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Programme of the Conference
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| MONDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 2008 |
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8:00 – 9:15
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Registration
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9:15 – 9:30
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Welcome and Introduction
Jeffrey Owens, Director, OECD CTPA
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9:30 – 9:45
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Opening Speech
Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD
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9:45 – 10:45
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The Top 10 Treaty Developments of the Last 50 Years
This session will focus on what the panellists, among the world’s pre eminent experts on tax treaties, consider to be the most significant treaty developments or issues of the last 50 years.
Chair: Philip Baker, Q.C., London
Speakers:
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Daniel Lüthi, Former Chair of Working Party No. 1, Switzerland
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10:45 – 11:15
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Break
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11:15 – 12:30
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Resolving Treaty-related Disputes
The Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) is a crucial feature in the effective operation of tax treaties.
During this session, the panellists will discuss issues related to the handling of tax treaty disputes between taxpayers and tax administrations and between tax administrations themselves.
The session will cover all stages of the disputes, including the OECD Model’s newly introduced arbitration mechanism.
Chair: Hugh Ault, Professor of Law,
Boston College Law School and Senior Adviser,
OECD CTPA
Speakers:
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12:30 – 14:15
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Lunch
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14:15 – 15:45
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Beneficial Ownership and Treaty Shopping
Tax authorities around the world are looking ever more closely at the criteria to apply in determining whether taxpayers are eligible for treaty benefits.
During this session, the panellists will discuss case studies dealing with the concept of “beneficial ownership” and with treaty shopping.
Chair: Carmel Peters, Policy Manager,
Inland Revenue Department, New Zealand
Speakers:
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15:45 – 16:15
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Break
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16:15 – 18:00
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Hot Issues in the Definition of Permanent Establishment
Changes in business models are giving rise to increasing attention on whether enterprises have passed the threshold for having permanent establishments in host countries.
During this session, the panellists will discuss case studies on permanent establishments, focusing, among other things, on commissionnaire arrangements and contract manufacturing.
Chair: Arvid Skaar, Wiersholm Mellbye & Bech, Oslo
Speakers:
- Ariane Pickering, Principal Advisor,
Treaties, Treasury, Australia
- Michael Wichmann, Head of Tax Treaty Policy Division,
Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany
- DP Sengupta, Ministry of Finance, India [tbc]
- Carol Dunahoo, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Washington, DC
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18:30 – 19:30
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COCKTAIL
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19:30
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DINNER
Guest Speaker: Mike Waters, Former Chair of Working Party
No.1, United Kingdom
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| TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2008 |
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9:00 – 10:15
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The Importance of the History of Tax Treaty Provisions
The panellists in this session will present a short history of tax treaties and will introduce participants to a newly launched website on the archives of the OECD, using examples (e.g. place of effective management, permanent establishment) where the archives provide useful information on the meaning of provisions of tax treaties.
Chair: Michael Lang, Professor of Tax Law,
Vienna University of Economics and
Business Administration
Speakers:
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10:15 – 10:45
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Break
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10:45 – 12:15
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The Meaning of "Royalties" and "Technical Fees"
As intangible property and services play an increasingly important role in international commerce, their treatment under tax treaties also grows in importance.
During this session, the panellists will discuss case studies based on the meaning of "royalties" and "technical fees", including cases dealing with various payments related to software.
Chair: Ron van der Merwe, Manager, Treaties,
South Africa Revenue Service, South Africa
Speakers:
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12:15 – 13:45
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LUNCH
Guest Speaker: Christine Lagarde,
Ministre de l'Economie, de l'Industrie et de l'Emploi, France
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13:45 – 15:00
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Tax Treaty Treatment of Portfolio Investment
Globalisation has brought with it exponential growth in cross-border portfolio investment, now totalling in the trillions of dollars.
This session will focus on the various tax treaty rules that apply in the case of income and gains from portfolio investment in securities and in immovable property, including cases where such investment is made through intermediaries such as collective investment funds and real estate investment trusts.
Chair: Guglielmo Maisto, Maisto e Associati, Milan
Speakers:
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Michael Mundaca,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for International
Tax Affairs, Treasury Department, United States
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Carolina Del Campo, Deputy Director General
for Non-residents Taxation, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Spain
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15:00 – 15:20
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Break
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15:20 – 16:30
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Room for Improvement: Double Taxation that
Treaties do not Relieve
During this session, the panellists will examine cases of double taxation that are not resolved by tax treaties, focusing in particular on Article 23 (Elimination of double taxation).
Their discussion will include situations involving differences in interpretation, triangular cases, and others.
Chair: Liselott Kana, Head of International
Taxation Department, Ministry of Finance, Chile
Speakers:
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16:30 – 17:45
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The Future of Tax Treaties
With the world's network of bilateral treaties having grown from several dozen fifty years ago to over 3000 today, the time is ripe to consider where to go from here.
During this concluding session, the panel will examine a number of emerging issues, including potential mechanisms for speeding up widespread implementation of agreed changes to the Model, extending treaties beyond taxes on income and capital, and the feasibility of multilateral treaties.
Chair: Jeffrey Owens, Director, OECD CTPA
Speakers:
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Top of page
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Electronic Version of the OECD Model Tax Convention
