European chapter reports on successful year: the following is excerpted from the annual report submitted by Carol Shapira, 2006-2007 president of TEI's European Chapter.

The 2006-2007 year was yet another success story for the European Chapter. The Officers and Directors of the Chapter, the Committee Chairmen and the Education Committee members who participated in the planning of the three major conferences held in 2006-2007 each contributed to delivering a year of achievements for the Chapter. The large attendance at our conferences, coupled with our active committee and discussion group events, underscores the important role that the European Chapter serves for in-house business tax executives based in Europe.

Education

The European Chapter continued its pattern of holding three conferences during the year, each one and one-half days in length. As our members are based throughout Europe, the formula of less frequent but longer meetings is the most satisfactory. Some committees--such as the Indirect Tax Committee, the European Tax Committee, and the Permanent Establishment Discussion Group --schedule half-day face-to-face meetings adjacent to one or more of the conferences, to take advantage of the fact that many members will be together.

The Fall Conference was held in October in Paris, hosted by Danone and attended by some 80 members. The opening day of the conference featured a presentation by Mary Bennett, Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing and Financial Transactions Division of the OECD, on "The OECD's Agenda: Tax Treaties and Transfer Pricing." Both TEI President Dave Bernard and TE! Tax Counsel Jeff Rasmussen attended the meeting, with Dave speaking to the Chapter about "TEI's Global Vision for 2006-2007." The second day of the conference was a full-day educational program presented by Landwell, the correspondent law firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, on "Acquisitions & Divestments--Hot Topics." Over lunch, the group listened to a thought-provoking speech by Professor Claus Staringer of Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration on the future of foreign loss utilization as well as a number of landmark European Court of Justice cases. Landwell hosted for our group a champagne reception and dinner at an elegant Parisian restaurant just off the Champs-Elysees.

The Winter Conference took place in Brussels in February, hosted by International Paper and attended by more than 90 Chapter members with Jeff Rasmussen joining us again. The Citco Group, specialists in providing corporate and trust services, opened the first day's program with a presentation on "Holding Company Structures in Cyprus, Malta & Hungary." The chapter was honored to welcome as a guest speaker Professor Kees van Raad, head of the International Tax Program at Leiden University in The Netherlands, who spoke on the tax effects of seconding staff to a foreign affiliate. Our full-day educational program on the second day of the conference was presented by Linklaters around the theme of "Tax Focus on Europe." The day featured a special guest speaker--former Judge of the European Court of Justice Melchior Wathelet, who offered a candid look at some recent tax decisions of the Court. Linklaters also hosted a wonderful reception and dinner for us in their magnificent offices, located in an historic building in the heart of Brussels.

The Spring Conference was held in May in Dusseldorf and was hosted by Thomas Cook AG, with around 85 members in attendance. The first day of the conference included a presentation on the subject of "Document Retention and Records Management" by lawyer Aravind Ramanna, a corporate compliance specialist with the international corporate law firm of Boekel De Neree, and Peter Betker, Business Records Manager for the Global Tax Function of Shell. Later that day, Dr. Andreas Schumacher and Jens Hageboke of Flick Gocke Schaumburg reviewed the more interesting aspects of recent German tax reform. The second day of the conference featured a full-day educational program presented by Deloitte on "Transfer Pricing." A very special treat was the private museum tour organized for us by Deloitte in the exciting modern art museum K-21, followed by a festive dinner in the museum itself.

Incoming Chapter President Pieter van der Straaten and the members of the Education Committee are already hard at work planning next year's program of conferences, which will begin with the Fall Conference in Amsterdam in October on the theme of "Business Restructuring."

Special Educational Programs

The Chapter has a number of special-interest committees and discussion groups that hold regular conference calls and occasional face-to-face meetings. Among our committees and discussion groups, the following have been the most active in 2006-2007:

* The European Tax Committee is our advocacy group, chaired by Will Morris of General Electric, and (with the concurrence of the Institute's Executive Committee) it provides business input to the OECD and the European Commission. The major areas of ETC focus this year were the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) project of the European Union and the Business Restructuring project of the OECD.

* The Indirect Tax Committee, chaired by Keith Miller of SAB-Miller, is our very active group of indirect tax specialists. This past year, this group has, among other things, responded to EU Commission consultations on a number of indirect tax matters, discussed the way forward on VAT fraud and took part in the EU Commission consultation workshop on VAT fraud.

* The Permanent Establishment (PE) Discussion Group has covered OECD developments relating to PEs, PE developments in India and China, PE issues around procurement and order management, and jurisprudence on commissionaire structures. Chairman An Theeuwes of Shell took over from Peter Taylor of DuPont, carrying on the tradition of regular telephone calls and occasional meetings.

At the Spring Meeting, it was decided to launch three new discussion groups: a Tax Audits Discussion Group, chaired by Anne Guimond and Virginie Jordan of Richemont, which will continue and expand on the work of the former French Tax Audits Discussion Group, a Services Discussion Group, chaired by Steve Foster and Mark Andrews of Dell, and an HR Issues Discussion Group, chaired by Christer Tonder Bell of TDC.

Liaison Meetings

Members of the European Tax Committee have held a number of meetings with the OECD and the European Commission. OECD contacts included a dinner with Jeffrey Owens, Mary Bennett, and Caroline Silberztein to explore potential advocacy projects, followed by a meeting with Mary Bennett and Caroline Silberztein on Business Restructuring. European Commission contacts included a dinner with Steve Bill, the Head of Cabinet of Commissioner, and Laszlo Kovac, the EU Commissioner of Taxation, as well as a meeting with Paul Farmer, the head of direct tax policy at the European Commission.

Members of the Indirect Tax Committee have also had a number of meetings with members of the EU Commission in Brussels involved in indirect tax matters.

University Liaison and Chapter Scholarships

The European Chapter launched its awards program in 2006-2007, honoring students from the International Tax Program of Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law of Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

International tax professors from each of these educational institutions have addressed the Chapter at conferences this year, and these presentations were very much appreciated by the Chapter members.

Membership Expansion Activities

The European Chapter membership fluctuates around 250 members, representing most Western European countries. During 2006-2007, meetings were held in France and Germany in an effort to attract potential new members from these traditionally under-represented countries.

Other

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At the Spring Conference in Dusseldorf, the European Chapter recognized and expressed its deep appreciation to member Peter Taylor of DuPont for distinguished service to the European Chapter as one of its Founders, Officer and Director, Committee Chairman, and Webmaster by presenting him with a chapter-level award. Peter has contributed a great deal to the European Chapter since its inception and continues to do so.