Tax Stories: Life, Business & Tax

Would you like to know more? Feel free to read ⁠⁠tax blogs⁠⁠ by Janis Taukacs or ⁠⁠resolve here any tax disputes, or even better - plan your tax matters here timely, so you can avoid such disputes⁠.

Thomas Hoppe is a head of indirect taxation at Schwarz Group (Lidl/Kaufland). He is a co-host of TaxPunk podcast where he talks about makers and users of tax tech tools.

In the Tax Stories podcast we discussed:

* triathlon;

* the book recommendation - Taxtopia by an anonymous Rebel Accountant;

* TaxPunk video-podcast (in German) - with people who do and use tax tech;

* TaxPunk.de - tax IT tools data base (300+ tax IT solutions listed, mostly related to VAT and other taxes, but also regarding, e.g., audit management);

* what technologies tax authorities are using;

* beer tasting and its link to characterisation of the podcast guest;

* CBAM EU regulation IT solutions;

* blockchain solutions in tax practice;

* generative AI (ChatGPT);

* WTS & PSP with a support by Schwarz Group are creating a safe environment where one may ask specific tax questions and get reliable answers without a risk of sensitive data made publicly available, hopefully available within the next months;

* Taxpeditions to Taxonia, Vatistan (where VAT is a dominant type of tax and there is no cash in order to get rid of VAT fraud), Dutyland, Exciseland and GenAIsia, where Thomas in his articles (in a German magazine REthinking Tax) travels into the future and explores what the relations to taxpayers and tax authorities might look like; for example, will tax consultants be needed, if online real time tax reporting is implemented everywhere, is TP needed then?;

* what is the most challenging part of working inhouse of a multinational company;

* what is the advice of Thomas to external tax advisors – what should they do to serve their clients better.

In the podcast we discussed:

his Order of the British Empire - for helping political refugees from China in the UK;

his love to his family, sinology (the study of Chinese law, language, history, customs, and politics) and Arsenal;

that there are already three generations of tax experts in his family - his father, himself and his son;

his Latvian roots in several generations, and his involvement in developing the Latvian tax system;

how a barrister can become a King’s Counsel; and the way how the Tax Chambers operate;

work-life balance;

minimum standards and best practices of protection of taxpayers;

how AI can get it wrong when assisting the tax administration;

the Post Office scandal, and the reports by Dan Neidle and the TV series - on how lives of so many people were ruined because of a software mistake;

how a person can make Philip angry;

principles in life he’s been following;

a book Philip recommends - “Banking on Failure”, Cum-Ex and Why and How Banks Game the System by Richard S Collier; there was an interesting video of the book launch where Philip discusses the scheme together with Richard; the book itself:

includes a detailed description of cum-ex trade - the biggest tax fraud of its type in Europe;

has a never-before-seen explanation of the step-by-step evolution of a complex tax-driven structured financial product;

addresses the root causes of why banks are driven to create highly complex structured tax products;

contributes to the understanding of banks and their roles in exploiting tax systems;

ethical obligations of tax lawyers not to advise on abusing the law;

what enables tax fraud;

the directions tax systems might advance to; Philip predicts:

non-dom tax rules will be abolished this year or the next;

digital services taxes will be implemented as the moratorium on it ends this June, and Pillar 1 is not going to happen; with the different DST systems a threat of double taxation will become relevant;

mostly big accounting companies are going to benefit from Pillar 2, not governments, because of huge compliance costs;

why the progressive taxation is fair, incl. reduction of inequality;

that a family taking an online business to Gibraltar had a tax dispute in the UK for 23 years;

a pro-bono case at the European Court of Human Rights;

we even discussed some politics too, incl. Brexit and the US president elections.

Tune in to uncover cutting-edge tax strategies that could save your business thousands. Don't miss out—listen now! 

The author of the podcast can be reached at: [email protected]

Would you like to know more? Feel free to read ⁠⁠tax blogs⁠⁠ by Janis Taukacs or ⁠⁠resolve here any tax disputes, or even better - plan your tax matters here timely, so you can avoid such disputes⁠.

Philip Baker is a barrister (37 y), King's Counsel, lecturer at the University of Oxford, LLM, PhD, MBA, an author of a book on Double Taxation Conventions, “A guru on treaty and and cross-border tax”.

In the podcast we discussed:

* his Order of the British Empire - for helping political refugees from China in the UK;

* his love to his family, sinology (the study of Chinese law, language, history, customs, and politics) and Arsenal;

* that there are already three generations of tax experts in his family - his father, himself and his son;

* his Latvian roots in several generations, and his involvement in developing the Latvian tax system;

* how a barrister can become a King’s Counsel; and the way how the Tax Chambers operate;

* work-life balance;

* minimum standards and best practices of protection of taxpayers;

* how AI can get it wrong when assisting the tax administration;

* the Post Office scandal, and the reports by Dan Neidle and the TV series - on how lives of so many people were ruined because of a software mistake;

* how a person can make Philip angry;

* principles in life he’s been following;

* a book Philip recommends - “Banking on Failure”, Cum-Ex and Why and How Banks Game the System by Richard S Collier; there was an interesting video of the book launch where Philip discusses the scheme together with Richard; the book itself:

* includes a detailed description of cum-ex trade - the biggest tax fraud of its type in Europe;

* has a never-before-seen explanation of the step-by-step evolution of a complex tax-driven structured financial product;

* addresses the root causes of why banks are driven to create highly complex structured tax products;

* contributes to the understanding of banks and their roles in exploiting tax systems;

* ethical obligations of tax lawyers not to advise on abusing the law;

* what enables tax fraud;

* the directions tax systems might advance to; Philip predicts:

* non-dom tax rules will be abolished this year or the next;

* digital services taxes will be implemented as the moratorium on it ends this June, and Pillar 1 is not going to happen; with the different DST systems a threat of double taxation will become relevant;

* mostly big accounting companies are going to benefit from Pillar 2, not governments, because of huge compliance costs;

* why the progressive taxation is fair, incl. reduction of inequality;

* that a family taking an online business to Gibraltar had a tax dispute in the UK for 23 years;

* a pro-bono case at the European Court of Human Rights;

* we even discussed some politics too, incl. Brexit and the US president elections.

Would you like to know more? Feel free to read ⁠⁠tax blogs⁠⁠ by Janis Taukacs or ⁠⁠resolve here any tax disputes, or even better - plan your tax matters here timely, so you can avoid such disputes⁠.

Błażej Kuźniacki is a professor at Lazarski University in POL, works for PWC in NED, is an author of a book ‘Beneficial Ownership in International Taxation” and countless publications.

In the podcast we discussed:

* his favourite destinations in the world, book recommendations (incl. Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E Frankl and The ONE Thing by Gary Keller) and hobbies, incl. singing rap in this song, some 14 years ago;

* how it is possible to combine both tax practice (policy and disputes) and academic research;

* tax policy vs law;

* Pillar 2 and offshores;

* arbitration for resolving tax disputes - the benefits of having it, and how to preserve neutrality;

* his book “Beneficial Ownership in International Taxation”; there are 3-5 jurisdictions in the world that are responsible for a majority of flow of money through them and can be subject to scrutiny if the recipients are the beneficial owners;

* Unshell directive and holding companies;

* AI and tax authorities (they need to apply it only as long as the sources are explainable);

* Singapore tax system.

In the podcast we discussed:

his favourite destinations in the world, book recommendations (incl. Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E Frankl and The ONE Thing by Gary Keller) and hobbies, incl. singing rap in this song, some 14 years ago;

how it is possible to combine both tax practice (policy and disputes) and academic research;

tax policy vs law;

Pillar 2 and offshores;

arbitration for resolving tax disputes - the benefits of having it, and how to preserve neutrality;

his book “Beneficial Ownership in International Taxation”; there are 3-5 jurisdictions in the world that are responsible for a majority of flow of money through them and can be subject to scrutiny if the recipients are the beneficial owners;

Unshell directive and holding companies;

AI and tax authorities (they need to apply it only as long as the sources are explainable);

Singapore tax system.

Tune in to uncover cutting-edge tax strategies that could save your business thousands. Don't miss out—listen now! 

The author of the podcast can be reached at: [email protected]

his extravagant haircut and why he did not become a professional football player like he initially wanted to be;

his homeland - Chile, and ‘10-cents war’ with Bolivia and Peru as a result of taxation there;

a book One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that changed Leopoldo’s life by inspiring to look at the creative side of life, and develop his own style of writing - to create emotions, be simple & don’t be afraid to entertain;

Jorge Luis Borges is another book author he admires, especially his book The Aleph and Other Stories; Ficciones is widely regarded as one of Borges' greatest contributions to literature. He got a special Edgar Allan Poe Award "for distinguished contribution to the mystery genre".

reasons for moving from private practice to academia, but he suggests to his students to go and practice;

his brand new book (2nd edition): “Double Non-Taxation and the Use of Hybrid Entities” - still a relevant topic, because countries don’t coordinate how they treat corporate structures and transactions for tax purposes;

the US generally has not changed anything material because of BEPS and Pillar 2; the US won’t implement Pillar 1 either; so digital services taxes may now blossom around the world - the US companies will face many different systems now;

how to limit trade with Russia so their missiles against Ukraine don’t get financed; banning trade would be more effective than a tax, but then it should be adopted on an EU level, not on a national level;

helping with tax reforms in Indonesia (seems like Latvia has the same problem re. unnecessary double % limitation) and Curacao;

double standarts in the UK and US about what a tax haven really is;

why Pillar 2 might not be so beneficial to developing countries; more subsidies may pop up instead of tax incentives; a premise that tax incentives do not attract investments ir false;

UN vs OECD as a self-announced fashion designer of tax systems;

it’s cool and fashionable nowadays to talk about tax.

Tune in to uncover cutting-edge tax strategies that could save your business thousands. Don't miss out—listen now! 

The author of the podcast can be reached at: [email protected]

Starp citu, šī ir jau otrā saruna, kas ierakstīta klātienē. Ar Andri runājām:

par podkāstiem - kādēļ viņš klausās Džordanu Pītersonu;

par golfu;

kādēļ Andris nelieto soc-tīklus, bet lieto Duo Lingo un Chess.com, Katanu, u.c. galda spēlēm;

iecienītākajiem ceļošanas galamērķiem un stāstu par to, kā Andris nonāca Meksikas narkotiku ceļu patruļas ielenkumā;

Anna Kareņina u.c. vecākas grāmatas ir joprojām aktuālas, jo cilvēciskā būtība nav mainījusies, kaut arī braucam ar lidmašīnām, ne vairs pajūgiem;

HR principiem, pieņemot cilvēkus darbā;

kā ASV investori skatās uz Baltiju un tās IT nozari, salīdzinot biznesa vides šeit un tur, t.sk. nodokļus;

dēļ nodokļiem, izglītības un darbinieku čakluma viens no izdevīgākajiem birojiem EIS Group bija Baltkrievijas birojs, pirms to dēļ kara aizvēra;

pie mums (bet arī citur) varbūt ir augstas gaidas, sevišķi jauniešu vidū, kas ne vienmēr saprot, ka kalna galā vairumā gadījumu iespējams nonākt vien ar 15-20 gadu smagu kāpšanu;

Andris ir gājis prom no Exigen Insurance Solutions (EIS) Group, bet atgriezās dēļ komandas, ar ko kopā ir patīkami strādāt, saskatīt mērķi un izbaudīt procesu; padotie jau ilgstoši strādājot kopā vairāk ir kā draugi;

vai apdrošināšana virzās prevencijas virzienā?

grūtākais biznesā - atrast veselīgu balansu starp cenu, laiku un kvalitāti, tāpēc ne vienmēr jāievēro principu ‘Very good is bad’ (t.i., ne vienmēr attaisnojama iešana uz izcilību);

kādēļ AI var kļūt ar katru gadu dumjāks, nevis gudrāks; kā AI gan piedalās izkrāpšanā apdrošināšanas jomā un arī palīdz tādus gadījumus atrast; nākotnē visur vajadzēs vārtu sargus, kas pārbauda informācijas patiesumu;

nodokļu jomā valstij būtu pēc iespējas jāinvestē sistēmu automatizēšanā; VID jākļūst par IT uzņēmumu; skaidra nauda ir nelegālas izcelsmes naudas pazīme, tādēļ no tās būtu jātiek vaļā (nevis aizliedzot, bet dodot priekšrocības tiem, kas to nelieto);

problēma - kā dabūt uzņēmēju atbalstu būtiskākām pārmaiņām, jo nemaksātājiem tās nav izdevīgas;

piemēram, varētu domāt par caurspīdīgāku sistēmu, kur var gūt pārliecību par lietderīgu, saimniecisku iekasēto nodokļu izmantošanu; piemēram, kā liturģija Senajā Grieķijā;

salīdzinoši ar ASV, pie mums ir izcils slimnīcu un imigrācijas dienesta serviss - apzināšanās par to arī ļautu daudziem paskatīties uz savu nodokļu maksāšanas politiku savādāk;

mazliet arī par akciju opciju plāniem.

Tune in to uncover cutting-edge tax strategies that could save your business thousands. Don't miss out—listen now! 

The author of the podcast can be reached at: [email protected]

Video interview available on WTS web page.

Wim Wuyts, WTS Global CEO

The discussion for the 1st time in Tax Stories history was not recorded online, but took place in Singapore, during WTS Global annual conference. Thus, the CEO of WTS Global Wim Wuyts participated in the discussion as well. BTW, a separate Tax Stories interview with Wim is available here.

There is some magic around the number 50 this time. Both Pascal and Wim are present in the ITR Global Tax 50 list of the most influential tax people in the world. This is episode no.50 of Tax Stories podcast. And the episode has been released as a nice present on my 50th birthday..

His book on offshores - Paradis Fiscaux (just in French so far);

- Pascal offers there to have a look in the kitchen of the largest tax decisions globally - US tax reform, both Pillars, etc.

his new role at Brunswick to help companies to present their financial statements and tax reporting in a reader friendly language;

- for more than 10 years there is a public attention to taxation of large companies;

- companies now must not only pay more attention to taxation, but pay attention to explaining it to a larger public;

- tax people know the law, but public just considers fairness - so, there is a gap that need to be bridged.

Success of development of Singapore;

- the ease of doing business in Singapore has been impressive;

- the low taxation system has been only a part of the story;

AI and taxing data;

- there was a debate that extracting data is the new gold, like people used to extract minerals, and we should tax that new gold;

- actually the value is in processing the data, and still have no magic recipe how to tax that;

- Pillar 1 is the most likely solution with taxing consumption markets - as the market of the final customers is something companies cannot shift;

- Pillar 1 vs digital services tax (or significant economic presence);

- AI will replace the lower value jobs;

ESG - the US vs. Europe;

- Currently about 60% of carbon emissions are not priced at all;

- Taxation of carbon is regressive, so it is politically very difficult to implement;

- But CBAM and other initiatives sets Europe as an example for the others;

- US with subsidies will hurt the rest of the world as many move to the US;

- Pascal also explained why there is no global solution on this - countries are not ready, although it’s an important issue; there is an emergency, but it’s not addressed like that, but it will come.

A look into the future, 5-10 years from now on;

- PIT, VAT and tax collection might be 3 big issues for OECD to resolve;

- With Pillar 1 & 2 tax administrations will get more information and money and will be able to relax and be more friendly to businesses;

- There are unprecedented inequality in the world; taxes will try to make it right, mainly with taxes on capital - inheritance taxes (Pascal doesn’t believe in wealth tax) and on capital income - dividends and capital gains;

- Brasil who is in charge of G20 as of December will put tackling inequality high in their agenda; there might be a push towards addressing those issues at the UN as well;

- VAT is a tax that works pretty well; digitalization is the best way to fight the grey economy;

- AI should be the best help to the tax authorities with collection;

For in-house professionals one way to reduce the anxiety caused by all the changes might be to learn more about tax policy - to understand better how the rule was built and where it is heading;

- tax issues at some point will move to the board rooms and will be a part of the policy conversation, especially with ESG topics; tax experts thus will handle much more than just compliance;

Insights for future leaders - thinking out of box might be the receipt.

About 9-10k companies within the Pillar 2 threshold of EUR 750 mil. represent around 85% of all the profits made globally.

- Besides, Subject to tax rules of Pillar 2 do not have a minimum threshold - it is imposing 9% on all businesses, including the out-of-scope; that’s why countries like UAE and Barbados are imposing 9% CIT;

Regarding countries or tax administrations as examples for others:

- tax administrations are reluctant to be benchmarked, but some data can be found in the FTA report;

- regarding tax systems countries first need to look - what does it finance (what’s the level of satisfaction of people with the public spending), and then examine if it’s compatible with the selected social model (Scandinavia vs. US, etc); then a selection can be made between regressive VAT and progressive income taxes.

- France, for example, that is obsessed with equality issues has more progressive taxes, is collecting about 47% of GDP in taxes and still not satisfied with its system.

Tune in to uncover cutting-edge tax strategies that could save your business thousands. Don't miss out—listen now! 

The author of the podcast can be reached at: [email protected]

Would you like to know more? Feel free to read ⁠⁠tax blogs⁠⁠ by Janis Taukacs or ⁠⁠resolve here any tax disputes, or even better - plan your tax matters here timely, so you can avoid such disputes⁠.

Susi Baerentzen is a tax law & human rights researcher from Denmark. She is lecturing at Vienna & Copenhagen Universities, holds a PhD in International Tax Law and Economics.

Susi recently published her book “The Effectiveness of General Anti-Avoidance Rules”. She has worked for 5 years for one of the Big4 audit firms and is a Nordic Tax Manager at a large multinational company.

In the podcast we spoke about:

* Extreme triathlon;

* Middle East;

* Why Susi wanted to be an air-force pilot;

* Why she switched from Big4 to academic work & inhouse;

* Past, present and future of being an inhouse;

* Why the AI and Legal/tax Tech look like the Emperor’s New Clothes;

* What question ChatGPT selected for Susi for the Tax Stories podcast;

* Her book on GAAR;

* On economic substance (vs. control) and the underlying principles & the future of holding companies and holding regimes in traditional holding jurisdictions; she thinks that the time of buying substance is over;

* Danish beneficial ownership cases and the massive withholding tax fraud case there & the future of withholding taxes, incl. FASTER directive;

* Pillar 2 – I can jump out of a plane and flap my wings, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to fly;

* That TP is measuring an illusion.