

Florida 234, 5th floorCiudad Autónoma de BuenosAires, C1005AAFArgentina

Tel: +54 11 4320 2736Email: [email protected]



Argentina

Martín BarreiroBaker & McKenzie SC...................................................................................................................................................

Joaquin KersmanBaker & McKenzie SC...................................................................................................................................................

Federico LlorenteBaker & McKenzie SC...................................................................................................................................................

Ruben MalvitanoErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Juan Pablo MennaBaker & McKenzie SC...................................................................................................................................................

Matias Olivero VilaBruchou, Fernández Madero & Lombardi – Taxand ...............................................................................................



Gary Funston leads the Melbourne Indirect Tax Practice ofDeloitte Australia.

He recently joined Deloitte after 25 years’ experience withother professional services firms, the last 13 as a partner withErnst & Young. He advises many of Australia’s leading corpo-rate and government clients in all aspects of indirect tax law,including matters that have been successfully litigated in theFederal Court of Australia. He is regularly sought out by theCorporate Tax Association to present to its members on GSTand other indirect tax matters, including at the 2013 CTA TaxConvention where he was the only external indirect tax advisorinvited to present.

Gary has a Bachelor of Commerce from MelbourneUniversity as well as an MBA from Melbourne Business School.He is a member of the Tax Institute, CPA Australia and an affil-iate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Gary has a reputation for providing practical and often inno-vative advice and solutions to clients and working with col-leagues from other service lines to deliver optimal, whole-of-firm solutions.

Australia

Gary Funston

Deloitte Australia

550 BourkeMelbourne 3000Australia




Dermot started his career in Indirect Taxes in the late 1970sand has worked in 5 countries across 3 continents in his 30 plusyears in the profession. He spent 12 years with the RevenueCommissioners in Ireland, where he was an Inspector of Taxes,and since joining KPMG in 1994 he has led teams in Ireland,Scotland, and England before moving to South Africa in late2006. After 5 great years in Johannesburg, his most recentmove (and he says hopefully last) was to accept an invitationfrom KPMG Australia at the end of 2011 to lead their NationalIndirect Tax practice.

With a team of 10 Partners and over 65 professional staff, histeam is the largest in Australia and well positioned to adviseclients across the Asia Pacific region. Dermot’s clients cover arange of sectors from Pharmaceuticals to Mining; Brewing toBanking; and Aviation to Property. He has focused on tax effi-cient supply chain management and in dispute resolution.

Dermot is a Fellow of the Institute of CharteredAccountants in Ireland and an Associate of the Institute ofTaxation in Ireland. He has lectured for the Taxation Instituteand published numerous articles on VAT/GST.

Indirect Tax is truly a global skill set as his career shows, and with the increasing reliance onit by Governments around the world, having an in-depth understanding of the commonalitiesand key differences of major regimes allows him to add real value to his clients businesses.

Dermot is married and has 3 children ranging in ages from 12 to 20; he is a keen golferand an avid supporter of Irish rugby – He has been known to enjoy the odd glass of wine,especially with friends.

Australia

Dermot Gaffney

KPMG in Australia

10 Shelley StreetSydney NSW 2000Australia

Tel: + 61 2 9455 9398Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Jon Graham is the partner in charge of the indirect tax practiceat Deloitte Australia, a team of approximately 70 dedicated indi-rect tax specialists, including eight partners.

Jon has 23 years’ experience advising on global value addedtax (VAT) and goods and services tax (GST) matters. He hasheld a variety of roles during his career, including VAT inspec-tor with UK Revenue & Customs, in-house VAT manager witha financial institution in London, and partner in charge ofDeloitte’s indirect tax practice in Scotland and NorthernIreland. In 1999, Jon was seconded to Australia for two years toassist clients with the implementation of the GST. He returnedpermanently to Australia in March 2006 and is based inDeloitte’s Sydney office.

Jon advises across many industry sectors, but remains arecognised expert and thought leader in the global financialservices sector. He advises on all aspects of GST/VAT planningand compliance, including retail and investment banks, generaland life insurance companies, fund managers, venture capitalbusinesses and providers to those sectors such as informationtechnology and telecommunications businesses.

Jon and his team have a reputation for providing innovative and practical solutions toclients in the field of indirect tax, including negotiating with the tax authorities at a seniorlevel. Jon is also very experienced in assisting clients with disputes through alternative disputeresolution and litigation.

Jon has a number of qualifications and memberships, including the Taxation Institute ofAustralia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, the UK Institute of Taxation andthe UK Association of Taxation Technicians. Jon is also listed as a tax expert in the 2011Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers.

Australia

Jon Graham

Deloitte Australia

Level 9, Grosvenor Place225 George StreetSydney NSW 2000Australia

Tel: +61 (0) 2 9322 7421Email:[email protected]: www.deloitte.com.au



Deborah is an Indirect Tax Partner with KPMG Australia basedin Sydney and has been with KPMG since May 2000. She is apassionate tax professional and brings multinational experienceto the practice, having previously worked for New Zealand’sInland Revenue Department and a New Zealand law firm,before joining KPMG.

As part of her involvement in KPMG’s Global Indirect Taxleadership team, she is currently focused on delivering globalindirect tax compliance solutions for KPMG’s clients in the AsiaPacific Region. Deborah was Regional Leader of KPMG’sGlobal Indirect Tax Services in the Asia Pacific Region from2009 – 2013.

Deborah provides practical GST assistance to clients in serv-ice-based industries, including advising a number of largeAustralian corporates and multi-nationals on a variety of GSTtechnical issues as well as broader business issues associated withcomplying with the relevant GST legislation. She leverages herexperience both in other jurisdictions and with other taxes suchas transfer pricing, and corporate tax to provide holistic globalsolutions.

She advises a number of clients in various industries on theGST implications of a variety of large commercial transactions, including IPOs, mergers &acquisitions and group restructuring.

Deborah has also led a number of GST assurance reviews to examine the GST technicalcorrectness of existing policies and procedures, and adherence to those policies and proce-dures. During the course of this work, Deborah has identified key areas of risk and opportu-nity for clients. Her work has involved designing approaches to enhance business processesto realize opportunities as well as minimize risks, drafting policy documents and providingtraining.

Australia

Deborah Jenkins

KPMG in Australia

10 Shelley StreetSydney, NSW 2000Australia

Tel: +61 2 9335 7323Fax: +61 424 161 760Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com.au



John Koutsogiannis is the partner in charge of the New SouthWales indirect tax practice of Deloitte Australia. His team com-prises approximately 30 indirect tax specialists, including fivepartners.

John is a recognised expert and thought leader in mattersrelated to government, cross-border transactions and real estate,as well as other industries. He advises clients on all aspects ofGST/VAT planning and compliance. He is regularly consultedby central agencies and the Australian Taxation Office on GSTtechnical matters.

John and his team have established a reputation for provid-ing innovative and practical indirect tax solutions to clients,including obtaining significant GST refunds through valueadded opportunities and negotiating such refunds with the taxauthorities at the most senior level. John is also experienced inproviding consultancy and expert services, assisting clients withdisputes.

John has a number of qualifications and memberships. Heregularly participates at seminars for the Institute of CharteredAccountants (ICAA), the Australian Society of CPAs and theTaxation Institute of Australia. He is a member of the GST sub-committees for both theICAAs and Property Council of Australia, where he actively debates GST matters related totechnical and compliance issues.

Australia

John Koutsogiannis

Deloitte Australia

Grosvenor Place225 George StreetSydney; 2000Australia

Tel: +61 2 9322 7419Email:[email protected]



Australia

Adrian AbbottPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Jonathan AckermanDLA Piper .......................................................................................................................................................................

Gary ChiertCorrs Taxand..................................................................................................................................................................

Peter KonidarisPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Amrit MacIntyreBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Craig MilnerCorrs Taxand..................................................................................................................................................................

Kevin O’RourkePwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Ross StittAllens Arthur Robinson................................................................................................................................................

Mark TafftErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Ross ThorpePwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Michelle TremainPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Patrick WalkerPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................



Christian Buergler is the leader of the Deloitte Austria IndirectTax and Customs Group, operating both in the Vienna and theSalzburg office. Christian joined Deloitte Austria in 1994 and isa certified Tax Advisor and Public Accountant with more than15 years of professional experience.

He specializes in indirect taxes (VAT law, custom duty law),mergers and acquisitions and tax due diligence. Christian hasprovided services for organizations doing business in variousindustries such as automotive and real estate, on national as wellas international levels.

Christian is a lecturer at the Academy for Chartered PublicAccountants and Tax Advisors at the Legal Academy in Vienna,and at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz. He has publishedarticles on indirect tax and is one of the editors of the AustrianVAT commentary. Furthermore, he is a member of the EUVAT-experts group.

Austria

Christian Buergler

Deloitte Austria

Vienna, Austria




Gerhard Gratzl has more than 20 years of experience in all areasof VAT. He has been with Deloitte Austria since 1988 and hasbeen a partner since 2003.

Gerhard leads a group of 20 people, located in Vienna. Histeam focuses on compliance work (monthly bookkeeping,reporting as well annual accounts and annual reports) and VATconsultancy services.

Gerhard advises international and global clients doing busi-ness in a wide variety of industries. His focus lies in manufactur-ing and consumer business, the real estate business (rental serv-ices, hotel business, real estate dealers) and the financial servic-es industry. His clients appreciate his expertise in tax audits andtax litigation.

Gerhard studied economics at the University of Economiesin Vienna, specializing in accounting and tax law. He earned hisMaster’s degree in business administration in 1995. He hasbeen a Certified Tax Advisor since 1997 and a CertifiedAustrian CPA since 2003.

His mother tongue is German and he is also fluent in English.

Austria

Gerhard Gratzl

Deloitte Austria

Renngasse 1 / Freyung1010 ViennaAustria

Tel: +43 (0)1 537 00 6800Email: [email protected]



Austria

Imke GerdesBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Ingrid RattingerErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................



Peter Ackerman is an indirect tax partner with KPMG inBelgium. He has specialized in Value Added Tax (VAT) consult-ing for over 23 years. As head of indirect taxes, he has practiceleadership responsibility for KPMG’s indirect tax practice inBelgium and represents Belgium within KPMG’s GlobalIndirect Tax Services Network. Peter has been involved in vari-ous assignments across a range of sectors. He has been involvedin engagements within KPMG globally with respect to cross-border VAT planning, due diligence and implementation proj-ects, mergers and acquisitions, commissionaire structures, trans-fer pricing and VAT compliance projects. Peter has worked oninternational projects focusing on risk management, the devel-opment and implementation of tax planning strategies and cashflow optimization across a range of industry sectors. He has sig-nificant experience working with European, US and Japanesemultinational clients in a variety of industries. He has deep tech-nical skills covering both Belgian and EU VAT and also hasextensive experience of working on transactions in otherEuropean countries.

Peter has published articles on a variety of issues in VAT. Heis a certified tax adviser and an active member of the exam com-mittee of the Belgian Institute of Tax Advisors. He is a frequent speaker on VAT issues andhas written articles on indirect taxes in both national and international professional journals.

Peter holds a law degree (University Gent) and a tax law degree (Fiscale HogeschoolBrussels).

Before joining KPMG in 1993, Peter was with a law firm and another tax consulting firm.

Belgium

Peter Ackerman

KPMG in Belgium

Avenue du Bourget 401130 BrusselsBelgium

Tel: +32 2 7083813Fax: +32 2 708 44 44Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.be



Thierry is a corporate tax partner in the Brussels office ofClifford Chance and a member of the firm’s international VATunit.

He specialises in tax law with a strong focus on real estateand the taxation issues of mergers and acquisitions. His scope oftax work includes corporate income tax, personal tax, VAT,international tax, fund structuring and obtaining tax rulingsaimed at reducing transfer tax or at optimising the VAT treat-ment. His work is supported by his excellent relationship withthe Belgian tax authorities.

Thierry’s clients include local and international real estatedevelopers, local and international investors, Belgian real estateinvestment trusts, private equity funds or ventures. He has spo-ken at various seminars and conferences dealing with the taxoptimisation of M&A transactions.

Thierry is a member of the International Fiscal Association,and a professor at the Maîtrise en Gestion Fiscale (ULB). Healso teaches at the Superieure Ecole des Sciences Fiscales(ESSF).

Belgium

Thierry Blockerye

Clifford Chance Brussels

Avenue Louise 65, Box 2 1050 Brussels Belgium

Tel: +32 2533 5061Email: [email protected]: www.cliffordchance.com



Jeroen Gobbin joined K law in Brussels in 2012. He has over15 years’ experience in indirect taxation in general and was untilOctober 2012 head of the Belgian tax practice as well as headof the DLA Piper international VAT group, serving clientsworldwide.

Legal 500 quotes “ (…) Jeroen Gobbin, who delivers an‘excellent service in VAT matters’, and focuses on indirect taxes,real estate tax and tax disputes.”

Jeroen advises clients on indirect taxation aspects, includingthose related to value added tax (VAT), registration and stampduties, in matters such as VAT structuring and optimization;Indirect tax structuring of real estate transactions; VAT aspectsof public-private partnerships, project financing and localauthorities issues; e-commerce (including aspects of the emis-sion and transactions with e-money, mobile remittance services,etc.); banking and insurance; trading and emission of CO2 emis-sion rights and credits.

He also advises on tax disputes with authorities, helpingclients find an optimal solution in both direct and indirect taxmatters. Administrative settlements and/or agreements areoften reached out of court, but, when necessary and appropri-ate, he defends clients’ interests in court.

Jeroen has published an article and prepared several seminars on the influence of thejurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in the field of VAT and promotional actionsfor companies

Jeroen has published an extensive article on the influence of the jurisprudence of theEuropean Court of Justice concerning the VAT treatment of the activities of holding compa-nies.

He has been involved in commenting on the first edition 2002 of the Belgian VAT Codeof the legal editors of Die Keure, and was involved in the preparing of the second edition of2006 and the third edition of 2008 as well.

He is one of the co-authors of the book Brownfields in Vlaanderen commenting upon thefiscal implications of the redevelopment of brown fields.

Belgium

Jeroen Gobbin

K law

Avenue du Bourget 401130 BrusselsBelgium

Tel: +32 2 708 3767Fax: +32 2 708 44 99Email: [email protected]: www.klaw.be



Fernand Rutten is the Deloitte Global Customs and GlobalTrade Leader and Managing Partner of the Customs and GlobalTrade service line of Deloitte Belgium.

Fernand has over 18 years of experience in indirect tax, witha strong focus on customs, excises and global trade matters.Before becoming a consultant, he worked as a customs officialwith the Dutch customs authorities dealing with several cus-toms and global trade matters, issuing rulings on customs valu-ation and customs economic procedures. Some 16 years ago,Fernand became a customs and global trade consultant. He fur-ther specialized in a variety of customs and global trade mattersand built out a specialized group of experts serving clients inboth the public and private sectors in business model optimiza-tion, automation, compliance, export controls, excises, litiga-tion, valuation, origin, classification, and data analytics. In lead-ing the Belgian customs and global trade service line, Fernandhas advised clients on customs and global trade matters in manydomains.

In May 2010, he became the Global Leader for Customs &Global Trade.

For six years, Fernand was a lecturer at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in cus-toms and international trade. He also lectured for three years at the University of Antwerp incustoms and international trade. In addition, Fernand is as a regular speaker, has writtenmany articles on customs and global trade and has authored of a number of books on cus-toms and global trade matters.

Fernand has a law degree (University of Leiden, the Netherlands) with specialization inCustoms, International trade, Excises and VAT. He is a member of the Belgian Institute ofTax Advisors.

Belgium

Fernand Rutten

Deloitte Belgium

Berkenlaan 6DiegemBrussels 1831Belgium

Tel: +32 2 600 6606Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Danny Stas joined Laga in January 2012. He started his careeras a VAT consultant with Arthur Andersen, later working as apartner at Tiberghien. He is a tax lawyer specialised in VAT, inparticular with respect to real estate and financial transactions,as well as eco taxes and contributions. As Laga partner, Dannyfocuses on VAT consulting for Belgian clients in the private andpublic sectors and the broad corporate market at national andinternational levels.

Danny earned a degree in law from KUL, Leven (1994) anda degree in tax and accounting from Vlerick, RUG (1995). Hehas authored several books and articles discussing VAT relatedmatters.

Belgium

Danny Stas

Laga

Berkenlaan 8a1831 Brussels / DiegemBelgium

Tel: + 32 2 800 70 11Email: [email protected]



Johan Van der Paal is an Indirect Tax Partner with DeloitteBelgium, based in Brussels. He heads up the Financial ServicesTax group of Deloitte Belgium.

Johan has 19 years of experience as an advisor in indirecttaxes, with a focus on VAT. He developed a focus on tax mat-ters affecting the financial services and energy and utilitiesindustries. He assists clients on a variety of Belgian and interna-tional indirect tax matters, both in the framework of the expan-sion of multinational groups or in a mergers and acquisitionscontext. He is coordinating global or regional indirect tax workfor a series of European-based multinationals.

In the financial services industry, Johan’s work includes set-ting up VAT efficient group structures and cost sharing arrange-ments, both on Belgian and cross border levels. He negotiateda number of innovative arrangements with the Belgian taxauthorities. His deep knowledge of the energy sector, both inBelgium and Europe, has allowed Johan and his team to helpclients develop systems and processes to manage the differentindirect taxes affecting their product flows, combining VAT,excise and environmental tax reporting.

Johan is a regular speaker at internal and external seminars. He is chief editor of the onlyperiodical on the Belgian market dedicated to VAT, the BTW-Brief / La Lettre TVA. He isregularly consulted by professional federations in Belgium on legislative initiatives.

Johan has a law degree from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven as well as a Master’s degreein tax management from the Vlerick Management School.

Johan is a member of the Belgian Institute for Accountants and Tax Consultants (IAB),where he also sits on the Continued Education Commission.

Belgium

Johan Van der Paal

Deloitte Belgium





Piet Vandendriessche is the Managing Partner of DeloitteBelgium Tax & Legal, and the EMEA Regional Tax & LegalManaging Director. He is a member of the Deloitte Belgiumand Global Tax & Legal executive teams. Piet is also a memberof the Belgian Institute of Tax Advisors, the Belgian branch ofIFA, and a member of the VAT Expert Group at the EuropeanCommission.

Piet has over 23 years of experience in international tax mat-ters with a strong focus on indirect taxes. He has specialized inindirect taxes for 18 years, and has extensive knowledge in allareas of indirect tax, including global outsourcing, supply chain,tax management consulting, public sector, international taxconsulting, compliance, customs, real estate matters, etc.

Piet has advised many clients on indirect tax matters in a vari-ety of areas. He has led the Belgian Indirect Tax service line formany years, and also served as the Global Managing Director –Indirect Tax, DTTL, for 5 years. Piet has led the Belgian Tax &Legal practice since January 2008. Since 22 April 2013, he hasalso taken on the role of EMEA Regional Tax & LegalManaging Director.

Piet is a lecturer at the KU Leuven. He has written many articles and a number of bookson VAT matters.

Belgium

Piet Vandendriessche

Deloitte Belgium


Tel: +32 2 600 66 60Email:[email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Belgium

Yves BernaertsErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Sophie ClocheretBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Guido De WitLinklaters .......................................................................................................................................................................

Koen DewildeAB Taxand.......................................................................................................................................................................

Stéphanie HouxAllen & Overy ................................................................................................................................................................

Ine LejeunePwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Serge MaryPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Eric SchmitzPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Annick van HoorebekeBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Jan van MoorselErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Sibylle VandenberghePwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Wouter VillettePwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Stéphane WilmetLiedekerke......................................................................................................................................................................

Ronny WuytjensDeloitte ..........................................................................................................................................................................



Position• Partner, KPMG in Brazil• Head of Indirect Taxes and Customs, KPMG in Brazil• Member of KPMG’s Global Indirect Tax Services Practice

Leadership

Background • Lucio has more than 22 years of experience in consulting

services related to taxes (indirect and direct), labor and socialsecurity charges.

• Currently he coordinates the indirect tax and customsdepartment of KPMG Brazil.

Professional and industry experience • Lucio Bastos renders services for both national and interna-

tional companies in various areas, such as due diligence,acquisition review, tax and business consulting, and acts asclients’ representative in administrative courts.

• He is a lawyer and vice-president of ANFAC (Association ofFactoring Companies) Ethics’ Council.

• Lucio presents courses related to indirect taxes and customs,tax planning and routines in labor and social security areas. Several of his articles have beenpublished in newspapers and magazines.

Education, licenses and certifications • MBA program in Business Management• Law School• Technical degree in Foreign Trade

Languages• English • Portuguese

Brazil

Lucio Bastos

KPMG in Brazil

Av Paulista, 2313-CerqueiraCesarSao Paulo, SP 01311300Brazil

Tel: +55 1 131385071Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Graduated from Cândido Mendes University, also completedthe programme of instruction for lawyers at Harvard LawSchool in 2003.

Professor of the postgraduate course in tax law at UNI-GRANRIO, and of the tax law LLM of IBMEC.

Executive director of the Brazilian Association of FinancialLaw, member of the General Council of the International FiscalAssociation (IFA), member of the Brazilian Academy of TaxLaw, of the Brazilian Institute of Constitutional Law, and of theBrazilian Association of Tax Law, president of the Brazil-Honduras Chamber of Commerce, and vice-president of theBrazil-Argentina Chamber of Commerce.

Former president for two terms of the Corporate LawAlliance (ALAE).

Member of the Special Commission that has drafted theTaxpayer Defense Code of the State of Minas Gerais, and of theCommission established with the same objective by theNational Congress, vice-president of the Special Commissionon Tax Matters, and president of the Commission on FederalJudiciary Matters, both of the Rio de Janeiro State Chapter ofthe Brazilian Bar Association (OAB-RJ).

Member of the board of examiners in several exams forPublic Attorneys and for Judges in the state of Rio de Janeiro, as examiner on the subject oftax law.

Also received successive mentions on international publications being appointed as one ofBrazil’s best tax lawyers.

Author of numerous studies and articles published on specialized magazines. In 2013 was been nominated as attorney for legal affairs concerning tax matters for

Brazilian Federal Bar Association (OAB).

Brazil

Luiz Gustavo AS Bichara

Bichara, Barata & CostaAdvogados

Rua do Ouvidor, 121 – 23º ao 29ºandarCentro – Rio de Janeiro – RJCEP: 20040-030Brazil

Tel: +55 21 3231 8011Email:[email protected]: www.bicharalaw.com.br



Mauri Bórnia is a lawyer with 30 years of experience in the taxarea with emphasis on indirect taxes and tax litigation. Hejoined Machado Associados in 1999 and has been a partner ofthe firm since 2003. Before this, he has worked as a tax consult-ant at IOB (Informações Objetivas e Publicações Jurídicas) oneof the largest legal consulting firms in Brazil and has alsoworked at an industrial company, where he started his career inthe tax area.

He graduated in law from Faculdade de Direito de Sorocabaand concluded his postgraduate studies in tax law at UNISO –Universidade de Sorocaba. He is also an accountant graduatedfrom Faculdade de Ciências Contábeis e Administrativas deSorocaba.

He is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association – São PauloSection (OAB/SP), the Regional Accounting Council – SãoPaulo Section (CRC/SP) and of Associação Paulista de EstudosTributários (APET).

Mauri was a postgraduate course professor in tax law held byTrevisan Escola de Negócios and by Centro de ExtensãoUniversitária of Instituto Internacional de Ciências Sociais(CEU / IICS). Moreover, he gives several lectures in this areaof law, especially on social contributions, taxes levied on con-sumption of goods and services and foreign trade taxation.

Along his career, he has authored several articles and giveninterviews in specialised magazines and newspapers.

His academic and professional background provides him a wider view of all aspects relat-ed to the application of the tax law in defense of clients’ interests, mainly as to the correctapplication of the law in the tax and accounting organisation of their companies.

With a highly specialised profile, Mauri is one of the partners in charge of the indirecttaxes area at Machado Associados serving domestic and multinational companies, taking partin several tax and corporate restructuring transactions and following up new structures.

Brazil

Mauri Bórnia

Machado AssociadosAdvogados e Consultores

Av Brig Faria Lima, 1656 – 11ºandar01451-918 – São Paulo / SPBrazil

Tel: +55 11 3819 4855Fax: +55 11 3819 5322Email: [email protected]:www.machadoassociados.com.br



Ricardo M. Debatin da Silveira is a lawyer with 20 years of expe-rience in the tax area, with emphasis on indirect taxes and taxlitigation. He joined Machado Associados in 1993 and has beena partner of the indirect tax area since 2005.

He graduated in Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católicade São Paulo (PUC/SP) in 1994, where he also concluded hispostgraduate studies in Tax Law in 1997.

He is the chairman of the Board of the Brazilian Institute ofEnergy Law (IBDE), an entity that has taken an important roleto study legal matters in the Brazilian energy segment, with spe-cial focus on Oil, Gas, Electric Energy and Renewable Sources.

Ricardo is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association in SãoPaulo (OAB/SP), the Tax Committee of the International BarAssociation (IBA), the Legal Committee of the AmericanChamber of Commerce in São Paulo (AMCHAM), and of theInternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

During his career, he has authored several articles and giveninterviews in specialized magazines, books and newspapers.

Ricardo has a high international profile and is one of thepartners responsible for serving multinational companies withbusiness and/or investing in Brazil, especially assisting foreignclients to understand and deal with tax, customs and corporateissues in Brazil, and heading due diligence work in mergers andacquisitions transactions.

The experience from several years of consultancy services and from many significant casesshared with international law firms around the world provides him with a client-oriented per-spective of taxes and tax litigation, especially on highly complex cases.

Ricardo is fluent in Portuguese and English.

Brazil

Ricardo Marletti Debatin da Silveira

Machado Associados

Av Brig. Faria Lima, 1656,11º andar01451-918 – São Paulo / SPBrazil




Júlio M. de Oliveira is a partner of the law firm MachadoAssociados, with master’s and PhD degrees in tax law fromPontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC/SP).

He has acted in many significant tax proceedings relating todirect and indirect tax as well as taxes levied on the payroll, inaddition to rendering consulting services to large domestic andinternational companies. He is part of several committees andassociations made up of companies that seek to improve theBrazilian tax system.

Júlio Oliveira has already acted as an examining professor onboards granting master’s degrees at PUC/SP and as judge ofthe Tax Administrative Court of the State of São Paulo (TIT).He is a tax law professor at PUC/SP and GV law and professorof the tax law specialisation course at Universidade de São Paulo(USP). He was appointed as one of the most respected taxlawyers in Brazil by the Os Mais Admirados do Direito Yearbookin 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and nominated as one of the 30outstanding Brazilian tax lawyers in the corporate area since2010 by Who’s Who Legal.

He is the author of the books Internet e CompetênciaTributária (Editora Dialética) and O Princípio da Legalidade esua aplicabilidade ao IPI e ao ICMS (Quartier Latin). JúlioOliveira has recently co-authored the book Tributação eDesenvolvimento – Homenagem ao Prof. Aires Barreto. He hasalso co-authored the following books: Processo TributárioAnalítico (Editora Noeses); IPI – Aspectos Jurídicos Relevantes (Editora Quartier Latin); ISS– Lei Complementar 116/2003 (Editora Juruá); Comentários ao Código Tributário Nacional(Editora MP); Curso de Especialização em Direito Tributário: Estudos Analíticos emHomenagem a Paulo de Barros Carvalho (Editora Forense); Interpretação e Estado de Direito(Editora Noeses); ICMS – Questões Fundamentais (Editora MP); Questões Fundamentais –IPI (Editora MP); Grandes Questões Atuais do Direito Tributário – 10° Volume (EditoraDialética); Sistema Tributário Brasileiro e a Crise Atual (Editora Noeses); Estudos emHomenagem a José Eduardo Monteiro de Barros – Direito Tributário (MP Editora); RevistaDireito Tributário Atual (Revista dos Tribunais); Tributação Empresarial (Saraiva – SérieGVLaw); Direito Tributário: Homenagem a Paulo de Barros Carvalho (Quartier Latin); ISS– Lei Complementar 116/2003 (MP EDITORA); Direito Tributário e os Conceitos de DireitoPrivado (Editora Noeses); and others.

Brazil

Júlio M de Oliveira

Machado AssociadosAdvogados e Consultores

Av Brig Faria Lima, 1656 – 11ºandar01451-918 – São Paulo / SPBrazil




Lawyer graduated from the Catholic University of Rio deJaneiro (PUC-Rio), served as counsel in the area of tax adviceand litigation and administrative litigation at renowned lawfirms before.

Postgraduate on tax law at the Brazilian Institute of Tax –IBET.

Author of articles published on specialised sitesMember of the Brazilian Association of Financial Law

(ABDF) and the Tax Debate Group of Rio de Janeiro (Rio-GDT).

Member of the Brazilian Bar Association, Rio de Janeiro sec-tion.

Brazil

Thiago de Vasconcellos Chaer Cury


Email: [email protected]: www.bicharalaw.com.br



Law degree from Gama Filho University Law School. Specialisation course (professional MBA) in business law

from Fundação Getulio Vargas; specialisation course on strate-gic tax management from Trevisan in 2000.

Former professor of financial law at Estácio de Sá LawSchool, of tax law at Fundação Pró-UniRio and in the postgrad-uate program at Cândido Mendes University Law School.

Former councilor of the Rio de Janeiro Municipal TaxAppeal Council. Now a tax consultant for trade associations

Member of the Administrative Tax Appeal Council of theMinistry of Finance and the Rio de Janeiro State Tax AppealCouncil.

Brazil

Sandro Machado dos Reis


Email: [email protected]: www.bicharalaw.com.br



Douglas Lopes is an Indirect Tax Partner based in Sao Paulo,with more than 20 years of experience in indirect tax matters.He has technical knowledge of indirect tax legislation (ICMS,IPI and ISS), taxes on revenue (PIS and COFINS), importtaxes, tax planning, VAT implementation, compliance, audits,spin-offs and consolidation of companies, and assessment ofresulting tax impacts and effects on financial statements.

Douglas is a member of the Regional Accounting Council.He earned a degree in accounting and law from theUniversidade Paulista in 2007.

Brazil

Douglas Lopes

Deloitte

Rua Jose Guerra, 127Sao Paulo 04719-030Brazil




Law degree from Mackenzie Presbyterian University. Postgraduate specialisation in tax law from the Brazilian

Institute of Tax Law and the Brazilian Institute of Tax Studies. Enzo Megozzi has 15 years of experience in the tax area and

worked at renowned law firms before.Author of articles published in periodicals and specialised

sites, he was a professor in the postgraduate program in tax lawof Mackenzie Presbyterian University (2002-2003).

Speaker at various events in the tax law area. Member of theBrazilian Bar Association, São Paulo State Chapter.

Brazil

Enzo Megozzi


Email:[email protected]: www.bicharalaw.com.br



Position• Partner• International Corporate Tax Services (ICT) & Transfer

Pricing

Qualifications• Bachelor of law• Post-graduation degree in tax law• Master degree in International Tax Law • Member of Brazilian Bar Association (OAB)• Member of Iberoamerica team

Experience• Since 1996, Murilo has been working with tax audit, adviso-

ry services, tax planning and corporate restructuring. He iscurrently working with domestic and foreign clients, as wellas assisting other KPMG’s offices, providing advice to multi-national corporations on cross-border transactions, taxstrategies and tax minimization projects.

• Murilo is member of KPMG Iberoamerica Tax Marketsteam, conducting tax projects and assisting clients on theLatin America region.

Brazil

Murilo Mello

KPMG in Brazil

Av Paulista, 2313-CerqueiraCesarSao Paulo, SP 01311300Brazil

Tel: + 55 11 2183 3261Fax: +55 11 2183 3261Email:[email protected] Website: www.kpmg.com



Lawyer graduated from the Catholic University of Rio deJaneiro (PUC-Rio), served as counsel in the areas of consultingand tax litigation at renowned law firms before.

Postgraduate in public law from the State University of Riode Janeiro (UERJ). Master’s in taxation (LLM Tax) fromNorthwestern University (USA).

Author of articles published in books specialising in tax law. Delivered several lectures on subjects regarding business

structuring and taxation. Teaches international taxation at the post graduation in tax

law vourse of the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).

Member of the Brazilian Bar Association, Rio de Janeirosection.

Brazil

Luiz Eugênio Porto Severo da Costa


Email:[email protected]: www.bicharalaw.com.br



Luiz Fernando Rezende Gomes began his career in taxation andcorporate law in 1997, specializing in review procedures relatedto indirect tax, revision of tax burdens and due diligence. Hehas participated in several projects involving corporate restruc-turing and tax planning. He advises clients on matters of directand indirect tax, customs law, international tax, tax and corpo-rate consulting and tax planning, among others. Luiz servesclients across a broad spectrum of industries including oil andgas, mining, manufacturing and leisure.

Luiz earned a degree in law from the Federal University ofRio de Janeiro – UFRJ and an MBA in finance from IBMEC.He speaks English.

Brazil

Luiz Fernando Rezende Gomes

Deloitte

Av Presidente Wilson, 231 Andar22Rio de Janeiro 20030-021Brazil




Brazil

Danilo Aoad GimenezBM&A Consultoria Tributária – Taxand .....................................................................................................................

Paulo de Barros CarvalhoBarros Carvalho Advogados Associados....................................................................................................................

José Eduardo S de MeloSoares de Melo Advogados.........................................................................................................................................

Hamilton Dias de SouzaDias de Souza Advogados Associados.......................................................................................................................

Maria Fernanda FurtadoTrench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados, Associated with Baker & McKenzie International ..............................

Ives Gandra MartinsGandra Martins Advocacia ..........................................................................................................................................

Carlos GardelErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Maria Eugenia KanazawaTrench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados, Associated with Baker & McKenzie International ..............................

Leonardo KrakowiakAdvocacia Krakowiak ...................................................................................................................................................

Armênio Lopes CorreiaRolim, Viotti & Leite Campos .....................................................................................................................................

Alessandra MachadoTrench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados, Associated with Baker & McKenzie International ..............................

Ricardo Mariz de OliveiraEscritório Mariz de Oliveira e Siqueira Campos Advogados Associados.............................................................

Alessandro Mendes CardosoRolim, Viotti & Leite Campos .....................................................................................................................................

Marina PerfettiTrench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados, Associated with Baker & McKenzie International ..............................

Roberto Quiroga MosqueraMattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados ..................................................................................

Antonio Roque CarrazzaFernando José Fernandes Nelson Luiz Pinto ..........................................................................................................

Antonio C SallaMachado Associados ....................................................................................................................................................

Roberto Siqueira CamposMariz De Oliveira e Siqueira Campos Advogados ...................................................................................................

Adriana StamatoTrench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados, Associated with Baker & McKenzie International ..............................



Brazil

Marcos Vinicius PradoTrench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados, Associated with Baker & McKenzie International ..............................

Cristiano Augusto G ViottiRolim, Viotti & Leite Campos .....................................................................................................................................



John is a Partner at KPMG LLP based in Toronto and has morethan 22 years of commodity tax experience both in Canada andthe European Union. He leads KPMG’s Indirect Tax Practice inthe Greater Toronto Area and is a member of KPMG’s GlobalIndirect Tax steering committee. He advises a wide array ofclients on the application of Canadian indirect taxes and is prin-cipally focused on the financial and manufacturing sectors. Heleads KPMG’s Indirect Tax Technology offering in Canada.John began his career with KPMG in the UK where he spentthree years advising on VAT issues.

John is a former senior tax policy officer with theDepartment of Finance Canada, where he was responsible forGST policy and legislation for services and cross-border move-ment of goods. He worked for the European Commission inBelgium as VAT policy officer on issues related to the financialsector and cross-border services. He has also worked at theCanada Revenue Agency, where he was a manager responsiblefor GST interpretive policy and rulings related to real propertyissues.

John is the Chair of the Commodity Tax Policy Committeefor the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada associa-tion, is a participant in the GST Leaders Forum, and in the pasthas participated in indirect tax technical advisory groups and working groups at both theOECD and WTO on cross-border issues. He is a contributor to the Toronto FinancialServices Alliance on Islamic finance and advises a number of financial sector industry associ-ations. He speaks frequently at tax conferences and is a published author on VAT and GST-related matters.

Canada

John Bain

KPMG in Canada

KPMG Global Resource Centre333 Bay StreetSuite 4600Bay Adelaide CentreToronto, ON M5H 2S5Canada

Tel: +1 416 777 3894Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Michael Bussmann is leader of the Gowlings Tax Group, with afocus on indirect tax matters, including all forms of federal andprovincial commodity taxes. He advises clients in a wide range ofindustries including banking, finance and leasing, insurance, pay-ments, manufacturing, apparel, traditional and internet retail,telecommunications, real estate, transportation and energy.

Providing indirect tax planning advice to international anddomestic clients in respect of both acquisitions and greenfieldoperations, Michael also counsels clients on matters relating totax audits and customs verifications, appeals and voluntary dis-closures. He draws on expertise that embraces the full spectrumof compulsory contributions including the value-added taxesGST, HST and the Québec sales tax (QST); provincial, exciseand land transfer taxes; environmental and carbon charges; taxeson insurance premiums; telecommunications contributions; andcustom duties, including all manner of value for duty, tariff clas-sification, rules of origin and import and export control matters.

Michael has represented clients before the Canada RevenueAgency, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Tax Court ofCanada, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, as well asthe provincial tax authorities in appeals of assessments forGST/HST and QST, other provincial sales taxes and customsadministrative monetary penalties. Speaking regularly on mat-ters relating to tax, Michael is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, Sales &Commodity Tax Section; the Canadian Tax Foundation; the Tax Committee of the CanadianFinance & Leasing Association; and the indirect tax team of Taxand, an award winning glob-al organization that provides high-quality integrated tax advice on international transactions.Michael speaks English and German fluently and is conversant in French as well.

Canada

Michael Bussmann

Gowling Lafleur Henderson

1 First Canadian Place100 King Street WestSuite 1600Toronto, ON M5X 1G5Canada

Tel: +1 416 369 4663Fax: +1 416 369 7250Email:[email protected]: www.gowlings.com/

Services/tax-law



Danny Cisterna is a Deloitte Canada Partner based in Toronto.He is the National Leader for Tax for the Financial ServicesIndustry. He has extensive experience in public accounting andin the private sector where he spent four years with a major bankresponsible for managing over CAD100m of indirect taxes. Headvises and consults with a wide array of clients on indirect taxeswith particular emphasis in the financial services industry.

Danny is an advisor to the IBC Tax Panel on indirect taxmatters. He is an advisor to several of IFIC’s working groupsdealing with GST and HST matters affecting the mutual fundssector. Danny is a member of a Technical Advisory Group sanc-tioned by the OECD with respect to the development of inter-national guidelines on the application of value added taxes tocross-border traded services and intangibles. Danny has been amember, a discussion leader and active participant of the GSTLeaders Forum and was the Chair of the inaugural session in2007. Danny is the Chair of the CICA Commodity TaxCommittee which reports to CICA’s Tax Policy Committee.Finally, Danny is a member of the Tax Roundtable of theToronto Financial Services Alliance.

Danny has written for and presented at numerous CICA Commodity Tax Symposia onmatters relating to Financial Services and Goods and Services Tax. He was a regular tutor forthe CICA In-Resident In-Depth GST Course, co-developer and co-lecturer at the CICA In-Depth In-Residence Course Part II and, more recently, co-developed the material for and lec-tures on the GST and Financial Services Advanced Topic offering by the CICA. Danny is aregular presenter to the Tax Executives Institute, the Canadian Tax Foundation, theInvestment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC), the Canadian Life and Health InsurersAssociation and the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) on indirect tax matters affecting theirindustries.

Danny is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountantsof Ontario.

Canada

Danny Cisterna

Deloitte Canada

33 Yonge Street2nd floorToronto, ON M5E 1G4Canada

Tel: +1 416 601 6362Mobile: +1 476 729 9651Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.com



ProfileRobert Demers is Deloitte Canada’s National Indirect TaxLeader. Located in Montreal, he has provided, for 30-plus years,consulting on indirect tax and customs matters. He has helpedmany large companies in Quebec, Canada and abroad to betterplan their transactions and identify additional exemption possi-bilities with government authorities.

Holding a master’s degree in taxation, Robert has served aschairman of the public finance and tax committee of the Boardof Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and also as board presidentof the World Trade Centre of Montreal. He is actively involvedin the Charles Bruneau Cancerology Centre foundation, whichraises funds for pediatric cancer research. He is also a memberof the Association de Planification Fiscale et Financière (APFF)and chairs the organizing committee of the APFF’s consump-tion tax symposium.

A highly sought speaker, Robert has given many courses forthe Ordre des Comptables Agréés du Québec, the PurchasingManagement Association of Canada and the Université duQuébec à Montréal.

Education:Certificate in law – University of Montreal – 1992Master degree in tax – University of Sherbrooke – 1982Bachelor degree in economics – University of Montreal – 1980

Professional and Community affairs:• Member and Chairman of the board of the Montreal World Trade Center 1997- 2001• Member and Chair of the Finance committee of The Board of Trade 2002-2008• Member and Chair of the APFF Indirect Tax Symposium organizing committee 1995-

2012• Member of the organizing committee of Centre de Cancérologie Charles Bruneau CIBC

Cycling Tour 2006-2012

Canada

Robert Demers, M.Fisc

Deloitte

1, Place Ville-Marie, Bureau 3000Montreal H3B 4T9Canada

Tel: +1 514 3935156Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.ca



Audrey Diamant is a partner in the Tax Services practice ofPricwaterhouseCoopers LLP and specializes in the GST andPST as it relates to cross-border transactions, technology andtelecommunications issues, and the not-for-profit sector.Audrey also provides in-depth analysis and legislative interpreta-tion to clients on provincial retail sales tax programs, withemphasis on the inter-provincial transfer of goods and services,end-use exemptions and special status purchasers, and advises anumber of large US-based clients on the intricacies of carryingon business in Canada.

Audrey has practiced in the commodity tax area for morethan 25 years and provided advisory services to the CanadianDepartment of Finance during the implementation of the GST,and to the Ontario Ministry of Finance both on software issuesas well as the implementation of the HST in Ontario. She is alsoa leader of the sales tax committee of the InformationTechnology Association of Canada (Ontario).

Audrey has held the position of co-chair/presenter (2003-2006) and chair/presenter (2007-2012) of the CICAGST/HST In-Depth course, co-developed the CICA advancedcourse on GST/HST and Public Sector Bodies, and is a regularcontributor on sales tax matters to a Canadian Tax Foundation newsletter. She is a regularspeaker at the CICA Commodity Tax Symposium and TEI, and is a recipient of the NormandGuerin Award for her contribution to commodity tax studies.

Canada

Audrey Diamant

PricwaterhouseCoopers LLP

PwC Tower18 York StreetSuite 2600Toronto, ON M5J 0B2Canada

Tel: +1 416 687 8933Email:[email protected] Website: www.pwc.com/ca



Mike specialises in GST as it affects the financial sector. Mike has more than 30 years of experience in working with

value added taxes such as the GST, gained in 10 years workingwith HM Customs and Excise in the UK in a variety of VATroles, followed by 24 years with PwC in the UK, Canada,Australia and Barbados. Mike has specialised in the financial sec-tor aspects of VAT since 1988.

His experience includes:• Developing and coordinating significant GST recovery proj-

ects for a number of populations of claimants in the financialsector;

• Proposing and executing detailed provincial harmonisedsales tax impact studies for the Canadian banking, fund man-agement, and insurance sectors in 2008, a year before the2009 Ontario harmonisation announcement;

• Coordinating Canadian tax, and UK VAT and data-model-ing expertise to deliver very detailed GST recovery method-ologies for two major Canadian banks;

• Acknowledged as a contributor to the 1994 PetersonCommittee Report on the GST, Mike is a very frequentspeaker and presenter on GST matters. He has presentedseven papers at the CICA Symposium and was an invited witness to the House ofCommons Finance Committee hearings on the 2010 federal budget, to comment on theclauses imposing several new measures on the financial sector;

• In November 2011, Mike presented a paper co-written with professor Ken Mackenzie ofthe University of Calgary School of Policy Study – “The GST and Financial Service:Pausing for Perspective”; and

• Mike is the only multiple winner of the Normand Guerin award from Deloitte, for mak-ing an outstanding contribution to the study of commodity taxes.

Canada

Mike Firth

PwC

PwC Tower18 York StreetSuite 2600Toronto, ON M5J 0B2Canada

Tel: +1 416 869 8718Email:[email protected]: www.pwc.com



Janice Roper is the lead Indirect Tax partner for DeloitteCanada’s British Columbia region. With over 22 years of expe-rience in the field of indirect taxes, her practice encompassesGoods and Services Tax (GST), Harmonized Sales Tax (HST),Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and customs duties. Her experiencecovers a wide range of industries, including financial institu-tions, public sector and government, consumer business, tech-nology, and forestry. Janice is the national consumer businessIndirect Tax leader.

Janice has been involved in significant projects across allindustry groups. A few examples of her assignments includeassisting British Columbia (BC) companies in transitioning backto PST; assisting clients with the implementation of HST; pro-viding advice on organization structuring and restructuring tominimize the incidence and magnitude of indirect taxes; andperforming recovery reviews for indirect taxes, resulting in largerefunds.

Janice has written and presented at numerous CanadianInstitute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Commodity TaxSymposia and at the BC Tax Conference. She is a member ofthe GST Leaders Forum and is the co-chair and lecturer at the CICA GST In-Depth Course.

Janice is a Chartered Accountant and is affiliated to the Institute of CharteredAccountants of British Columbia.

Canada

Janice Roper

Deloitte Canada

2800 - 1055 Dunsmuir Street, 4Bentall CentreVancouver, BC V7X 1P4Canada




Dave is the Partner-in-Charge of KPMG in Canada’s NationalIndirect Tax practice. He has over 36 years of tax and account-ing experience. Dave utilizes his industry, government and pub-lic practice experience to bring the best solutions to KPMGclients.

Dave focuses on the most complex areas of the indirect taxpractice including financial services, gaming and real estatewhere he advises clients on planning, structuring, recovery andcompliance issues.

Dave is responsible for keeping clients and KPMG indirecttax professionals up to date on changes to legislation, policiesand court cases. He has assisted clients in dealing with the manychanges to legislature and policy that have occurred over theyears. Dave has worked with team members to develop tools todeal with many of the complex changes in the financial sector.He has also worked with the financial sector association to assistthem in understanding the many changes in the legislation.Dave has been working with the gaming industry and theDepartment of Finance is changing the approach to taxation ofgaming.

Prior to joining KPMG, Dave was a manager within the GSTPolicy and Legislation Directorate of Revenue Canada where hewas responsible for GST policy for financial institutions. He was seconded to the Departmentof Finance to prepare papers on replacements of the GST. He was manager of IndustryStudies Section that dealt with Income Tax Issues for Revenue Canada on Banks, Insurancecompanies as well as other industries. Dave was Income Tax manager for one of Canada’slargest real estate companies for five years.

Dave is a frequent speaker on GST/HST issues at many conferences.

Canada

David Schlesinger

KPMG in Canada

KPMG Global Resource Centre333 Bay StreetSuite 4600Bay Adelaide CentreToronto, ON M5H 2S5Canada




Canada

Neal H ArmstrongDavies Ward Phillips & Vineberg ...............................................................................................................................

Wendy BrousseauMcCarthy Tétrault.........................................................................................................................................................

Brian CacicBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Jean-Hugues ChabotErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Allan J GelkopfBlakes .............................................................................................................................................................................

Greg KanargelidisBlakes .............................................................................................................................................................................

Chile

Pablo GrieberErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Sergio IllanesBaker & McKenzie Ltda. - Abogados..........................................................................................................................

Alberto MaturanaBaker & McKenzie Ltda. - Abogados..........................................................................................................................



China’s tax landscape in 2012 was dominated by the VAT pilotreform programme. Launched in Shanghai on January 1, thepilot moved certain services (transportation and modern servic-es) out of the scope of the business tax (BT) regime into thescope of the VAT regime. This was the first phase of an overallplan to replace the dual BT/VAT systems with a single systemapplying to the supply of both goods and services. The pilot wassubsequently expanded to another eight cities/provinces. InApril 2013, the government announced that the reform will beimplemented nationwide as from August 1 2013, and on May24 2013 the Ministry of Finance and the State Administrationof Taxation issued a circular (Circular 37) that formalises thenational implementation of the VAT reform from a legislativeperspective and provides detailed – and positive – implementa-tion rules on the national rollout.

The pilot reform has given rise to some issues, such as a dis-tortion of competition between businesses within and outsidepilot areas. By far the most controversial issue has been the prac-tical implementation of Circulars 110 and 111, which detail thegeneral guidelines for the VAT reform, including applicablerates and scope, provide detailed implementation rules for theShanghai pilot and lay the foundation for other cities to join theVAT pilot.

The implementation rules in Circular 37 do address a num-ber of issues that have arisen during the pilot reform (for exam-ple which treatment applies when both exemption and zerorated treatment apply, and the method to be used whenaccounting for zero rated services).

After 18 months of practical experience with the pilotreform, this article looks at the technical developments and themain challenges for implementation of the reform nationwide.

China

Implementing VAT reform inChina

Sarah Chin & Li Qun Gao of Deloitte explore the evolving challenges of a single VAT system

Sarah Chin and Li Qun GaoDeloitte


INDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 46INDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 4646 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERS

China

We also comment on what we believe will be the approach over the next two years given thatthe reform will be completed by 2015. One thing is certain: major changes and refinementswill continue to be part of the landscape as China learns, through practical implementation,what measures are needed to ensure an efficient and effective system.

Transition from pilot to full-fledged reform The issuance of Circular 71 in July 2012, which set the formal timetable for, and scope of,the expansion of the pilot from Shanghai to eight cities/provinces, was the first indicationthat the pilot was entering a new phase. The transition from a pilot programme to a full-fledged reform became clear with the announcement by the State Council on April 10 2013(and subsequent issuance of Circular 37) that the focus will move away from a city-by-cityimplementation to a national initiative.

Another change confirmed in Circular 37 is the nationwide implementation of the trans-portation and modern services sectors as from August 1 2013. Bringing the reform to anational level is the correct step given the distortion of competition initially created by theShanghai pilot. Circular 37 also brings the production, broadcasting and distribution of TVand radio programmes and films into the model services sectors covered by the nationwideVAT reform. Railway transportation, postal and telecommunications services, which werementioned in the April announcement (but no timeline for their inclusion) are not coveredby Circular 37, so it is unclear when these sectors will join the VAT reform.

Technical possibility and practical realityThe most beneficial aspect of the reform clearly is the fact that no VAT is charged when cov-ered services are supplied overseas; this is achieved either via a zero rating or, in most cases,an exemption. At the time this feature was announced at the end of 2011, it was met withimmense excitement, especially as this had been broadly lobbied for in previous years.However, when taxpayers in Shanghai attempted to apply the exemption on January 1 2012,it became apparent that it could not be used because the local tax bureaus themselves wereuncertain of the implementation rules. Today, some 18 months after the pilot was launched,Shanghai and Beijing have become slightly more relaxed and allow certain taxpayers to applyfor the exemption at their own risk (if any inconsistences are found during an audit, for exam-ple, the taxpayer must repay the VAT). However, some local tax bureaus remain conservativeand require VAT to be charged until they receive further clarifications from the central gov-ernment.

Companies doing business in China always cite local variations and the VAT reform is noexception. In this case, the good news is that some cities, such as Shenzhen, have issued localguidance on how to apply for a VAT exemption, and we are aware that new guidance is beingdrafted by local tax authorities and being reviewed by the SAT, so there is reason to believethat some of the practical issues will be resolved soon.

VAT or BT: Which is more beneficial?Being subject to VAT generally is beneficial for businesses because they are able to claiman input VAT credit charged on their purchases of goods/services against their own VATliability. However, the definitions of pilot services in the current rules are broad and, in


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many cases, vague. As a result, some taxpayers have found themselves in a difficult situa-tion when assessing whether they should continue to pay BT or start paying VAT after thepilot.

While the ambiguity of the scope of the pilot creates some uncertainty, taxpayers also havethe opportunity to interpret the scope of included services to their benefit and argue for thedesired treatment. For example, although market research services per se are not covered bythe reform, it is possible that, where such services can be shown to include an advisory ele-ment because there are comments on how the marketing can be tailored to the Chinese mar-ket, market research services can be classified as a form of consulting, which is included in thereform, thus allowing VAT to be charged.

In contrast, some taxpayers may prefer to continue to pay BT because, for example, theyhave negotiated financial subsidies based on the BT paid. A move to VAT liability wouldresult in a reduction or loss of such subsidies and the creation of a VAT cost. For example,take the case of a Chinese company that is located in a special trade zone, such as an exportprocessing zone, because the company’s main business is the manufacturing of goods forexport. The Chinese company must pay a royalty to its overseas related parties for licensedtechnology used in the manufacturing process. Under the pilot, the company is required towithhold VAT instead of BT from the royalty payment. Unless the financial subsidy is stillavailable and can effectively offset any VAT in excess of the BT, the company will incur a costbecause, as a company registered in an export processing zone, it does not suffer VAT and,thus, cannot credit input VAT.

Future rollout of industries There is considerable interest in whether the real estate and construction sectors and finan-cial services will transition from BT to VAT rules and, if so, when. The strategic economicimportance of these industries in China means that the government will need to considermany issues and competing interests before converting them to VAT to ensure both sectorscontinue to thrive. The April 2013 announcement was silent on this issue.

If real estate services ultimately will be covered under the VAT regime, the question is howthey will be subject to VAT, that is under the simplified taxation method where a flat rateapplies with no input VAT credit or under the normal input and output mechanism. If thesimplified taxation method is chosen, real estate businesses would be taxed in substantiallythe same way as they are now, the only difference being the name of the tax and possibly therate. If the normal mechanism is adopted, however, many issues will need to be addressed,including the rate (and any exemptions), eligibility to claim input VAT credits and the admin-istration of VAT invoices. The potential impact on real estate prices in China is an issue ofinterest to both the government and the public. Construction is closely linked to real estatedevelopment as the main service purchased by real estate developers so these two industriesare likely to be considered together.

Circular 110 stated that, in principle, financial services should be taxed using the simplifiedtaxation method. Financial service institutions would prefer zero-rating or exemption, thoughsignals are that neither is likely to be adopted because the government is not ready to relin-quish the BT revenue from financial services. If neither of these treatments is available, a ratelower than the 5% BT rate may be the best a financial service institution can hope for.

China


INDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 48INDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 4848 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERS

China

What to expect over the next two yearsThe Chinese government has confirmed that the reform will be finalised by the end of 2015 –an ambitious deadline. There is still a lot of work to do, such as defining VATable services,rolling out the reform to more industries and balancing the impact on the economy. The gov-ernment has been looking at other VAT systems and has been consulting with foreign taxauthorities to formulate an appropriate system for China. The issuance of Circular 37 demon-strates that the government has taken into consideration experience gained from the pilot pro-gramme and introduced some positive changes, which should be welcomed by businesses.

However, since there generally is no public consultation when issuing new tax rules inChina, the challenge is whether the new rules can be implemented by businesses. For theVAT reform to be a success, the legislators need to understand the real life transactions affect-ed and what changes innovations bring to such transactions. The VAT reform has broadimplications for companies doing business in China, and all companies need to monitordevelopments carefully – despite the demanding deadline of 2015 for full VAT implementa-tion, experience has shown that this deadline will be met.



Sarah Chin is the National Indirect Tax and Customs Leader forDeloitte China and the Tax Managing Partner for DeloitteHong Kong. She focuses on working with multinational com-panies, assisting them to identify, plan, and implement solutionsfor their local operations from PRC VAT and customs points ofview.

Sarah began her career as an inspector with UK HMRCbefore moving into VAT consultancy. She spent seven years inthe UK primarily advising on governmental issues and interna-tional VAT before relocating to Zurich where she established anEU VAT Centre of Excellence before building and heading upa VAT team in Switzerland. Sarah is the global indirect taxleader for several of Deloitte’s strategic accounts.

Sarah is a frequent speaker and has authored numerous arti-cles. Since 2008, Sarah has worked with Chinese governmentalbodies on the approach and design of Chinese VAT Reform.She is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxationof England and Wales.

China

Sarah Pui Pui Chin

Deloitte China

30/F Bund Center222 Yan An Road EastShanghai 200002China




Liqun Gao is an indirect tax partner of the Deloitte China mem-ber firm and is based in Shanghai. She focuses on providingadvisory and compliance services to multinational companies inrelation to their operations or transactions from PRC VAT, cus-toms, business tax and consumption tax perspectives.

Professional Experience Liqun’s professional experience includes general PRC tax andregulatory advisory, tax aligned supply chain, VAT and customsissues in processing trade, mitigation of export VAT refundcosts, foreign exchange issues, operating in special zones likefree trade zones, export processing zones and bonded logisticsparks. She has assisted clients in retail business to review andrestructure their discount programs to achieve tax efficiency.From 2006 to 2007, Liqun took a secondment in the IndirectTax Group of the London office of Deloitte UK.

Liqun provides China tax training at various institutions andis a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences. She alsoworked as a domestic expert with the National People’sCongress and the Ministry of Finance in the drafting of NewVAT Law.

Liqun is a key member of Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Indirect Tax Team, a highly specialized,experienced and integrated group bringing global and Asia Pacific expertise to clients. TheDeloitte Asia Pacific Indirect Tax Team has a singular focus on dealing with clients’ compli-ance, advisory and consultancy needs regardless of geography, and has built a reputation inthe marketplace for its practical, efficient and effective approach.

China

Liqun Gao

Deloitte China

30/F Bund Center222 Yan An Road EastShanghai 200002China




Position• Partner, Tax, China

Qualifications• Bachelor degrees in Laws and Business• Master in Commercial Laws • A member of Certified Practising Accountants of Australia • A member of the Law Society of New South Wales, Australia

Experience• Jean commenced her tax profession in Sydney, Australia

1997. Prior to relocating to China in June 2001, Jean spe-cialised in indirect taxes in Australia. During the last ten yearsin China, Jean has acquired rich and solid experience inadvising multinational clients on taxation and business regu-lations in respect of business activities in the PRC and cross-border transactions. She also has extensive experience inM&A projects as well as dealing with tax issues of domesticChinese companies who are planning to list on the overseasstock exchanges or invest abroad.

• Starting from 2006, Jean has taken an active part in organ-izing roundtable meetings with the Chinese government officials and major foreigninvestors in China to discuss new tax regulations and policies, such as the PetroleumSpecial Profits Tax and the Resource Tax reform. In last few years, she has been activelyadvising the Legislative Affairs Department of the National People’s Congress ,theMinistry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation in respect of the VAT reformin China. She is also now participating in the Environmental Tax legislation.

• Recently, Jean has co-authored an article on the China VAT reform as well as the chapteron “Green from shaping to shade” for the publications of International Tax Review.

China

Jean Li

KPMG in China

China Resources Building,9th FloorShenzhen, Guangdong518001China

Tel: +86 75525471198Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com/cn



Since July 2011, Lachlan Wolfers has been the leader ofKPMG’s Centre of Excellence for Indirect Taxes in China, andprior to that, he was the leader of KPMG’s Indirect Taxes andTax Controversy practices in Australia. He is currently a mem-ber of KPMG’s global leadership team for indirect taxes and isthe leader for KPMG’s Indirect Taxes practice for Asia Pacific.

During his time at KPMG in Australia, Lachlan managed asubstantial tax litigation practice, including conducting the firstsubstantive GST case in Australia. He is also formerly a Directorof The Tax Institute, which is the most prestigious tax profes-sional association in Australia. In this role, Lachlan was fre-quently invited to consult with the Australian Taxation Officeand Commonwealth Treasury on tax issues. In AustraliaLachlan also co-authored the leading textbook on capital gainstax, as well as authoring chapters for leading texts on income taxand GST.

In his current role, Lachlan is advising China’s Ministry ofFinance and State Administration of Taxation in relation to sev-eral new developments, including the VAT reforms and the pro-posed introduction of a system of Advance Rulings in China.Lachlan is applying his experiences and insights with the VATreforms for clients in a wide range of sectors, especially multinational companies in the IT,financial services, insurance, real estate and construction and consulting sectors.

Lachlan is a noted speaker and media commentator on tax issues, both in Australia andChina. He holds a Masters of Taxation with First Class Honours, together with combinedEconomics and Law degrees (also with Honours), all from the University of Sydney.

China

Lachlan Wolfers

KPMG China

8th Floor, Prince’s Building10 Chater RoadCentral, Hong Kong

Tel: +85 2 26857791Email:[email protected]: www.kpmg.com.cn



Zhou Yi is an Indirect Tax partner of Deloitte China and leadsthe Customs practice. He has extensive experience in advisingmultinational and domestic companies in customs, VAT, busi-ness tax and other indirect tax issues.

Zhou is experienced in advising on indirect tax/customsissues, such as customs valuation, classification, export process-ing trade relief, duty and VAT optimization, free trade zones,customs and VAT compliance.

He also has experiences in transfer pricing and is an expert inleveraging transfer pricing and indirect tax tools in tax planning.He has advised and assisted many companies to restructure theirimport/export operation, business model and supply chain tobe customs duty/VAT efficient.

Zhou has helped many companies to establish or developinternal control and risk management systems to ensure bothefficiency and compliance. He has presented and negotiatedcases with customs, tax and other government authorities todefend against their challenges and help to manage/mitigatethe associated risks for companies.

Zhou is both a PRC Certified Public Accountant and a PRC Certified Tax Agent. He isalso admitted to the PRC Bar. Prior to joining Deloitte, he worked in a law firm providinglegal consultancy services to multinational and domestic companies in respect of internation-al trade and investment issues.

China

Zhou Yi

Deloitte China

Beijing 100738China

Tel: +86 20 28311228Email: [email protected]



China

Kenneth LeungErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Lili ShiErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Robert SmithErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Eddie WangHendersen Taxand ........................................................................................................................................................

Alan WuPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Sarah ChinDeloitte ..........................................................................................................................................................................

Eddy M HartmanDeloitte ..........................................................................................................................................................................

Cyprus

Neophytos NeophytouErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Czech Republic

Jan CapekErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Eliska KominkovaBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................



Thomas Svane Jensen is a Deloitte Denmark partner. Thomashas more than 16 years of experience working in indirect taxwith Deloitte in Copenhagen and Bratislava, the Danish taxauthorities, and an independent tax advisory company. He hasworked with clients doing business in the financial services, realestate, leisure, private equity, pharmaceuticals, and shippingindustries.

Thomas is the author of several VAT articles.

Denmark

Thomas Svane Jensen

Deloitte Denmark

Weidekampsgade 6; Postboks1600København C; Copenhagen 0900Denmark

Email: [email protected]



Lars Loftager Jørgensen is a Partner in Deloitte Denmark. Larshas been with Deloitte since 1999. He has 30 years of IndirectTax experience, including comprehensive knowledge of Danishand international VAT law. His experience covers a wide rangeof industries with a focus on large multinational companies,public limited companies and institutions in recent years. Onefocus area currently for Lars is large infrastructure projects inDenmark, where he is advising the developers on the majorDanish on-going projects. Lars is co-author of the comprehen-sive commentary on the Danish VAT Act, published byThomson Reuters since 1994. From 2008 to 2012, Lars wascountry tax leader in Deloitte Denmark. As of January 1 2013,Lars stepped down and returned to Indirect Tax, where he ismanaging several clients and client teams.

Denmark

Lars Loftager Jørgensen

Deloitte Denmark

Weidekampsgade 6; Postboks1601København C; Copenhagen 0901Denmark

Email: [email protected]



Peter Lunau Larsen is a Partner and Head of markets in IndirectTax with KPMG in Denmark.

Peter has extensive knowledge of VAT, customs and otherindirect tax matters, including energy/environmental taxation,and in related legal areas for instance environmental and energylaw regulation, which he includes in his tax advice.

Peter has a strong dedication to incorporate other businessareas with indirect tax, to improve the value for KPMG clients.Through this work Peter has achieved a broad knowledge ofcritical focus areas in his sector which enables him to identifyand handle complex issues.

Peter primarily has clients in the industrial and energy sectorand works closely with his clients on a wide range of indirect taxmatters such as controversy with the tax authorities and appealsto legal advice on advanced indirect tax. Peter is also ofteninvolved in strategic advice related to change in existing nation-al legislation and negotiations.

Peter has 13 years of experience in indirect tax. Since 2000where Peter took a Masters degree in law from AarhusUniversity, Peter started his career working as a tax inspector atthe tax authorities. After joining KPMG in 2004 he has beenworking as an associate professor of Aarhus School of Business for three years.

Denmark

Peter Lunau Larsen

KPMG in Denmark

Vaerkmestergade 258000 Aarhus CDK-DenmarkDenmark

Tel: +45 7 3234691Fax: +45 25 29 46 91Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.dk



Kim Pedersen is a Deloitte Denmark partner and Indirect TaxLeader. Kim has been with Deloitte since 2001 and has 24 yearsof professional experience, including six years as a commercialbanker. His experience primarily covers cross-border structuringof multinational service companies in banking, insurance, IT,telecom, and travel. Kim provides strategic advice aligning busi-ness strategies with indirect tax strategies and general risk man-agement. Kim is a member of the Indirect Tax Executive Boardof Deloitte member firms in EMEA, and the VAT workinggroup under the auspices of several industry organizations.

Denmark

Kim Pedersen

Deloitte Denmark

Weidekampsgade 62300 Copenhagen SDenmark

Tel: +45 36 10 33 57Fax: +45 36 10 20 40Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.dk



Peter K. Svendsen is a Partner and Head of Indirect Tax atKPMG in Denmark. He joined KPMG in 1997 and works pri-marily with VAT, car registration tax and other indirect taxes.Peter started his career in indirect tax working for the Danishtax and customs authorities for 11 years before joining KPMG.

Peter is widely experienced and has an in-depth knowledgeof Danish and international VAT, customs and excise duties andassists both national and multinational organisations on com-plex VAT and indirect tax issues.

He has special expertise in the building, construction andreal property industry as well as in the transport industry.

Peter regularly teaches in VAT and indirect taxes – both incompany-specific seminars and in general seminars. Moreover,he acts as an external examiner at Aarhus University.

Peter is also the author of a book on car taxation inDenmark.

Denmark

Peter K Svendsen

KPMG in Denmark

Osvald Helmuths Vej 42000 FrederiksbergDenmark

Tel: +45 7 3233545Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.dk



Denmark

Jan Huusmann ChristensenPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Thomas FrøbertBech-Bruun – Taxand ...................................................................................................................................................

Flemming Lind JohansenErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Mette JuulErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Tom Kari KristjanssonPlesner ...........................................................................................................................................................................

Søren Lehmann NielsenBruun & Hjejle...............................................................................................................................................................

Carsten PalsBech-Bruun – Taxand ...................................................................................................................................................



Harri Huikuri leads the Indirect Tax service line in DeloitteFinland. Harri has previously worked as a tax director in anoth-er audit firm, as a tax professional in a major law firm, and at theFinnish Tax Administration. He has extensive experience inboth international and domestic indirect tax issues.

Harri has served several international and Finnish companiesin their VAT related matters, including infrastructure and realestate industries, international trade and project deliveries, busi-ness model reorganizations and transaction advisory, as well asVAT exempt businesses. He has acted as an adviser in numerousacquisitions and restructurings for both industrial clients andventure capitalists.

Harri’s expertise is international VAT, M&A and real estate.He has a degree in law (LLM), and is also an experienced lec-turer at tax seminars.

Finland

Harri Huikuri

Deloitte Finland

Porkkalankatu 24, PO Box 12200181 HelsinkiFinland




Juha is a Tax Partner based in Helsinki and Head of the IndirectTax group at KPMG Finland, leading a national team of VATand Customs professionals. Juha has worked in VAT for 20years within the advisory environment.

Juha leads indirect tax services for a significant group ofmultinational businesses, Finnish and worldwide, providingguidance from an international and strategic VAT viewpoint. Insuch a role, Juha advises on cross-border arrangements, work-ing with a global team on projects including supply chain man-agement, building new business models as well as indirect taxmapping and policies in an international environment.

In addition to this role, Juha advises inbound businessescoming into Finland, helping them manage Finnish indirect taxissues and set up efficient and accurate VAT accounting andreporting procedures. Juha’s indirect tax work focuses on themanufacturing and retail sectors as well as VAT in the auditprocess and working to identify and manage indirect tax risk andexposures.

The KPMG Finland team, under Juha, has developed anexperienced team to provide an innovative technology serviceoffering a specialised indirect tax approach to ERP implementation, Shared Service Centreprojects, technology-led forensic indirect tax reviews and audits as well as working capital andindirect tax cash flow projects.

Juha has also published numerous articles and books on VAT and indirect tax topics andis a regular speaker at tax and finance events in Finland and the Nordic region.

Finland

Juha Sääskilahti

KPMG in Finland

Mannerheimintie 20 BHelsinki 00100Finland

Tel: +358 207603378Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Petri Salomaa acts as a partner in the Indirect Tax practice ofDeloitte Finland.

Petri specializes in indirect tax and has extensive experiencein Finnish and international VAT matters. Petri joined Deloittein February 2005. He previously worked as an internal taxadviser at Nokia Group and from 1997 as a tax consultant atother Big Four companies.

Petri has acted as an adviser in numerous acquisitions andrestructurings as well as in outsourcing and cross-border supplychain projects. He also specializes in VAT issues relating to thefinancial sector, real estate and construction industry. Petri hasserved several EU, U.S. and Asia-based multinationals in theirFinnish indirect tax matters.

Global tax planning publications have, for several years,nominated Petri as one of the leading tax advisers in the Finnishmarket.

Petri has published articles in Finnish tax and accountingmagazines, co-authored tax planning publications, and lecturedin hundreds of tax seminars.

Petri has a university degree in both law (LLM, taxation) and economics (accounting).

Finland

Petri Salomaa

Deloitte Finland

Porkkalankatu 24, PO Box 12200181 HelsinkiFinland




Timo Sneck joined Deloitte Finland in 2012. He has beenadvising Finnish and multinational clients on customs and exciseduties since 1999. Timo worked at other Big Four companiesbefore joining Deloitte, and prior to that was with the NationalBoard of Customs (1996-1999).

Timo specializes in international sourcing and distributionstructures, customs duty planning, free trade optimization, cus-toms valuation and classification reviews, customs complianceprograms and customs litigation. He has assisted many largeFinnish industrial companies with customs duty compliance,risk management and planning.

Timo has extensive experience advising companies operatingin the energy industry with matters related to energy taxationand climate regulation.

He is a regular speaker and has facilitated numerous customsand excise trainings for Finnish and multinational clients. He isthe author of a textbook on European customs law (WSOY2002).

Timo has a Masters in Law from the University of Turku.

Finland

Timo Sneck

Deloitte Finland

Porkkalankatu 24, PO Box 12200181 Helsinki Finland




Finland

Kirsti AuranenErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................



Aurélia de Viry is a counsel in the Paris office of Clifford Chanceand a member of the firm’s international VAT unit.

Over the last 16 years, she has become an expert in all VATmatters, with a particular focus on real estate, banking andfinancial transactions, as well as acquisition finance and thetransport and logistics sector. She also advises on internationaltaxation, and the general tax aspects of real estate investments,acquisition finance and structured finance (securitisations andderivatives), as well as acquisitions, disposals, restructurings andjoint-ventures.

France

Aurélia de Viry

Clifford Chance Paris

9, place Vendôme CS 50018 75038 Paris Cedex 01 France

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 05 51 43Email: [email protected]: www.cliffordchance.com



BackgroundAfter working for 17 years in the tax legislation department ofMinistry of Economy, Finance and Budget in charge of VATand custom, and international tax treaties, Michel Guichard hasfocused his professional practice on counsel to French and for-eign firms. He has kept a fruitful contact with the French TaxAdministration (FTA).

Professional experienceMichel has nearly 30 years of experience in International andFrench VAT law. He was a member of the Tax LegislationDepartment from 1983 at the French Treasury in VATDepartment and in International Tax Department. He followedhis career at Andersen in 1999, and joined Deloitte & ToucheParis as a director in 2002 – now renamed TAJ. Michel advisessome of the firm’s global strategic clients. He is the Tax Leaderof French Indirect Tax and Custom team and of the Tax con-troversy team at TAJ. He is a member of the International FiscalAssociation and APTE, a non-profit organization with EU VATexperts.

He is also the Lead Tax Partner at Deloitte targeting French multinational companies.

Expertise relevant to the subject:• VAT planning and due diligences, • Business restructurings and VAT refunds,• Cross-border VAT,• IPT, salaries tax including Organic• Counsel on Customs to French and foreign multinational groups• Optimizing the management of flows• VAT and Customs audit and negotiation,• Audit of the French agreed economic operator procedure,• Export control• Assistance to litigation on all tax matters,• Regularization procedure for companies and individuals• Lobbying actions to FTA and EU Commission.

France

Michel Guichard

Deloitte

181 avenue Charles de Gaulle92524 Neuilly-sur-Seine cedexFrance

Tel: +33 1 55 61 66 72Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Jean-Paul Ouaksel is a Partner of the law firm and Head ofIndirect Tax practice for France in the KPMG network.

Jean-Paul has worked in VAT for over 25 years. He startedhis career working for the French Tax Administration as a taxinspector. He worked then as a Lawyer with big law firms, spe-cializing in VAT and Indirect Taxes. Then he worked for amultinational company as Global Indirect Tax Director.

Dealing with indirect tax and VAT issues in these very differ-ent environments has provided Jean-Paul with a completeunderstanding of the various challenges facing companies on adaily basis as well the different options available to resolve theseissues.

On top of his indirect tax expertise, Jean-Paul has developedreal technical skills concerning VAT in IT systems and tax auditswithin IT systems.

Aside from his practice leadership role, Jean-Paul is thePresident of the MEDEF VAT commission (union of Frenchcompanies) with the responsibility of updating French compa-nies on VAT new development, coordinating and negotiationwith the French Ministry of Finance including drafting andreview of proposed VAT laws and administrative guidelines.

Jean-Paul is also a Member of the VAT Expert group of the European Commission.

France

Jean-Paul Ouaksel

KPMG in France

171 boulevard HaussmannParis 75008France




Alain Recoules is the deputy leader of Taxand’s global indirecttax team. He is based in Taxand France where he is a partner ofArsene Taxand. After obtaining a DESS (postgraduate degree)in company tax management, Alain joined Arthur AndersenInternational in 1989. He worked for several years in the finan-cial services practice, and in 1998 he became the partner incharge of the VAT/customs practice that he created atAndersen Legal. While at Andersen Legal, he also helped builda team that specialised in tax audit of computerised accountingsystems. In addition to his proficiency in VAT and internation-al trade regulations, Alain has acquired particular expertise, inboth France and Europe, of the retail and leisure sectors andcomputer services companies, along with solid knowledge ofthe banking and fund management company sectors. In 2002,he applied his knowledge to the Landwell VAT/customs prac-tice, of which he was joint head. Alain was actively involved indeveloping the financial services practice at Landwell as well.

Areas of Expertise• VAT• Indirect Tax• Customs

France

Alain Recoules

Arsene Taxand

32, Rue de Monceau75008 ParisFrance

Tel: +33 170388817 Mobile: +33 626565028Email: [email protected]:www.arsene-taxand.com



France

Jean-Claude Bouchard Deloitte ..........................................................................................................................................................................

Delphine BouchetErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Frederic GhidaliaErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Stéphane HenrionPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Thierry VialaneixBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................



Kristina is a counsel in the Düsseldorf office of Clifford Chance.Her work focuses on VAT, customs and tax compliance. Shealso advises clients in relation to tax (fraud) investigations andtax court proceedings.

She has advised companies on cross-border transactions andstructures, outsourcing projects (in particular in the financialand insurance sectors), tax fraud investigations, filing protestsand conducting tax court proceedings. Her work includessecuring binding tax rulings, especially in respect of VAT issues.Kristina also advises on customs-related questions, audits andfraud proceedings.

Germany

Kristina Bexa

Clifford Chance Düsseldorf

Königsallee 5940215 DüsseldorfGermany

Tel: +49 211 4355 5676Email: [email protected]: www.cliffordchance.com



Michael is a counsel in the Frankfurt office of Clifford Chance.He joined the firm in 2005 and is a member of its internation-al VAT unit.

He advises institutions such as banks and insurance compa-nies on the VAT aspects of a wide range of transactions – in par-ticular, outsourcing projects, reorganisations of business opera-tions, inward investment and permanent establishment issues.He has also advised clients on asset and share sales, field auditsand acquisitions.

Germany

Dr Michael Bohnhardt

Clifford Chance Frankfurt

Mainzer Landstraße 4660325 Frankfurt am MainGermany




Christof Braun has been an associate in the Frankfurt office ofClifford Chance since 2010. He specialises in VAT, the taxationof investments in German real estate, and tax administrative andfiscal proceedings.

Having served from 1999 to 2007 as a tax administrator anda tax field auditor for the State of Hessen in Frankfurt am Main(retiring with the rank of senior civil servant off duty(Steueramtmann a.D.)), Christof has more than 16 years ofexperience working with German and international companiesin various sectors. His clients include companies in the commer-cial, banking and insurance, real estate development and man-agement, telecommunications and postal, travel and leisure, andautomotive and professional sports sectors.

Germany

Christof Braun

Clifford Chance Frankfurt

Mainzer Landstraße 4660325 Frankfurt am MainGermany




Johan has more than 20 years of experience in all areas of VAT.He is a Partner with Deloitte Germany in Frankfurt am Main.

Having been with Deloitte since 2002, Johan is DeloitteGermany’s Category Leader for Indirect Tax. He leads a groupof 70 people located in eight offices across Germany. He is amember of Deloitte’s EMEA and Global Indirect Tax SteeringCommittee. In this role Johan is responsible for the co-opera-tion of the German indirect tax group with Deloitte’s interna-tional member firm network, serving multinational and globalclients.

Before joining Deloitte, Johan worked for Arthur Andersenfor seven years in Brussels and Frankfurt. Before that, he servedfor two and one-half years as a tax inspector at the Belgian VATauthority in the Brussels region.

Johan advises international and global clients in a wide vari-ety of industries. His focus is on the financial services industry,advising multinational investment banks on many occasions. Healso advises clients doing business in the manufacturing andconsumer business industries. Johan has vast expertise in plan-ning and coordinating large multinational engagements, focus-ing on efficient compliance, VAT-aligned supply chain and identification of VAT opportuni-ties and risks (indirect tax review projects). Johan has also assisted clients in complex taxaudits and tax litigation.

Johan has a Master’s degree in Administrative Sciences and a Bachelor’s degree in FiscalSciences. He is a Belgian Certified Tax Consultant (Belastingconsulent). Johan is a frequentspeaker at national and international tax seminars. Since 2012, he has lectured at theUniversity of Wuerzburg, teaching VAT for Masters candidates. His mother tongue is Dutch(Flemish) and he is fluent in English, German and French.

Germany

Johan De Spiegeleer

Deloitte Germany

Franklinstraße 5060486 Frankfurt am MainGermany

Tel: +49 69 75695 6204Fax: +49 69 75695 6724Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.de



Gregor Dzieyk is a tax partner with KPMG in Hamburg,responsible for Indirect Taxes in the Northern region ofGermany (Hamburg, Hannover, Bremen) and also serves as theHead of Tax in Hamburg. Gregor has been working in VAT formore than 15 years and over that time has accumulated a greatknowledge and practical experience.

The main focus of his work is providing VAT advisory serv-ices to international operating corporate groups, medium-sizedbusinesses and service providers. Being a lawyer he is also pre-ferred contact person for the cut surface between civil and taxlaw.

Gregor has considerable experience of advising clients on theeffective structuring and management of VAT on a multi-national basis and has led many national and international proj-ects, in a range of industry sectors, focussing on risk manage-ment, value creation and ironing out the complexities of man-aging VAT across multiple markets.

Gregor is also German head of the international Indirect Taxsubgroup for Energy & Natural Resources (ENR).

With his experience in the wind energy business Gregor istax advisor to one of the world’s leading wind mill producers. He has also provided VATadvice to various off-shore wind projects.

Last but not least, he is co-author of the publication Handbuch Offshore-Windenergie –Rechtliche, technische und wirtschaftliche Aspekte (Handbook Offshore Windenergy – legal,technical and economical aspects).

Gregor has written articles in indirect tax journals and is a frequent speaker at tax confer-ences and seminars. He is also associate lecturer at the University of Hamburg.

Germany

Gregor Dzieyk

KPMG in Germany

Ludwig-Erhard-Str. 11-17Hamburg 20459Germany

Tel: +49 40 32015-5843Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Eduard Forster has more than 15 years of experience in domes-tic and international tax covering a wide range of internationaltax planning issues. He is focused on VAT matters in generaland on supply chain management and real estate in particular.

Eduard advises medium-sized and small enterprises as well ascorporations related to domestic and foreign groups. He hasmanaged various VAT projects (e.g. improving cash position,avoiding registrations and increasing the ratio of input VATdeduction).

Eduard has a Master’s degree in economics and a Doctoratewith a VAT focused thesis (“Public bodies and VAT harmoniza-tion”). He is a certified German Tax Expert and is a regularspeaker at external tax conferences (e.g. EUROFORUM andManagementCircle) as well as at various Deloitte client seminars(e.g. VAT Package 2010). He is a permanent author with DerUmsatz-Steuer-Berater and has authored articles in various taxjournals.

Germany

Eduard Forster

Deloitte

WirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaftRosenheimer Platz 481669 MunichGermany

Tel: +49 (89) 29036 8514Email: [email protected]



Claudia Hillek has worked for KPMG as an Indirect Tax Partnerout of the Munich, Frankfurt as well as London office since1991. She is a member of the German Indirect Tax Service Lineleadership team as well as German representative of the GlobalIndirect Tax Group of KPMG.

Claudia is advising multinational corporations in tax matterssuch as tax planning and cash-flow optimization, supply chainoptimization (TESCM) and compliance services.

Claudia led an enterprise-wide Global Customs &Compliance Project in the Automotive sector. Additionally sheadvised a lot of international world-class companies in complexindirect tax issues. Furthermore she is very experienced in tax-fraud cases and works very closely with KPMG Legal. Togetherwith KPMG Advisory she is assisting multinational clients in set-ting up central procurement entities by structuring and opti-mizing their supply chains from an indirect tax perspective. Fornational and international clients she delivers VAT maturityassessments and supports the implementation of definedimprovement measures such as internal control systems andVAT outsourcing initiatives.

Claudia is in demand as a speaker for various external and internal conferences as well astailored client workshops. Furthermore she is author of several publications. Claudia anno-tates the renowned German VAT Law commentary “Rau/Dürrwächter”.

Germany

Claudia Hillek

KPMG in Germany

Ganghoferstraße 29München 80339Germany

Tel: +49 89 9282-1528Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Eva Rehberg is a Deloitte Germany Indirect Tax partner special-izing in customs and global trade.

Eva started her career with the German customs authoritiesas a customs officer, later working as a Director of Export andImport at several customs offices.

Eva has over 20 years’ experience of cross-border customstransactions, during which she has gained deep knowledge ofEuropean and German customs legislation including CustomsValuation, Origin, Preferential Agreements, Classification andForeign Trade Law. Eva advises clients in all areas of customsand global trade, including process management and supplychain design/business model optimization and strategic plan-ning of cross-border transactions.

Eva has been recognized by International Tax Review as oneof Germany’s leading indirect tax advisors. She is a regularspeaker at seminars and workshops and is actively involved withvarious training and knowledge management initiatives.

Eva is a member of the European Forum for Foreign Trade,Customs and Excise e.v.

Germany

Eva Rehberg

Deloitte Germany

Dammtorstrasse 12Hamburg D 20354Germany

Tel: +49 40320804951Email: [email protected]



Karsten Schuck is a tax partner in KPMG’s Frankfurt officewhere he also serves as the head of KPMG in Germany’s indi-rect tax practice.

Having over 20 years of experience working in and for thefinancial services industry, Karsten’s operational focus is on taxadvice for banks and financial sector clients (in particular assetfinance companies) in connection with national and internation-al corporate tax and indirect tax (VAT) issues. His service expe-rience includes the establishment, acquisition and restructuringof banks, planning and consultancy related to ongoing businessactivities as well as tax compliance services. Being in charge ofproviding tax advice to a number of globally operating clients,Karsten has a detailed knowledge of specific tax issues in thefinancial services sector.

As an indirect tax practitioner working closely with clients’in-house advisors and other professionals, much of Karsten’swork on VAT surrounds local and international VAT projects inthe financial services sector such as, but not limited to, VATcompliance and savings reviews, tax due diligences, restructur-ing projects, also with cross-border implications, advisory serv-ices on funds management and on portfolio transactions.

Karsten has written numerous articles in corporate tax and VAT specialized journals andis a frequent speaker in tax conferences and seminars.

Germany

Karsten Schuck

KPMG in Germany

The SquaireAm Flughafen60549 Frankfurt am MainGermany




Germany

Mónica AzcáratePwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Daniel KellerPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Thomas KüffnerKüffner Maunz Langer Zugmaier ...............................................................................................................................

Ronny LangerKüffner Maunz Langer Zugmaier ...............................................................................................................................

Nicole LooksBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Stefan MaunzKüffner Maunz Langer Zugmaier ...............................................................................................................................

Bettina MertgenBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Jochen Meyer-BurowBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Gotz NeuhahnPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Jens RoehrbeinLuther Taxand................................................................................................................................................................

Guido SchaeferPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Peter SchillingErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Eberhard KalbfleischLuther Taxand................................................................................................................................................................

Burkhard von LoeffelholzBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................

Oliver ZugmaierKüffner Maunz Langer Zugmaier ...............................................................................................................................



Kyriaki Dafni is a Deloitte Greece Senior Manager based inAthens. She joined Deloitte in 2000 having previously workedfor a private legal practice and in the legal department of BPHellas SA during her attorney-at-law training period. Kyriakihas significant experience advising domestic and internationalclients with respect to indirect (VAT) and international taxationissues (e.g. cross-border taxation and double tax treaties). Shehas also been successfully involved with performing tax due dili-gence reviews for several multinational and domestic compa-nies, especially dealing with the area of indirect taxation, and hasprovided corporate and VAT tax planning services involving taxefficient structuring to several clients. Furthermore, Kyriaki hasexperience in personal taxation and has provided GlobalEmployer Services for select clients.

Kyriaki is actively engaged in projects regarding the supply ofVAT planning and consulting services to a large selection ofclients based either in Greece or abroad. During the last sevenyears, she has focused on issues of indirect taxation and she isthe VAT Leader for Greece dealing with all cases referred to theGreek practice in this area.

Kyriaki graduated from the National Athens University where she obtained an LLB fromthe Athens Law School. She also has a diploma in tax from the Athens Economic Universityand is a qualified attorney-at-law and full-fledged member of the Athens Bar Association.Deloitte has offered her opportunities to take part in various seminars in Greece and abroadboth in the field of direct and indirect taxation.

Greece

Kyriaki Dafni

Deloitte Greece

3a Fragkoklissias & Granikou strGR – 151 25 MaroussiAthensGreece

Direct: +30 210 6781293 Main: +30 210 6781 100Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Greece

Tassos AnastassiadisErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Alex KaropoulosZepos & Yannopoulos Taxand .....................................................................................................................................

Maria TrakadiDeloitte ..........................................................................................................................................................................

Panagiotis TsouramanisPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Hong Kong

Eugene LimBaker & McKenzie.........................................................................................................................................................



The service industry forms the backbone of India’s socio-eco-nomic development, accounting for 56% of India’s grossdomestic product in 2011-12. The rapid developments in infor-mation technology and communications have helped makeIndia a hub for the provision of services throughout the world.To maintain this position, India needs to ensure that services arecarried out in a competitive manner and that the cost of provid-ing services is not burdened by the imposition of domestictaxes. It is in this context that the rules on the export of servic-es in the service tax law assume critical importance.

Service tax is a tax imposed on services provided in India ata rate of 12.36% on the gross value of the services; the tax is col-lected by the service provider and paid over to the government.The rules relating to the tax treatment of the export of serviceshave been subject to constant change. In addition to legislativechanges, the authorities have released guidance in the form ofcirculars to ensure a common interpretation and implementa-tion, and the courts have handed down various decisions, inparticular, on the issue of when a service qualifies as an export.

Service tax was exempt on services for which considerationwas received in foreign currency until February 2003. Thisexemption was revoked in March 2003, and was followed by acircular issued on April 25 by the Central Board of Excise andCustoms, which clarified that service tax is a “destination-based” tax and the export of services would continue to be tax-free even after the revocation of the service tax exemption forpayments received in foreign exchange.

Because of the lack of clarity as to when a service qualified asan export (the concept was not defined in the service tax law),the tax authorities reintroduced the foreign exchange exemp-tion as an interim measure on November 19 2003.

India

Prashant Deshpande(above) and Saloni RoyDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu

No tax on export of services:Boon or bane?

Prashant Deshpande and Saloni Roy, of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, look at the convolutedhistory of India’s legislation governing the tax treatment of the export of services.



India

The export of services rules introduced in 2005 provided that no tax was due on theexport of services, thus making the determination of when a service qualified as an exportcritical. Shortly afterwards, the government announced rebate and refund benefits to serviceexporters with respect to certain taxes on inputs and input services. The export of servicesrules divide taxable services into three categories, with prescribed criteria for each categoryand some common conditions that must be satisfied to qualify as an export of services. Thethree categories and the prescribed conditions are as follows: • Services relating to immovable property: The services must relate to immovable property

situated outside India;• Place of performance of services: The services must be carried out in whole or in part out-

side India. If the services relate to the supply of tangible goods for use, or are maintenanceor repair services provided through the internet or an electronic network, the goods mustbe located outside India; and

• Location of the service recipient: When services are provided in relation to business or com-merce, the services must be provided to a recipient located outside India and the requestfor the services must come from a commercial establishment or office outside India. Despite the government’s efforts to clarify the rules, the problems faced by service

exporters continued to grow, as is evident from the numerous amendments made to therules, which are highlighted below.

The common conditions for all three categories of export services were prescribed as:

For the period March 15 2005 to April 18 2006• Payment for export services provided outside India had to be received in convertible for-

eign exchange.

For the period April 19 2006 to February 28 2007• Services had to be delivered outside India and used outside India; and• Payment for services provided outside India had to be received in convertible foreign

exchange.

For the period March 1 2007 to May 31 2007• Services had to be provided from India and used outside India; and • Payment for services provided outside India had to be received in convertible foreign exchange.

For the period June 1 2007 to February 26 2010• Services had to be provided from India and used outside India; and • Payment for services had to be received in convertible foreign exchange.

For the period February 27 2010 to June 30 2012• Payment for services had to be received in convertible foreign exchange.

From July 1 2012, the export of service rules were replaced by the place of provision of serv-ices rules. The place of provision of services rules, read in conjunction with Rule 6A of theservice tax rules, now govern the export of services.



Diverging interpretations by the trade and tax officials on when a service qualifies as anexport have led to many disputes before various judicial forums throughout India. Category3 services (that is location of the service recipient) seem to have given rise to the majority ofthese disputes. A circular issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs on February 242009 clarified that the words “used outside India” in the export of services rules should beinterpreted to mean that the benefit in respect of the service should be accrued outside India.The relevant factor is the location of the service recipient, not the place where the serviceswere performed. Therefore, it was possible that an export of services could arise even whenall of the relevant activities took place in India provided the benefits of the services accruedoutside India. Despite this guidance, tax officers have often disregarded it.

Given the many conflicts, Indian courts and tribunals have issued numerous landmark deci-sions on when services can be said to be exported. For example, the Delhi Tribunal held in PaulMerchants Limited vs. Commissioner of Central Excise that the destination of services must bedecided based on the place of consumption, not the place of performance. In this case, serviceswere provided by an agent of a foreign entity on behalf of the entity and since the person whogave the instructions for the services and from whom the consideration was paid was located out-side India, the services were deemed to constitute an export of services under the export rules.

Similarly, in the case of Vodafone Essar Cellular Limited vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, theDelhi Tribunal held that when a service is provided to a third party at the request of a serviceprovider’s customer, the service recipient is the customer and not the third party. Hence, in thecase concerned, the telecom services provided by Vodafone to foreign travellers in India on behalfof foreign telecom operators were held to qualify as the export of services, since the recipient ofthe services was the foreign telecom operator.

The Delhi Tribunal’s upcoming decision in the case of Microsoft India on whether marketingsupport activities qualify as the export of services is keenly awaited.

Under the 2012 place of provision of services rules, the default principle is that services areprovided in the place where the service recipient (the service consumer) is located. A service isnow considered an export of services (provided the conditions under the service tax rules are sat-isfied) when the services are provided to a recipient located outside India.

A matter related to the export of services is the refund relief granted in respect of specifiedtaxes to an exporter of services. In addition to challenges as to whether services qualify as anexport of services for purposes of a refund, the authorities often question whether servicesreceived by an exporter fall within the scope of the definition of input services (services that gointo the provision of output services on which tax is paid). Such challenges, combined with thepractical difficulties in obtaining a refund and the fact that the queries also have given rise totransfer pricing issues have often led exporters to question the wisdom of their decisions to setup service centres in India.

It has been nearly a decade since the export of services rules were introduced. Industry con-fidence would surely receive a boost if the revenue authorities were to change their approach andabandon their practice of delaying and denying refund relief to service exporters. Clearly, what iscalled for is a speedy and efficient procedure for dealing with the claims of the many serviceexporters that are engaged in litigation that they genuinely believe is unwarranted and not in thespirit of governance. Given the volume of this litigation, it is unclear whether provisions govern-ing the export of services and refunds are a boon or have become a bane.

India



Santosh Dalvi is a renowned indirect tax expert with more than27 years of hands on experience in the areas of indirect taxes,finance and commercial functions that includes 14 years withvarious multinationals / local corporations in management rolesand 13 years with global consulting companies.

Santosh is Partner in the ‘Indirect Tax Services Practice’ ofKPMG, Mumbai and heads the Indirect Tax OutsourcingPractice for KPMG. He is a Commerce and Law Graduate fromMumbai University and an Associate Member of The Instituteof Cost & Works Accountants of India. Before Joining KPMGhe was Partner in the Indirect Tax Service Practice of PwC forthree years and prior to PwC as a senior manager in the IndirectTax Practice of Ernst & Young for over six years.

Before joining consulting, Santosh was managing the com-mercial functions in the industry, including tax planning, legalaspects and compliance issues apropos indirect taxes. He hashandled complex issues ranging from material procurement tolaunching of finished products including commercial, logistics,costing and pricing aspects. Santosh played a key role in stream-lining and development of internal control systems and MIS toensure effective compliance and management of tax issues.

Santosh specializes in customs, central excise, service tax,VAT / sales tax, and stamp duty within the FMCG, pharmaceutical, retail, media and indus-trial markets industries. Santosh advises various multinational clients on indirect tax implica-tions, tax planning and compliance aspects concerning the setting up of business operationsin India, business restructuring, merger and acquisition transactions and indirect tax manage-ment. He has assisted various corporates in smooth transitioning from erstwhile sales taxregime to VAT regime including impact analysis and implementation assistance.

Santosh has been involved in the VAT and GST initiative in India. He has been involvedin close interaction with various state governments and industry for GST implementation,strategies and methodologies. He is a frequent speaker in various seminars and has alsoauthored various thought leadership articles in various publications.

Santosh has been voted as one of the ten most admired indirect tax advisers in India inthe survey conducted by International Tax Review publication, UK in early 2011.

India

Santosh Dalvi

KPMG in India

Lodha Excelus, 5th FloorApollo Mills CompoundN M Joshi Marg, MahalaxmiMumbai – 400 011India




Prashant Deshpande heads the Indirect Tax Practice of DeloitteIndia. He has 31 years of post-qualification experience.

Prashant has served a wide spectrum of clients for structur-ing of transactions, supply chains and business processes to opti-mize indirect tax incidence. He has also assisted them with com-pliance with tax laws and has provided litigation support.Prashant helps clients deal with complex indirect tax laws andhas a deep level of local expertise aligned to business perspec-tives and commercial needs. Prashant’s emphasis is on under-standing business transactions and flows in order to cater to theunique indirect tax issues faced in different industries.

Prashant is at the forefront of tax reforms including the pro-posed goods and services tax and has not only helped clientsplan their business strategy but also has participated in severaldebates over the manner of introduction of reforms.

Under Prashant’s leadership, the Indirect Tax Practice ofDeloitte India has grown and now comprises a large number ofexperienced professionals spread across nine locations. The keystrength of the practice is the professional knowledge and expe-rience of its people and the processes being put in place forachieving efficiency in service delivery. Internal tools, processesand training curriculum help them to efficiently provide servic-es. The practice prides itself on deep client relationships devel-oped through a proactive approach of alerting them to changes, and analyzing their implica-tions.

Prashant believes the key differentiator for the practice is the zeal to provide meaningfulsolutions that are practical to implement in areas relating to supply chain tax optimization,tax controversy management and transaction structuring through established and risk miti-gated process.

Prashant has been named a leading tax adviser by International Tax Review’s (ITR) WorldTax 2012.

Prashant is a Chartered Accountant and Company Secreatry. He earned a Bachelor’sdegree and degree in law from the University of Mumbai.

India

Prashant Deshpande

Deloitte India

India Bulls Finance CentreTower 3, 27th – 32nd FloorSenapati Bapat MargElphinstone Road (West)Mumbai 400 013 MaharashtraIndia

Tel: +91 (22) 6185 4220Mobile: +91 98670 33840Email:[email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Rajeev is a Partner with BMR, leading the indirect tax practiceand based in Gurgaon. He has over 25 years’ experience in taxmatters and specialises in structuring cross-border transactionsfor goods and services covering a range of indirect tax issues.

Rajeev has extensive experience in advising multinational anddomestic companies across a range of industries in the area ofcustoms and other in-country indirect taxes. He has workedclosely with the central government and various state govern-ments of India, leading multi-disciplinary teams on projects todefine and implement new legislation covering all manner ofindirect taxes. He is a member of the Advisory Group onIndirect Taxes constituted by the Indian Ministry of Finance.

Rajeev has worked extensively with several multinational cor-porations in setting up green field projects in India and to struc-ture national and international procurement and distributionmodels.

He is a regular speaker at various national and internationalforums and has been recognized as a leading indirect tax practi-tioner in India in several independent surveys.

Rajeev is a graduate in Commerce from the University ofDelhi and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988.

India

Rajeev Dimri

BMR Advisors – Taxand

22nd FloorBuilding No 5Tower ADLF Cyber CityDLF Phase IIIGurgaon 122 002India

Tel: +91 124 339 5050Email:[email protected]: www.bmradvisors.com



Background Pratik, a recognized indirect tax specialist, is a partner withKPMG in India and leads the firm’s indirect tax practice in thenorthern and eastern part of the country. He has over 14 years ofexperience in advising clients on indirect taxes specifically, onservice tax, VAT and GST. Prior to joining KPMG in 2006, Pratikhas worked with Arthur Andersen / Ernst and Young in India.

Professional and industry experience • He has been involved with several Indian and multinational

corporations and advises them on indirect tax planning,management, dispute resolution and policy related issues

• Has been involved in several greenfield projects in identifica-tion of planning opportunities including possible strategiesfor building up an effective supply chain model from an indi-rect tax perspective. He has advised large manufacturingcompanies in areas relating to project specific tax incentivessought from central / state governments.

• Pratik was involved in VAT implementation of two Indianstates, which included drafting the legislation, conceptualiz-ing the overall administrative framework and post implemen-tation training to the VAT officials

• Pratik is actively engaged in tax advocacy and frequentlyinteracts with Indian tax regulators. He also plays an active role in formulation of the GSTpolicy and is actively involved / consulted by industry and industry associations.

• He leads the GST initiatives of KPMG in India and is helping several large companies inassessing the impact of the proposed GST reform on their business and transitioning intothe new regime

• Pratik is one of KPMG India’s spokespeople and frequently interacts with media (print aswell as electronic) . He regularly contributes in public debates / discussions on indirecttax issues and is member of tax committees of leading trade bodies

Description of client industries• Pratik works with clients across sectors and has significant experience in infrastructure,

retail and consumer market segments

Education, licenses and certifications Chartered Accountant (year of passing- 1998); Bachelor of Commerce

Languages English, Hindi

India

Pratik Jain

KPMG in India

DLF Building No 108th Floor, Tower BDLF Cyber City, Phase2Gurgaon 122 002India

Direct: +91 124 334 5002Cell: +91 98111 41868Fax: +91 124 254 9101Email: [email protected] Website: www.kpmg.com



M.S. Mani has over 24 years of post-qualification experience, ofwhich 14 years were in industry and 10 years have been in indi-rect tax consulting. He deals with indirect tax issues across avariety of sectors such as financial services, infrastructure, tech-nology, manufacturing and consumer business. He has experi-ence in handling both VAT/GST and customs/global tradematters.

He is based out of Mumbai and is a key member ofDeloitte’s Asia Pacific Indirect Tax team, a group comprised ofthe indirect tax teams of Deloitte member firms in Asia-Pacificand a highly specialized, experienced, and integrated groupbringing global and Asia Pacific expertise to clients.

He has assisted several multinational entities in their indirecttax planning and structuring in India from the inception stage.He handles compliance, advisory and litigation matters on anongoing basis and interacts with tax authorities on a regularbasis. He has also worked on various tax technology projectsincluding ERP implementation projects and Sabrix/Vertextools.

Mani has been recognized by International Tax Review asone of India’s leading indirect tax advisers. He is a regularspeaker at seminars and workshops and is actively involved withvarious training and knowledge management initiatives. In addition, Mani has contributed toseveral publications on indirect tax matters.

Mani has a Master’s degree in Commerce and is a Company Secretary(CS) and Cost andManagement Accountant(CMA).

India

MS Mani

Deloitte India


Tel: +91 22 61854210Mobile: +91 9820101974Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Sachin Menon is a highly acknowledged indirect tax expert withover 31 years of experience in areas of Indian CorporateIndirect Tax Law which include 16 years with various MNCs /local corporate in management roles and 15 years with globalconsulting majors.

Sachin is the Partner and National Head – Indirect Tax prac-tice of KPMG, and is based in Mumbai. He is a law graduatefrom the University of Mumbai. He is also a postgraduate inBusiness Management. In the past, he was the head of theIndirect Tax Practice of E&Y and PwC, Western Region.

Specialization:Sachin advises various MNC clients on tax planning, tax effi-cient entry strategy, incentives for new investments, handlinglegal matters, EPC contract restructuring, formulation of cor-porate tax policies, designing indirect tax system and processesand handling of indirect tax litigation. He has led various suc-cessful representations before the Ministry of Finance on behalfof the industry/clients. Sachin’s areas of expertise include VAT,customs, service tax, excise and foreign trade policies. He is spe-cialised in oil & gas, EPC, automobile, FMCG, telecom, andinfrastructure industries.

Sachin was leading VAT thought leadership initiatives during the introduction of VAT inIndia. He plays an active role in formulation of the Indian GST policy and co-chairs the “GSTTask Force” of “Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry”

Sachin was ex-co-chair of Indirect Tax Committee of Bombay Chamber of Commerce andIndustry and Ex-Member of Central Tax Committee and National Economic AffairsCommittee of “Confederation of Indian Industry”.

Sachin is regularly writing in leading financial dailies such as the Economic Times,Financial Express, DNA Money and Business Standard on various indirect issues and also apanelist in various panel discussions in BBC, CNBC and UTV Bloomberg. He has alsoaddressed numerous national and international tax seminars.

India

Sachin Menon

KPMG in India

Lodha Excelus, 5th floorApollo Mills CompoundN M Joshi Marg, MahalaxmiMumbai – 400 011India

Tel: +91 22 3090 2682Cell: +91 98 202 89197Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.com



Harsh Shah is a Senior Manager with Deloitte’s Indirect Taxpractice in Mumbai.

Harsh has over ten years of work experience in indirect taxand handles all Indian indirect taxes such as service tax, valueadded tax, customs and excise.

Harsh is a key member of Deloitte’s Indirect Tax team, ahighly specialized, experienced and integrated group bringingglobal, regional and local expertise to clients. The DeloitteIndirect Tax team has a singular focus on dealing with clients’compliance, advisory and consultancy needs regardless of geog-raphy, and has built a reputation in the marketplace for its prac-tical, efficient and effective approach.

He specializes in providing services to clients in the financialservices and logistics sector and advices these clients on theirindirect taxes on a regular basis.

Harsh was nominated by International Tax Review as one ofthe leading indirect tax advisers in the country. He has keeninterest in and regularly writes articles which are published inleading tax websites and newspapers.

Professional Qualifications and Affiliations• Chartered Accountant • Law Graduate • Masters in Commerce (University of Mumbai)

India

Harsh Shah

Deloitte Touche TohmatsuIndia Private Limited


Tel: +91 (0)22 6185 4142Mobile: +91 9820462123Email: [email protected]: www.deloitte.com



Krupa Venkatesh is a Deloitte India Senior Director, IndirectTax. She is based in Bangalore and is responsible for both theBangalore and Chennai Indirect Tax practices of Deloitte.Krupa was one of the first professionals to join the Indirect Taxteam, joining in 2001. Krupa was employed by the Governmentof India in the Customs and Central Excise Department for 10years before joining Deloitte.

Krupa serves Indian and multinational clients. She has assist-ed with contract and transaction structuring, planning reviewsand compliance reviews.

Krupa has presented at several seminars organized by varioustrade bodies. She is a guest faculty member at the IndianInstitute of Management, Bangalore, and the AdministrativeCollege of India, Hyderabad. She is a member of the IndirectTaxes Committee and the Bangalore Chamber of Industry andCommerce.

Krupa received her bachelor’s degree in commerce fromBangalore University. She is an associate member of theInstitute of Cost and Management Accountants of India and agraduate of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. She is a member of the IndirectTaxes Committee of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce and ASSOCHAM,Southern Chapter.

India

Krupa Venkatesh

Deloitte India

Deloitte Center, Anchorage II,#100/2Bangalore; Karnataka 560025India




India

Sujit GhoshBMR Advisors Taxand ...................................................................................................................................................

Mahesh JaisingBMR Advisors Taxand ...................................................................................................................................................

SL KatyalKatyal Associates ..........................................................................................................................................................

Nihal KothariKhaitan & Co .................................................................................................................................................................

S MadhavanPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Malini MallikarjunBMR Advisors Taxand ...................................................................................................................................................

Ajay MehraBMR Advisors Taxand ...................................................................................................................................................

Vivek MishraPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Harishanker SubramaniamErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................



Pascal Brennan is a Deloitte Ireland Partner and NationalIndirect Tax Leader. He has over thirty years’ experience, andhaving worked both with the Revenue Commissioners and inprivate practice, is uniquely placed to bring insight from bothsides to any dispute. This knowledge can help to facilitate set-tlement of complex tax disputes without litigation.

Pascal also has market leading experience in tax litigation andhas brought tax disputes for clients to all levels of the Irish taxappeals system. This experience can aid in negotiations with reg-ulators which may result in favourable out of court settlementsin otherwise intractable situations at stages of the tax appealsprocess.

Pascal advises organisations doing business in all industries inIreland including many of the world’s leading brand names.

Ireland

Pascal Brennan

Deloitte Ireland

Earlsfort TerraceDublin 2Ireland

Tel: +353 14172443Email: [email protected]



BackgroundNiall has specialised in VAT for 19 years and has advised domes-tic and multinational clients in a wide range of industries includ-ing clients in aviation, distribution, financial services, healthcare,hi-tech, property, software and state sectors.

Professional and industry experienceNiall is an Indirect Tax Partner with KPMG in Ireland andHead of Innovation. Niall is also former Head of KPMG’sGlobal Indirect Tax Services practice.

KPMG’s Global Indirect Tax practice consists of over 1,500professionals working in VAT, GST, Trade & Customs andother indirect taxes, across more than 70 countries. As head ofthe Global Indirect Tax Network for five years, Niall wasinvolved in a range of global indirect tax developments and hasimmediate access to our international indirect tax colleagues todeliver multi-jurisdictional assignments.

Niall has extensive experience devising and negotiating VATpositions in property and infrastructure projects with revenueauthorities, finance ministries, financial institutions and develop-ers, and in the implementation of cross-border VAT solutions.

Niall has served on the Chartered Accountant’s Ireland Taxation Committee, the VATpractitioners / Irish Revenue Commissioners liaison committee and the Indirect TaxCommittee of FEE, the pan-European accounting body.

Niall is widely published in industry journals and the press on Irish and global VAT matters.

Function and specializationNiall is currently an Indirect Tax Partner with KPMG in Ireland, specialising in financial serv-ices, property, healthcare and State sectors.

Niall is a member of the European Commission VAT Expert Group, which is a group thathas been set up to advise the European Commission on the preparation of legislative acts andto provide insight concerning the practical implementation of legislative acts and other EUpolicy initiatives in the field of VAT.

Education, licenses and certifications • BA Accounting and Finance, Dublin City University • MBS Accounting, Dublin City University • FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant, Chartered Accountants Ireland)

Ireland

Niall Campbell

KPMG in Ireland

1 Stokes PlaceSt. Stephens GreenDublin 2Ireland

Tel: +353 1 410 1174Fax: +353 1 412 1174Email: [email protected]: www.kpmg.ie


97 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERS97 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERSINDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 97INDIRECT TAX LEADERS www.internationaltaxreview.com | 9797 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERS97 | www.internationaltaxreview.com INDIRECT TAX LEADERS

Ireland

Brian ButlerA&L Goodbody ..............................................................................................................................................................

Neil ByrneErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Breen CassidyErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................

Aidan FaganDeloitte ..........................................................................................................................................................................

John HicksonA&L Goodbody ..............................................................................................................................................................

Greg LockhartMatheson Ormsby Prentice ........................................................................................................................................

Sonya ManzorWilliam Fry Advisors Taxand .......................................................................................................................................

Terry O’NeillKPMG ..............................................................................................................................................................................

Renata SlobodovaPwC.................................................................................................................................................................................

Israel

Avi BibiErnst & Young ...............................................................................................................................................................


Indirect Tax Leaders · 2013-08-09 · INDIRECT TAX LEADERS | 2 Introduction International Tax...

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Transcript of Indirect Tax Leaders · 2013-08-09 · INDIRECT TAX LEADERS | 2 Introduction International Tax...