On 18-20 October 2017, the 3rd Regional Meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Countries took place in Bratislava, hosted by the Financial Directorate and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic in cooperation with IOTA and the OECD. 80 senior tax officials from 20 countries, together with representatives from the IMF, the United Nations and local and international business communities discussed the implementation of the BEPS measures and shared their experiences and challenges in the implementation process, as well as the opportunities offered by a consistent implementation.
Ms Dana Meager, State Secretary of Slovakia’s Ministry of Finance opened the meeting highlighting the importance of the BEPS action plan for the enhancement of tax transparency, the fight against tax evasion and fraud, and to ensure a level playing field around the world. In her view, the current challenges faced by tax administrations are the timely implementation of the BEPS action plan, in particular the four minimum standards (countering harmful tax practices, preventing treaty abuse, transfer pricing documentation and country-by-country reporting, and making dispute resolution mechanisms more effective), the necessary amendments of the domestic and international legal framework, as well as language barriers and budget constraints.
Speaking in the introductory part of the meeting, Mr František Imrecze, President of the Financial Directorate of Slovakia and President of IOTA for the term 2017/2018 welcomed the participants, referring to the engagement of IOTA in the Inclusive Framework on BEPS and the increasing international profile of the Organisation. He also stressed the relevance of this meeting for the exchange of best practices on the implementation of the BEPS package.
Mr Miguel Silva Pinto, IOTA’s Executive Secretary explained why IOTA is engaging in the Inclusive Framework, since it is IOTA’s mission to support its members’ development and provide opportunities to strengthen their collaboration.
Mr Valerio Barbantini, Senior Advisor from the OECD presented the objectives of the meeting and elaborated on its agenda, underlining the relevance of the regional tax organisations, namely IOTA for the Inclusive Framework to achieve its purposes.
Photo (from left to right: Mr Valerio Barbantini, Mr František Imrecze, Ms Dana Meager and Mr Miguel Silva Pinto)
The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Silvia Karelová from the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic, Ms Lubica Adame from the Slovak Ministry of Finance and Mr Wolfgang Büttner, IOTA’s Technical Taxation Expert.
The meeting addressed the latest developments in the Inclusive Framework, the state of play in the implementation of the BEPS four minimum standards and recent developments regarding toolkits and capacity building.
Further information about the meeting, including all presentations is available here for IOTA members.
Read more about the event on the OECD website where you will find the co-chairs’ statement as well.
Photo (from left to right): Mr Steffen Normann Hansen from IMF, Mr Alexander Trepelkov from United Nations and Mr Wolfgang Büttner from IOTA.