EMEA Chapter holds spring meeting in Frankfurt.

• Position: Chapter News

On May 10 and 11, 2012, TEI's EMEA Chapter held its second meeting of 2012 in Frankfurt, Germany. More than 50 European-based tax professionals attended the two-day event, which was focused on "Handling Tax Disputes: Defense Options, Strategies, and Alternative Dispute Resolution."

The first day of the meeting consisted of reports on EMEA Chapter activities, beginning with meetings of TEI's European Direct and Indirect Tax Committees, including the Transfer Pricing and Permanent Establishment Subcommittees of the Direct Tax Committee. After a networking lunch, Lluis M. Fargas, 2011-2012 EMEA Chapter President, welcomed the registrants. He then introduced Linlin Cao of the Hong Kong office of Loyens & Loeff for a presentation on "The Interaction between Article 7 and 9 of the OECD Model Convention." Ms. Cao was a 2011 EMEA Chapter Award Winner.

Following Ms. Cao's presentation, the chairs of the chapter's committees provided updates on the Institute's past and current advocacy work. Past items included TEI's submission to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regarding the application of the permanent establishment article of the OECD's model income tax convention, as well as the Institute's submission to the government of India on the retroactive effect of its 2012 Finance Bill. Advocacy items in progress include liaison efforts with Italian tax authorities, as well as a submission to the European Commission on its double non-taxation initiative.

Next, registrants were treated to a presentation on "A Practical Approach to Business Restructuring from an In-house Perspective" from Michel Sijmonsbergen and Roderick Veldhuizen of Altus International. The last formal events of the Chapter Day were the direct and indirect tax roundtables, which are always...