The MIT Annual Tax Conference 2021
The Malta Institute of Taxation held its Annual Tax Conference on 6 & 7 October 2021.
This year’s conference was a virtual event, hosted on the Evowk platform. Click here to view image gallery.
Following a welcome address by the President of the Institute, Dr Conrad Cassar Torregiani, the event was formally opened by the Hon Clyde Caruana, Minister for Finance and Employment, who gave the delegates insights into the current state of play.
Dr Cassar Torregiani moderated the event’s keynote panel discussion entitled ‘Tax planning is not Evasion; Evasion is not Tax Planning” with panelists Dr Juanita Brockdorff, Dr Manfred Galdes, Dr Neville Gatt and Dr Robert Attard, who addressed the fundamental distinction between that which is the legitimate mitigation of the incidence of taxation on the one hand and the unlawful evasion of tax obligations on the other hand.
Transfer Pricing specialists Antonio Russo and Dr. Stephanie Pantelidaki took the delegates through a Lifecycle of a Transfer Pricing Study, providing insights and a practical perspective on transfer pricing methods and monitoring.
Patrick Mifsud, Director of the International and Corporate Tax Unit within the Office of the Commissioner for Revenue, delivered a presentation on Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, providing the Revenue’s perspective on the mechanisms and the issues arising in practice.
The final item on the agenda for the first day of the event was a panel discussion on VAT, moderated by Dr Sarah Cassar Torregiani, during which the panelists, Davide Ferry, Chris Borg and Matthew Zampa discussed the practical implications of the San Domenic Vetraria case and the joined cases of K and DBKAG, and some upcoming legislative initiatives announced in the July 2020 Action Plan for Fair & Simple Taxation.
The second day of the event was opened by the Hon. Dr Mario Demarco, Shadow Cabinet Spokesperson for Finance.
With the ever-increasing focus on ensuring transparency in tax matters, the panel discussion of the day, moderated by Mirko Rapa, discussed issues around Transparency and Exchange of Information, with panelists Dr Diane Bugeja, Paul Giglio and Dr Jonathan Phyall.
Prof. Dr Joachim Englisch from the University of Muenster delivered a presentation on Pillar 2: Will it Work and How? providing some unique insights into the behind the scenes considerations and factors likely to have an impact in the outcome of the work carried out by the participants of the Inclusive Framework. This was followed by the US perspective on BEPS 2.0 and the practical/political considerations as pertinent to the US legislative process, delivered by Tom Zollo from KPMG US.
The last agent item was a series of specialised breakout sessions, which gave the delegates the opportunity to participate in a more focused discussion on particular topics of interest. This year’s breakout session topics included, transfer pricing, the VAT exemptions for FSI, local tax developments and the investment income provisions. The sessions were led by: Dr Edward Attard, Dr Ivan Zammit, Louise Grima, Anna Herrera, Steve Gingell, Christian Vella, Dr Christopher Bergedahl and Roderick Borg.
The MIT Annual Tax Conference Expo
Over the two days of the event the MIT hosted a conference Expo, a virtual services and recruitment fair. Click here to view image gallery.
The Institute would like to thank the exhibitors for participating in this event:
A Word of thanks
A word of thanks to all the guest speakers (click to view Day 1 and Day 2 speakers) for sharing their knowledge and expertise with the delegates.
The Institute would also like to thank the event Sponsors for their support:
Gold Sponsor – Deloitte
Silver Sponsors: KPMG and Grant Thornton
Bronze Sponsors: Mazars and Sheltons