11th Regional Tax Conference with Arthur Laffer

Organizer

American Chamber of Commerce
in the Czech Republic

When

5.05.2016, 08:30 - 5.05.2016, 17:00

Where

Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, Hviezdoslavovo námestie 185/3, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Show on map

What

Organized by AmChams of CEE (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic), hosted by AmCham Slovakia. The conference, organized shortly before the Slovak presidency of the Council of the EU, will focus on attractiveness of tax systems as well as tax evasion and profit shifting. It will bring together Visegrad group (V4) countries‘political leaders, tax experts, representatives of public institutions and the business community, as well as experts from the European Commission and the OECD. Overall content focus: Balance between tax system attractiveness (competitive rates, attracting FDI) & eliminating tax fraud (effective collection, implementing tools easing life for companies complying to the rules & adopting strict measures against wrong-doers) Speakers, guests and invited delegates: High level representatives of Visegrad group Ministries of Finance Representatives of International institutions (OECD, European Commission, independent fiscal institutions, etc.) V4 AmCham Tax Committee leaders Leading business representatives from V4 countries Members of academia Local Tax experts Agenda 8:30 – 9:00 Registration 9:00 – 9:10 Official opening Jake Slegers, Executive Director of AmCham Slovakia 9:10 – 9:50 Keynote speeches Dana Meager, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Slovak Republic Christiana Serugova, AmCham Slovakia Tax Committee Chair; PwC Partner, Tax and Legal Services Leader 9:50 – 10:00 Short break 10:00 – 11:30 Panel 1: Attractiveness of Tax Systems within the Visegrad group During a short introduction into each Visegrad group country tax system the panelist will try to respond to the question: “What are the features that make our country tax system more attractive for investors?” The discussion will focus on sharing best practices on a wide range of issues such as Corporate tax rate/total tax rate, Capital gains taxation, Deductibility of expenses (general), Utilization of tax losses, R&D expenses deductibility/patent box regime, Binding rulings practice, Adoption of GAAR (general anti avoidance rules) and many more Dana Meager, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Slovak Republic Alena Schillerova, Deputy Finance Minister, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic Zoltán Pankúcsi, Deputy State Secretary for Taxation, Ministry for National Economy, Hungary Cezary Krysiak, Director of Tax Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Poland Todd Bradshaw, President of AmCham Slovakia; PwC Country Managing Partner (Moderator) 11:30 – 12:45 Lunch & Networking for conference participants 11:45 – 12:45 VIP Lunch – on invitation only 12:45 – 14:15 Panel 2: BEPS/EU ATAD answer to Panama Papers: CFC rules 12:45 – 13:15 Keynote by Will Morris, Tax Chair of the Business Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to OECD, Chair of AmCham EU Tax Committee 13:15 – 14:30 Discussion focusing on current issues related to OECD BEPS Action plan, EU ATAD Directive, as well as experience with controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules from OECD/EU, status of implementation of CFC across V4, issues and challenges, etc. Will Morris, Tax Chair of the Business Industry Advisory Committee to OECD, Chair of AmCham EU Tax Committee Tibor Palszabo, Tax Partner, EY, AmCham Hungary Romero Tavares, Researcher and Lecturer at the Global Tax Policy Center, Vienna University of Business and Economics Robert McCafferty, VP Financial Supply Chain Design, Flex Tomáš Balco, General State Counsel, Ministry of Finance, Slovak Republic Cezary Krysiak, Director of Tax Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Poland Richard Panek, AmCham Slovakia Tax Committee Vice Chair; EY Tax Partner (Moderator) 14:30 – 14:45 Coffee Break 14:45 – 16:00 Panel 3: EU Tax outlook in light of the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU 14:45 – 15:05 Keynote by Tomáš Balco, General State Counsel, Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic 15:05 – 16:00 Discussion panel focusing on Tax deductibility of financing costs, especially the application of EBITDA based thin-cap rules - practical implementation issues (e.g. gross vs net interest, related vs unrelated debt, Slovak and regional experience with EBITDA based thin-cap, etc.) Mark Johnson, Senior Adviser, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Ľubica Adame, Head of the International Tax Department, Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic Marek Sásik, Head of Project Finance and Syndications, Slovenská sporiteľňa, Member of Erste Group Romero Tavares, Researcher and Lecturer at the Global Tax Policy Center, Vienna University of Business and Economics Tomáš Balco, General State Counsel, Ministry of Finance, Slovak Republic (Moderator) 16:00 – closing remarks Todd Bradshaw, President of AmCham Slovakia, PwC Country Managing Partner 16:15 – networking cocktail Please register by May 2, 2016 The attendance is free of charge for AmCham members and invited guests. Website of the event: http://www.amcham.sk/events/2278_11th-regional-tax-conference