'Staying connected in uncertain times'.

• Author: Twinem, Carita R.
• Position: Tax Executives Institute - President's page

As I looked out at over our five hundred participants at the recently concluded 63rd Midyear Conference, so many thoughts and emotions were running through my mind. I was immensely proud of the work done by our Committee chairs, moderators, leadership and staff to develop an outstanding program, especially regarding the range of senior tax and financial regulators from around the world that would be gracing the TEI dais. Their presence was certainly a testament to the importance of the business tax community in general, and the in-house tax professional community in particular, as a key constituency that must be continually engaged.

At the same time, the messages delivered by these regulators left me a bit unsettled about what the future holds.

Former Senator Olympia Snowe's assessment that compromise, the very hallmark of the legislative process, had virtually become a dirty word in Washington was deeply troubling. It was incredibly difficult for me to believe that one of the underpinnings on which our country had been founded had been swallowed up by partisan bickering. Reversing this troubling trend is essential for the country to begin to confront its significant, but not insoluble, fiscal challenges. Legislators must find the political will to confront these challenges--hopefully they will, and in time.

OECD Director Pascal Saint Amans' message about the work being undertaken to address base erosion and profit shifting was also unsettling--but for different reasons. While the premise of the efforts is certainly sound, to ensure tax is correctly being paid around the world, the implication that wholesale avoidance or evasion is rampant around the world is troubling. TEI members, and the companies by which they are employed, are committed to pay the correct amount of tax due around the world and to comply with the tax laws as they currently are. Sovereign state tax policies, priorities and objectives present companies with myriad rules that may conflict, contain gaps and asymmetries that taxpayers must address. If these gaps and asymmetries become unpalatable, it is within the province of national legislatures--working individually or collectively--to address these important matters. But until that time comes, I believe it is short sighted or even wrong-headed to lay criticism about the shortcomings of statutory and regulatory regimes on those who are bound by them.

And, listening to FASB Technical Director Sue Cosper detail the range of...