– Event 1 –
Event Name: The Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors – Beijing Visiting Mission
Location: Beijing, China
Date: 26th – 28th June 2016
We are much honored to be a delegate of the 2016 Beijing Visiting Mission, which organized by the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors (“SCAA”). Various senior Mainland officials were met to exchange views on the latest development and regulation of the nation, including Ministry of Finance (“MoF”), Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“CICPA”), the Audit office of the People’s Republic of China (“AOPRC”), the State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”), Beijing Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“BICPA”) and the National Equities Exchange and Quotations Center (“NEEQ”).
The delegation discussed various issues with the Mainland officials, for instances, CICPA highlighted their recent progress and policies in response to the tax challenges of the digital economy in Mainland; AOPRC shared the effectiveness to have a comprehensive audit trail and the focus of the AOPRC in 2016; the corresponding measures of the SAT in fighting tax evasion, identifying the tax residency, issues in double taxation and taxation honor system. Meanwhile, we exchanged our views and ideas during the meeting including hot topics like “Country by Country (CbC) Reporting” and “Base Erosion and Profits Shifting (BEPS) project.
We would like to express our gratitude to SCAA for organizing a successful trip. This was a valuable visit that we use to meet with various senior Mainland officials to obtain a deeper understanding of the Mainland recent development and exchange our feedbacks.
– Event 2 –
Event Name: Cross-Strait Four Regions – 2016 Tax Conference
Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Date: 5th October 2016
Our managing director Ms. CY Chan was invited to attend the Cross- Strait Tax Conference 2016. Tax professions from Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong and experts from respective jurisdictions shared their views and knowledges on (1) the recent development of digital economy and (2) the tax challenges of digital economy.
Our Hong Kong tax profession commented that digital economy has changed the general assumption on taxation of cross-border digital transactions , governments would therefore trying to reform their tax rules for a more effective tax collection mechanism to avoid from revenue loss. Taiwan tax profession mentioned it is difficult to apply existing tax rules on businesses in digital economy, but tax professionals need to work together to ensure that taxpayers in this economy pay the right amount of tax in the right jurisdiction. Macau tax profession said that the digital economy simplifies the global communication and it has significantly changed our modes of doing business and records keeping. With the digital evolution continues around the globe, the trend of paperless transactions and paperless reporting increase the difficulties for tax authorities in getting taxes from companies who operate in the digital economy. Therefore, changes were required to the existing international tax rules to overcome these challenges.
In the final report on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Action Plan released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”), it has highlighted the existing tax rules designed exclusively for the digital economy would prove unworkable and propose specific tax rule changes. The tax conference provided a great platform for tax experts from the Mainland, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong to get update and exchange views on the issue of tax challenges of the digital economy. We have also shared our experiences and ideas on how to ensure an effective tax collection with respect to the cross-border supply of digital goods and services. It was a very informative and meaningful forum.
If you are interested to have a deeper understanding about the tax impact on your company, please feel free to contact us.
– Event 3 –
Event Name: AOTCA International Annual Tax Conference 2016
Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Date: 6th – 7th October 2016
The 24th Asia-Oceania Tax Consultants’ Association (AOTCA) international annual tax conference was held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center this year with over 300 tax professionals attending from across the industry.
AOTCA was founded in 1992 by a group of tax professionals and has expanded to include 20 leading organizations from 16 countries in Asia and Oceania. The association aims at promoting the exchange of information across all tax professionals and to discuss tax issues in the Asian-Pacific region.
Three key topics were presented in the last meeting: (1) Post BEPS, Opportunities and Challenges, (2) the update of BEPS, and (3) Country by Country (CbC) Reporting. In addition, tax profession and representative of business communities were invited to discuss “how do business perceive the current tax environment” and “will the BEPS recommendations achieve- fair taxation”.
The landscape of international taxation has completely changed, taxpayers should be well equipped themselves with contingency plans that can be applied under different circumstances. On the other hand, tax professionals cannot isolate themselves from the tax development in the outside world and are encouraged to broaden their views and keep their knowledge up to international standards, proactively provide advices to their client in order to assist the client’s global business development.
We are delighted to participate in the conference and we looking forward to the opportunity to share our professional insights, views, ideas and opinions in the next AOTCA annual conference.
