The Firm’s managing partner, Atty. Euney Marie J. Mata-Perez, and new partner, Atty. Mark Anthony P. Tamayo, attended the International Tax Conference of the Asia-Oceana Tax Consultants’ Association, Inc. (AOTCA) held last October 19-20, 2017 at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel. Ms. Mata-Perez is the Deputy President of AOTCA, and the first Filipino to hold such post of the Association.

This year’s conference was hosted by the Tax Management Association of the Philippines, of which Ms. Mata-Perez is a past president. It was attended by more than 200 foreign delegates, and approximately the same number of local delegates.

AOTCA, founded in 1992, is an organization of professionals’ bodies located in the Asian and Oceanic regions. It has expanded to embrace 19 leading organizations from 13 countries or regions from jurisdictions including Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and two associate members from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The foundation of AOTCA was attributed to the existence of the Confédération Fiscale Européenne (CFE), the international organization for tax advisors in Europe with a long history dating back to 1959.

The theme for this year’s international tax conference is “Towards a Fair and Efficient Tax System.” While no tax system is perfect, and there is no “one size fits all” approach, AOTCA members see an increase on government efforts around the world to move towards a simpler, more equitable, more transparent and efficient tax system.

The conference focused on how taxpayers and tax administrators around the Asia-Oceania jurisdictions are coping with the challenges posed by the implementation of the BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting) action plans by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and various tax reforms—both at the legislative and administrative levels. These initiatives are aimed to promote more transparent tax rules and policies to comply with higher international standards. With the changing tax landscape, the conference highlighted best practices in some of the participating jurisdictions which are both fair to the taxpayers and efficient for the tax administrators.

#MTF #AOTCA #taxconference #TowardsaFairandEfficientTaxSystem