San Francisco hosts TEI's 66th Annual Conference.

More than 500 TEI members and guests traveled to San Francisco from October 30 to November 2 to attend the Institute's 66th Annual Conference. The conference was held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in the "South of Market" district of San Francisco. Covering an array of topics from international information sharing to employee benefits in mergers and acquisition transactions, the more than 500 registrants were treated to a first-class slate of speakers, including high-level officials from federal, state, and foreign governments, top-notch practitioners, and experienced tax executives.

TEI President David Penney opened the conference on Monday, October 31, by thanking TEI's immediate past President Paul O'Connor for his service to the Institute. Mr. Penney described his goals for the Institute for the upcoming year, including the two task forces that will lead the TEI as it continues its journey into the 21st Century:

* the Vision 20/20 Task Force, whose mandate is to define the ideal TEI in the year 2020, and

* the Global Tax Advocacy Task Force, whose mandate includes assessing the Institute's global advocacy strategy and process.

Mr. Penney then introduced the morning's keynote speaker, Judith Knott, Director of Business Taxes & International, H.M. Revenue & Customs--Board of Inland Revenue, of the United Kingdom.

Ms. Knott's remarks focused on the United Kingdom's recent efforts to deliver an "enhanced engagement" to large corporate taxpayers. Ms. Knott noted that those efforts have been a success from a revenue standpoint as the United Kingdom has been collecting "record levels of ... extra tax" from such taxpayers. Despite this increased extraction, the enhanced approach has also pleased the business community, which she noted wants certainty "and if possible, in real time." In addition, the business community wants clarity through consultation and speedy resolution of issues. And, Ms. Knott said, business wants government to take a risk-based approach focusing on the things that really matter and taking a proportionate approach to resolving them. These four objectives of industry have been generally met by the new approach implemented in the U.K., and Ms. Knott noted that "customer satisfaction" among large business taxpayers is so high that it may not be possible to improve it.

A plenary session entitled "Schedule UTP Compliance: Lessons Learned, Best Practices, Lingering Issues" followed Ms. Knott's remarks. Featuring...