The impact of the BEPS Project on China Programme 13 October 2016 Shanghai, China
IBFD is delighted to announce the 7th lecture of its International Tax Lecture Series: The impact of the BEPS Project on China. The lecture will be held in Shanghai on 13 October 2016. The IBFD International Tax Lecture Series is an annual event. As a leading non-profit organization in the area of cross-border taxation, it is IBFD s mission to disseminate the knowledge and expertise of international taxation. The tax lecture is one of the activities to carry out this mission in China. About the Topics In October 2015, the OECD released the final reports of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. Since then, the reports have been heavily debated in the international tax community and many countries involved in the BEPS Project are preparing to implement the recommendations of the final reports. Some countries have already incorporated the BEPS recommendations into their tax legislation. From the outset, China has been an important non-oecd member country heavily involved in the BEPS Project and a strong project supporter. Recently, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued SAT Gong Gao [2016] 42 concerning the new transfer pricing reporting obligations which include a country-by-country report and submitting master file, local file and special item file under certain conditions. China has also introduced its own measures, such as a value contribution allocation method and value appraisal method, as transfer pricing methods and it has attempted to determine transfer prices by taking into account location savings and market premiums. Moreover, indirect transfer of equity interest has been a very important issue for both tax administration and taxpayers for many years. The 7th tax lecture will focus on the BEPS developments in China and the impact of the BEPS Project on Chinese tax legislation, taxpayers, tax practitioners and the way in which the tax administration will operate. It is intended to provide a platform for discussions and sharing the views, concerns and possible solutions around the BEPS Project. We sincerely hope that this lecture will contribute to the constructive discussions on BEPS and further tax development in China. With the distinguished speakers present, we are sure that this can be achieved. What does this lecture offer attendees? presentations and insights provided by the distinguished speakers on a complimentary basis; simultaneous English and Chinese translation; a free copy of IBFD s Tax Glossary (Chinese version) based on the availability; a 2-week free trial of the IBFD Tax Research Platform; and meeting other tax professionals and peers. 2
Programme 12:45 13:15 Registration 13:15 13:30 Opening address Sam van der Feltz (CEO of IBFD) 13:30 14:15 The main implementation issues of the BEPS recommendations recent BEPS developments implementation issues in general possible solutions Speaker: Stef van Weeghel (Chairman of the Board of Trustees of IBFD, Global Tax Policy Leader of PwC and Tax Professor of the University of Amsterdam) 14:15 15:00 Impact of the BEPS recommendations on Chinese tax legislation anti-avoidance rules and the BEPS Project the tax treaties recently concluded by China international tax co-operation - China s perspective Speaker: Zhang Zhi Yong (Former Deputy Commissioner of SAT, Deputy Chairman of the CITRI, Member of the Board of Trustees of IBFD and Tax Expert of IMF) 15:00 15:30 Coffee/Tea break 15:30 16:15 BEPS challenges for the Chinese tax administration impact of the BEPS Project on the Chinese tax administration work process in the implementation of country-by-country reporting changes to the way in which the Chinese tax administration operates Speaker: Liu Xin Li (Deputy Commissioner of Shanghai Tax Bureau) 16:15 16:45 Impact of the BEPS Project on Chinese companies impact of the BEPS Project on Chinese companies practical issues of implementing the anti-tax avoidance measures new relationship between tax administration and taxpayers in the tax compliance? 3
Speaker: Vicky Wang (Head of China s International Tax and M&A service of Deloitte) 16:45 17:15 Changing role of tax practitioners is tax planning still possible? controversy / disputes any changes of the role of tax practitioner? Speaker: Brendan Kelly (Co-head of tax practice Baker & McKenzie Shanghai) 17:15 17:30 Q&A 17:30 19:00 Cocktails Speakers Prof. dr. Stef van Weeghel is a tax partner with PwC (Netherlands). Mr Van Weeghel is PwC s Global Tax Policy leader. He is also professor of international tax law at the University of Amsterdam. Mr Van Weeghel s focus is on tax policy, strategic tax advice and tax controversy. He regularly renders advice and second opinions to clients and to other advisers, on corporate income tax and tax treaty matters and is also consulted by the Dutch government on a regular basis. He acts as expert witness in tax matters (for taxpayers and for governments) before Dutch and foreign courts and in arbitration pursuant to bilateral investment treaties. At the University of Amsterdam his research focuses on tax treaty abuse and the interaction between domestic antiavoidance rules and tax treaties. His PhD-thesis of 1997 (the Improper Use of Tax Treaties) was about tax treaty abuse. In 2010 he was the general reporter for Subject 1 (Tax treaties and tax avoidance: application of antiavoidance provisions) at the Congress of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) in Rome. He also spoke about tax treaty abuse at the OECD Annual Global Forum on Tax Treaties. Mr Van Weeghel is chair of the Permanent Scientific Committee of IFA and former chair of the Dutch branch of IFA. IFA was established in 1938. It is the only non-governmental and non-sectoral international organisation dealing with fiscal matters. Mr Van Weeghel also chairs the Board of Trustees of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD). IBFD, also established in 1938, is a non-profit foundation that conducts independent tax research, provides international tax information, education, and government consultancy. 4
Mr Van Weeghel graduated from the University of Leiden in business law (1983) and tax law (1987) and obtained an LLM in Taxation from New York University (1990). In 1997 he received a doctorate in law from the University of Amsterdam. He was admitted to the Amsterdam Bar as attorney in 1987. In 2000 he was appointed tenured professor of international tax law at the University of Amsterdam. He authored and co-authored several books and numerous articles on Dutch and international taxation and has lectured extensively in the Netherlands and internationally. Prior to joining PwC Mr Van Weeghel was a partner at law firms Linklaters (2007-2009) and Stibbe (1992-2007) where his roles included membership of the Executive Committee, head of tax and resident partner in the New York office. In 2009/2010 Mr Van Weeghel chaired the Study Group Tax System, a committee that advised the Dutch government on comprehensive tax reform. In 2000 he was a member of the Van Rooy-Committee that advised the Dutch government on corporate income tax reform. Prior thereto he was member of a working group at the Dutch Ministry of Finance that worked on revision of the Dutch ruling practice. He also worked on the review of administrative practices in taxation commissioned by the European Commission. Mr Zhang Zhi Yong is the former Deputy Commissioner of State Administration of Taxation (SAT). He is currently Vice Chairman of China International Taxation Research Institute. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of IBFD and a Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) expert of IMF. Mr Zhang joined the Ministry of Finance in 1982 and served in Tax Policy and Tax Administration Divisions from 1982 to 1990 (being transferred to SAT since 1988) on tax policy making and administration of petroleum industry. Mr Zhang served as Director of the Income Tax Division of SAT Foreign Investment Taxation Department (FITD) from 1990 to 1992, and as Deputy Director General of FITD from 1992 to 1998, where he was heavily involved in (1) income taxation of enterprises with inbound foreign investment and foreign enterprises; (2) income taxation of foreign expatriates; (3) Double Tax Agreement negotiation and implementation. Mr Zhang served as Director General of SAT International Taxation Department from 1998 to 2005, where he led the fields in (1) Double Tax Agreement negotiation and implementation; (2) transfer pricing investigations and adjustment; (3) advance pricing agreements and mutual agreement on transfer pricing; (4) non-residents tax policy making and administration; (5) exchange of information on tax matters. Mr Zhang served as Director General of SAT Beijing Municipal Office from 2005 to 2008 on overall management in tax collection and administration in Beijing. He also served as Director General of SAT Large Business Taxation Department from 2008 to 2009, where he established the department and explored a specialized mechanism for large business administration. He streamlined the procedure of risk-oriented tax administration consisting of information collection, risk identification, self-inspection, at-desk tax audit and field audit. He also enabled the conclusion of Cooperative Agreement on Tax Compliance between the tax authorities and large businesses. Mr Zhang rose to SAT top management as Chief Economist in 2009 and then to the position of Deputy Commissioner in 2013. He supervised several departments including the Policy and Legislation Department, the International 5
Taxation Department, the Large Business Taxation Department and the International Taxation Research Institute (ITRI). He completed his term in late 2015 and was elected Vice Chairman of ITRI in May 2016. Mr Zhang served as a member of the UN Ad Hoc Group of International Cooperation in Tax Matters (1998-2005) and the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (2005-2006). He graduated from Beijing Foreign Language Institute in English (1982). He was a visiting scholar (1985-1986) in Tax Laws at the Law School of Columbia University, New York. He authored and co-authored several books and articles on international taxation and large business administration. He is currently a visiting professor of Xiamen University. Mr Liu Xin Li is Deputy Commissioner of Shanghai Tax Bureau in charge of, among others, large enterprises. He is also professor of several universities in China. Mr Liu graduated from the Shanxi University of Finance and Economics (1985) and obtained a Master of Arts (MA) from Georgia State University, USA (1996). In 2001, he received a doctorate in management from Guang Hua School of Management of Beijing University. He started his career at the SAT in 1989 and became Director of the Statistics Division of Planning and Statistics Department in 2003, Chief Economist and Deputy Commissioner of Shanghai Municipal Tax Bureau and Deputy Director in 2009. He holds also teaching position of international tax law at the Central University of Finance and Economics, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai National Accounting Institute and Shanghai Customs College. Mr Liu authored and co-authored several books and numerous articles including Introduction of Tax Analysis, The Theory and Practice of Tax Law and Tax Statistics Analysis. He has also been involved in translation of The New Economy of America and Fiscal Policy in China (by Roy Bahl). Vicky Wang leads Deloitte China's International Tax and M&A service line. She is based in Shanghai and has twenty years of professional tax consulting experiences. Ms Wang specializes in cross-border transaction structuring including investment, divestment, financing structures, complex M&A structuring advice, tax due diligence, fund advisory, and supply chain and business model optimization. Ms Wang is a member of AICPA, and a regular speaker at international tax conferences. She is also one of the anchor speakers at Deloitte Asia Pacific Dbriefs and well recognized in the Asia Pacific international tax society. Ms Wang is also a dean and faculty member for the Deloitte Asia Pacific International Tax training program. Brendan Kelly is a partner of Baker & McKenzie s Shanghai office and Co-Head of the China Tax Practice. He has practiced tax with a China focus for over nineteen years, with nearly fifteen of those years based in China. He has performed a wide range of analysis for various industries with regard to China tax implications, and specializes in advising cross-border clients on tax and legal implications of investment in China. 6
Mr Kelly also has a wealth of experience in working with multinationals in major mergers and acquisitions, to develop integrated and tax-efficient supply chain structures and defend against tax audits and assessments in China. Prior to joining the Firm, he was a Tax Partner with the Beijing office of a Big Four Accounting Firm, where he led their International Tax Planning group for Northern China. Mr Kelly received several awards and rankings for his tax practice. Registration and Venue How to Register Please note that attendance of the IBFD International Tax Lecture Series is by invitation only and capacity is limited. If you are interested in attending the lecture on 13 October 2016, please register by sending an email to K.li@ibfd.org or y.zhang@ibfd.org by 23 September 2016. Alternatively, you can register your interest online using the following link: http://fd7.formdesk.com/ibfd/ibfd_7th_tax_lecture. For more information, you can contact IBFD by email at K.li@ibfd.org or y.zhang@ibfd.org or by telephone at +86-10-5907 1260. The Venue The event will be held at: Sofitel Shanghai Hyland Hotel Nanjing East Road, No. 505 Postcode: 200001 Shanghai Tel: +86-21-6351 5888 7