Andrew Tucker, HMRC (UK)

Andrew Tucker is Head of VAT Deductions and Financial Services policy in HMRC. Prior to his current role he headed up the VAT policy team in HMRC dealing with EU Exit. He has previously led a variety of teams and projects across a number of different UK Government departments including on legal aid reform, devolution and in the somewhat niche area of coroners and burials. He is a trustee of two charities, is Chair of Governors at a free school in London and (at the time of writing) is currently training for the London Marathon. He is married to Jane with two daughters Hannah (7) and Sophie (5).

Christian Amand, Xirius (Belgium) 

Christian Amand is a lawyer at Xirius in Brussels. He represents CFE/ Tax Advisers Europe at the EU VAT Forum. He chaired the indirect taxation sub-group of the CFE. He is the author of numerous publications and columns on VAT and customs duties. He participated in the preparation of 7 business defenses in preliminary rulings before the Court of Justice of the EU.

Dr. Christian Salder, KMLZ (Germany)

Christian is a lawyer and certified tax advisor. He advises clients on all aspects of national and international VAT issues and specializes in customs and excise duty matters. His particular focus is on import VAT related issues as well as optimizing cross-border supply chains and processing schemes. Christian has extensive experience in carrying out SAP-VAT audits and customs reviews. He also accompanies external audits and represents clients before tax authorities and fiscal courts. His clients range from individuals to international groups.

He is regularly publishing comments, articles and annotations in VAT, customs and excises related topics.

Colin Beziade, French Ministry of Finances, Tax legislation department, VAT sector

Working in the VAT sector of tax legislation department of the French ministry of Finances for 4 years, I hold a master degree in European and International public law.

Since my arrival in the ministry of Finances, I followed European works regarding Ecommerce VAT package and its integration in French law. Specialized on European files, I also participate on VAT in the digital age discussions with European institutions.

I am also involved in evolutions of the French legislation on import and export operations as well as on various subjects concerning the French VAT.

Beside this, I regularly give VAT courses and participate to seminars between French administrations and business operators involved in VAT management.

Cyrille Konter, TEVEA International (France)

Graduated from HEC in 1997 with a specialisation in Finances, Cyrille Konter started his career in Germany within various investment banks as structureur and seller of derivatives on action. In 2003, he returns to France to take over the business development of TEVEA International.

Prof. Dr. David Hummel, European Court of Justice (Luxemburg)

David Hummel is since October 2016 legal secretary (référendaire) at the European Court of Justice at the cabinet of advocate general Kokott.

Before (2013 – 2016) he represented several tax law chairs at the Universities of Münster, Trier, Leipzig and Hamburg. In mid-2017 the appointment as a Professor at the University of Leipzig took place. His academic career starts with the Study of Law at the University of Leipzig, a Graduation (Phd) as an assistant of Prof. Dr. Stadie with a VAT-Thesis in 2009 and a Habilitation in 2013 with the matter: „Rechtsformneutralität im Öffentlichen Recht“ (neutrality of legal forms in public law – venia legendi: public law, especially tax law and public economic law).

Emmanuel Cotessat, E. Cotessat Law Firm (France)

Emmanuel is a French tax lawyer specializing exclusively in indirect taxes (VAT, Excise and Customs duties). After 10 years of experience at Price Waterhouse Tax and Legal and then Arthur Andersen International, he started his own consulting law firm in 2000. He has specifically built a significant experience in international supply chain structuring, ERP/SAP VAT implementations and multi-national advisory and compliance coordination. His main areas of activity are pharmaceuticals, energy utilities, aeronautics and chemicals. He is a partner of VAT Forum CV and regularly lectures at international VAT events.

She is an experienced trainer and holds seminars throughout Germany for the management staff of major German companies in VAT, customs and intrastat topics. She also has been accredited by the ICC as trainer for Incoterms2010. Furthermore, she is a guest lecturer at the Federal Finance Academy in Berlin.

Nathalie is one of the authors of „Rau/Dürrwächter“ (commentary of the VAT-Law – § 21 import VAT and § 21a special arrangement) and publishes regularly on customs and VAT issues.

Fernando Matesanz, Spanish VAT Services Asesores (Spain)

Fernando Matesanz is the owner and Director of the firm named Spanish VAT Services Asesores SL. He Counts on more than twelve years of experience in providing advice in VAT and other Indirect Taxes.

Fernando holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Degree in European Legislation. He also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in Corporate Tax Law from the IE Business School.

He is an active Tax Lawyer, member of the Bar and a certified Tax Advisor.

Fernando began his carrier within the VAT Group of Ernst & Young, managing the VAT and customs practice for more than eight years. After that, he founded the firm Spanish VAT Services Asesores SL a firm exclusively working on international VAT matters and other Indirect taxes. Spanish VAT Services is currently one of the main VAT services providers for small and medium-sized companies within the Spanish market.

Fernando regularly acts as speaker and lecturer in different Universities and organizations. He is also a member of the VAT Forum CV.

George Alexander, University of Leeds (UK)

George is currently studying Law with International Legal Studies at the University of Leeds and will be commencing my final year studying abroad at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada in September 2021.

He has a strong interest in financial and regulatory technologies, and this, together with his commercial experience, drew him to carry out his dissertation exploring VAT and how blockchain technology could potentially be used to reduce non-compliance.

In the last year he has also founded The Legal Chain (https://www.thelegalchain.co.uk/), an online platform for students to learn about the regulatory issues around blockchain technology and the potential for its application within legal practices. He has also had experience establishing his own clothing and design company, this has improved his understanding of the world of commerce and provided his first real insight into VAT.

He is now keen to enter a career in commercial law and has recently enjoyed a two-week vacation scheme at Orrick’s London office, sitting in Competition Law for the first week and Banking, Finance and Restructuring for the second.

Hans Joachim Narzynski, Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany)

Hans Joachim Narzynski is head of division in the Ministry’s directorate for customs and indirect taxation. In this position he is dealing with international VAT matters, in particular with the negotiations on European regulations and their application. Hans Joachim Narzynski joined the tax administration in Germany in 1998, working for the Federal Ministry of Finance since 2013. He previously worked in different local tax offices in the federal state of Saxony and as an advisor in the Federal Parliament of Germany.

Dr. Hans-Martin Grambeck, nesemann & grambeck (Germany)

Dr. Hans-Martin Grambeck holds a degree in economics. He is a German VAT expert and a certified German tax advisor. He started his career 17 years ago in a mid-sized accounting and tax advisory firm, fully specialized in VAT when working in London in 2008 / 2009 and left PWC 2015 where he has worked as a senior manager in the Hamburg VAT team for nearly five years. He is now self-employed in a VAT boutique (nesemann & grambeck) and has a personal focus on services, including e-services and travel (cruise companies, travel agents, MICE business, ticket dealers etc.), and European matters. He regularly publishes articles on VAT issues which also deal with problems arising from an incomplete harmonization of VAT. He works as a German contact for the IBFD VAT law link and gives VAT trainings in cooperation with professional education institutes such as Management Circle.

Karl-Heinz Haydl, OECD

Karl-Heinz is a Global VAT/GST Practitioner with over 30 years of international VAT/GST technical and practical experience (Tax authorities, Big 4 and 19 years in Industry). He is actively involved in a wide variety of industry and expert policy groups on an EU and international level – e.g., as chair of the Business at OECD VAT/GST work to the OECD and a member of the EU Commission´s VAT Expert Group. In 2021 Karl-Heinz founded an independent international Thought Leadership, Strategy and Policy Affairs company with domain knowledge and understanding of the global VAT/GST policy landscape.

Patrice Pillet, European Commission (Belgium)

Patrice Pillet is the Head of Unit for indirect taxation legal affairs, in DG Taxud (European Commission). He is therefore responsible for the management of complains, the handing of infringement procedures as well as other legal issues (including preliminary rulings) in the area of indirect taxation.

He was previously Head of Sector responsible for VAT on electronic commerce (2008-1016). He has also previously been responsible for international affairs and technical assistance in the Customs Directorate of DG Taxud (2004-2008), as well as for fighting VAT fraud and promoting mutual assistance in tax matters (1998-2004).

Piet Battiau, Head Consumption Taxes Unit at OECD

Piet Battiau is the Head of the Consumption Taxes Unit in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) of the OECD. He is responsible for the OECD’s expanding work on indirect taxes, including the International VAT/GST Guidelines and the OECD Global Forum on VAT.

He has been included in the International Tax Review’s Global Tax 50 of the world’s most influential persons in tax policy and practice every year since its inception in 2011.

Piet joined the OECD in 2011. He began his career as a tax inspector for the Belgian Ministry of Finance in the early 1990’s before moving on to an international financial institution in 1995, where he became Head of International Taxation and subsequently Head of Public Policy. He was also Chairman of the Fiscal Committee of the European Banking Federation.

He studied Law in Brussels and Ghent and holds a Law degree and a degree in Tax Science.

Rajendra Kumar, Sanjiv Shah & Associates (India)

Prasan Rajendra Kumar is a Chartered Accountant in Practice in Chennai, India. He is a senior partner of Sanjiv Shah & Associates and leads the Indirect Tax Practice of the firm. He is a Commerce graduate from the prestigious University of Madras and is also a Cost and Management Accountant. He serves as a member of Technical Advisory Group to Working Party 9 on Consumption Tax at the OECD. He is also the past president of International Chamber of Indirect Tax Professionals. RK as he is popularly known has carved a niche in the area of Consumption Taxes and is much sought after resource person across the globe. His views are sought by clients and policy makers in equal measure. Apart from donning leadership roles RK is a voracious reader, avid traveller and singer.

Raymond Feen, ALLVAT (Netherlands)

Is an international VAT consultant. He has worked since 1996 in international VAT for a Big Four and worked several years in industry as in-house VAT manager. In 2010 he started his own VAT consulting firm ALLVAT. He is frequent speaker at international seminars, organizes trainings for the Federation of Dutch exporters, the Chamber of Commerce, the International VAT Expert Academy (IVEA) and is partner of VAT Forum CV. He is currently a board member of the IVA and liaises with the IVA members outside the EU. His focus is on the international supply chain in Europe and more recently the GCC.

Richard Asquith, VAT Calc (Belgium)

Richard is the CEO of VAT Calc, the global VAT/GST determination and reporting tech venture. Richard originally qualified with KPMG in the UK, and went on to work for EY in Hungary, Russia and France. He established and built the European VAT businesses of TMF Group and then Avalara. He built the vatlive.com leading free global indirect tax web info site, acquired by Avalara.

Prof. Rita de la Feria, University of Leeds (UK)

Professor and Chair of Tax Law at the University of Leeds. She is an International Research Fellow at the Centre for Business Taxation, Oxford University; and holds a law degree from the University of Lisbon, and a PhD from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Her research focus primarily on tax law and policy – particularly on the intersection between tax law and EU constitutional law, tax law and public economics, and tax law and criminology – having published widely on these areas, including four books, and over 60 journal articles and book chapters. She was Tax Policy and Legal Adviser to the Portuguese Government (2011-2012), and to the Government of Timor-Leste (2015-2016); has provided tax legal advice to the Irish Revenue Commissioners (2016), and tax policy advice, and/or legal drafting advice to the Governments of Sao Tome and Principe (2016-), Angola (2016-2018), and Turkey (2018) under the auspices of the IMF. Professor de la Feria was listed two years running (2015-2016) in the Global Tax 50, by the International Tax Review, as one of the most influential tax people in the World; and was co-recipient of the 2016 Outstanding Women in Tax Award, awarded by the Tax Analysts.

Ruth Corkin, The VAT Practitioners Group (UK)

Ruth is the national Technical Chair for the VAT Practitioners Group. She is also an Associate specialising in indirect taxes with Hiller Hopkins LLP in the UK. In her VPG role, Ruth has worked closely with HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) on the “Making Tax Digital” project, ensuring that HMRC is fully aware of the challenges faced by taxpayers unused to accounting software. She has also been working with HMRC on the legislation for a “No Deal” Brexit.

She also represents the VPG and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”) on various committees with HMRC and was seconded to the Office of Tax Simplification for seven months in 2017 to look at ways of simplifying the VAT code in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Dale, HEDEOS société d’avocats (France)

Stephen Dale is a partner in a specialist VAT practice in Paris in HEDEOS société d’avocats and has worked in French taxation for more than twenty years, having previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK.

Stephen is a member (and former Chairman) of the FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) Tax Policy Group and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales VAT Committee (and former Chairman). He represents the IVA on the Expert Group and is a member of the OECD’s Global VAT Forum.

He is a board member of the Association de la Pratique de la TVA européenne (APTE).

He is the author of several publications such as VAT Yearbook – Kluwer, VAT Guides – PwC, Articles – International Indirect Tax, BNA, journals and newspapers.

Tiina Ruohola, Confederation of Finnish Industries (Finland)

Tiina Ruohola is a Senior Advisor on VAT at the Confederation of Finnish Industries. Tiina has worked with VAT for over 15 years, working for the Finnish Tax Administration and several consulting companies before joining the Confederation 4 years ago. Tiina is an active member of Business Europe’s VAT group and represents the Finnish businesses in the VAT Expert Group and the EU VAT Forum. In Finland, Tiina is also a member of the Board of Adjustments dealing with differences of opinion between taxpayers and the Tax Administration and the Central Board of Taxation, which is the body giving out advance ruling in major cases. Tiina’s motto is: you can talk about everything with a smile on your face – even about taxation.

Damien Moras, VAT4U (Germany)
Damien Moras is Founder and Managing Director of VAT4U. Armed with an academic background in business administration and finance from Toulouse-Barcelona Business School along with 12 years of consultancy with a strong focus on strategic costs optimization and financial risk mitigation strategies, Damien has managed strategic projects across different regions for large corporations, including digitization of the tax function. His work, has been going well beyond borders: Barcelona, Paris, Milan and Düsseldorf. Damien co-founded VAT4U with the core commitment of improving the way corporations recover VAT.

Donato Raponi, TAJ (France)

Donato Raponi has worked in the Ministry of Finance as a Tax Inspector from 1976 until 1979; and in the European Commission from 1979 until 2017. He is now an Independent Consultant dealing with indirect taxes.

He holds a Master degree in European Tax Law and Bachelor in Economics. He is honorary professor of European Tax Law at Brussels Business Management School. He is Co-Author of the book “Arriva l’euro” (Carmenta Editor) and numerous articles in tax matters.

Emmanuel Cotessat, E. Cotessat Law Firm (France)

Emmanuel is a French tax lawyer specializing exclusively in indirect taxes (VAT, Excise and Customs duties). After 10 years of experience at Price Waterhouse Tax and Legal and then Arthur Andersen International, he started his own consulting law firm in 2000. He has specifically built a significant experience in international supply chain structuring, ERP/SAP VAT implementations and multi-national advisory and compliance coordination. His main areas of activity are pharmaceuticals, energy utilities, aeronautics and chemicals. He is a partner of VAT Forum CV and regularly lectures at international VAT events.

Fatima Gouveia, Comark Consultoria LDA (Portugal)

Fátima Gouveia is a Portuguese Economist with Post-Graduations in Taxation. Born in in 1968, she entered Comark, Lda. in 1992, and is General Manager since 2014. She has been working in VAT issues, including cross-border VAT for about 20 years. All her professional experience has been focused in international business and cooperation. Comark, Lda is a member of the IVA since 1998 and has been on the IVA Board in the last 5 years.

Dr. George Salis, Vertex (USA)

George L. Salis, is a recognised economist, lawyer, and tax professional, with over 25+ years of international tax experience in international tax and trade compliance, tax planning and controversy, fiscal regulation and economic consulting. He specializes in international economic law; including taxation, fiscal & economic policy, transfer pricing and trade regulation, often working with international and intergovernmental organisations and multinational companies, and universities.

George is an experienced analyst and advisor to senior executives in global firms, intergovernmental organizations, and tax administrations on matters of taxation, global tax and fiscal policy, transfer pricing, VAT, tax treaties, EU tax law, customs & trade regulation, global information exchange and reporting regulation.

He is an adjunct professor of graduate tax law, risk analysis, and economics at Texas A&M University Law School, and formerly at other universities. The author of several articles related to international tax, economics, fiscal and tax policy, and global trade and finance in many professional publications, he is also a contributing author to the LexisNexis’ U.S. Transfer Pricing Guide, 4thEd, and other professional magazines and journals, as well as a frequent speaker at global conferences, government symposia, and professional roundtables.

George holds a PhD in International Law & Economic Policy, an LLM in International Tax Law, and LLM (Hons) International Taxation & Financial Services, an LLB (Hons), and BSc (Hons) in Economics, Political Science and Philosophy. He is the recipient of both the Advanced Certificate in EU Law, from the Academy of European Law, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, and the Executive Certificate in Economic Development, at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a Certified Business Economist (CBE)-US National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Charter.

Jean Claude Bouchard, SAS Cabinet Bouchard & Associes (France)

Jean Claude Bouchard fell into the VAT pot some 56 years ago, started his career as a VAT consultant with CMS Francis Lefebvre where he stayed some 40 years, then joined TAJ (Deloitte) for seven extra years. During his career he has pleaded quite a number of cases and more specifically over 10 cases by the ECJ.

He was a member of the VAT expert group for seven years. He launched the creation of the European VAT club; with your present chairman, he launched in France an association grouping VAT practitioners from businesses and from lawyers: an association which is regularly in confident contacts with the tax administrations.

He had the honor and the pleasure to chair the IVA for over 10 years et cetera et cetera.

He has succeeded in convincing the EU Commission that the definitive VAT regime should be based on the “single place of declaration” principle, forcing the tax administrations to converge in their common monitoring of the tax, thus affording businesses to develop their activities within the EU in an environment fostering fiscal certainty.

Manuel Pérez de Algaba Cuenca, IVA Consulta (Spain)

Manuel Pérez de Algaba Cuenca, a Spanish lawyer and economist with a long experience as tax advisor, including seventeen years in multinational firms. Since 1999 provides independent tax advice through his firm IVA Consulta.

Founder member of VAT-Forum, member of the International VAT Association (IVA) and its Scientific Committee, member of Tax, Tourism & Law (TTL), a network of specialists in the taxation of the tourism sector. He frequently participates as lecturer in the formation activites and courses organized by these bodies.

Manuel Sieben, AWB Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (Germany)

Manuel Sieben is a tax advisor and, as managing director at AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (AWB Tax Consultancy), is responsible for advising clients, especially in the areas of customs and preferential law. In particular, he is the contact person for legal issues and the implementation and optimisation of process organisation with regard to compliance with regulations relevant to foreign trade.

Until mid-2011, he worked in the senior service of the German customs administration at the main customs offices in Krefeld and Düsseldorf. He also completed the internationally oriented Master of Customs Administration (MCA) degree programme at the University of Münster.

At the AWA AUSSENWIRTSCHAFTS-AKADEMIE (AWA FOREIGN TRADE ACADEMY) he regularly holds seminars on customs and preferential law topics as a lecturer. He is also an author of various publications on customs law.

Michael Wilton, HMRC

Michael is a VAT policy specialist in HM Revenue and Customs. He is responsible for Overseas VAT refunds, commodities and exports of Finance and Insurance services, as well as advising on EU Transition VAT issues.

He has 6 years of VAT experience which includes working in HM Treasury in 2018. He has held the role of Legal Interpretation Tax Gap lead and is also trained in direct taxes. Michael holds an MA in Finance from Bangor University.

Miguel Correia, Portuguese Tax Administration

Miguel Correia is a Deputy Director-General of the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority, responsible for VAT. He has accumulated a wide international experience in tax policy and tax consulting over the past two decades, in the public and private sectors. Prior to his current position, he worked as counselor for fiscal affairs at the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the European Union, in Brussels, and as tax advisor at Deloitte in Lisbon and PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. Miguel holds a PhD in Tax Law from the London School of Economics.

Mojca Grobovsek, Ayming France

Mojca Grobovsek is an indirect tax specialist and has been working in the field of VAT for 11 years now. She has started as a VAT Manager in a private company specialized in VAT recovery and VAT Compliance. In 2011, she wanted to give another significant dimension to my career. She therefore decided to join the Paris Chamber of Commerce, where she was working as a tax expert for the Enterprise Europe Network, which aims at helping SME,’s to develop and to support their activities on the European market. In July 2016, Mojca has joined Ayming as a VAT Expert where she identifies tax risks and propose compliant VAT schemes to their clients and their subsidiaries. Mojca also participates to commercial and partnership development. She deals with technical analysis of all kind of indirect tax issues and has a strategic oversight of the businesses. Mojca is also an official trainer on indirect taxation (VAT and customs) for the Paris Chamber of Commerce and takes often part of different conferences as a guest or as a speaker.

Dr. Nathalie Harksen, AWB Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (Germany)

After studying law at the Universities of Marburg, Münster and Paris, Dr. Nathalie Harksen is working as a lawyer in tax law.

She is a managing partner of AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft and AWB Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft with offices in Münster, Munich and Hamburg. The AWB provides a further platform for assisting multinationals in their cross-border activities relating to customs, VAT, excise duties and export controls. Nathalie specializes in the customs and VAT implications of cross-border transactions. Due to her studies in customs law at the University of Münster, she advises multinational clients on the interfaces between VAT and customs with particular emphasis on VAT, import VAT and Incoterms.

She is an experienced trainer and holds seminars throughout Germany for the management staff of major German companies in VAT, customs and intrastat topics. She also has been accredited by the ICC as trainer for Incoterms2010. Furthermore, she is a guest lecturer at the Federal Finance Academy in Berlin.

Nathalie is one of the authors of „Rau/Dürrwächter“ (commentary of the VAT-Law – § 21 import VAT and § 21a special arrangement) and publishes regularly on customs and VAT issues.

Nils Vanhassel, AURIFER (United Arab Emirates)

Nils Vanhassel is a tax lawyer who specializes in indirect taxation, with a particular focus on VAT. After starting his career at PwC Belgium, he became an associate at Tiberghien Lawyers, one of Belgium’s leading tax law firms. In 2019, he moved to the Middle East, where he became a Counsel at Aurifer Middle East Tax Consultancy.

Since coming to the Gulf region, Nils has gained extensive experience with both direct and indirect taxation in the Middle East. During his career, Nils has advised clients from a wide variety of sectors. This has allowed him to gain considerable expertise in dealing with complex VAT matters. Nils’ career path offers a unique perspective, having worked in a mature VAT jurisdiction before coming to the GCC region, where VAT was only recently implemented.

Nils regularly gives presentations on various tax topics and he is a frequent author of articles on taxation in the EU and GCC. Nils also co-authored several reference works on Belgian VAT, such as the Tiberghien Tax Law Manual and the VAT Manual published by Larcier.

Nils holds an LL.M. (Master of laws) from the University of Ghent and has also obtained a postgraduate in Tax Law from the Brussels Tax College. He is the recipient of the Advanced Professional Certificate in International Taxation (APCIT) from the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD).

Patrice Pillet, European Commission (Belgium)

Patrice Pillet is the Head of Unit for indirect taxation legal affairs, in DG Taxud (European Commission). He is therefore responsible for the management of complains, the handing of infringement procedures as well as other legal issues (including preliminary rulings) in the area of indirect taxation.

He was previously Head of Sector responsible for VAT on electronic commerce (2008-1016). He has also previously been responsible for international affairs and technical assistance in the Customs Directorate of DG Taxud (2004-2008), as well as for fighting VAT fraud and promoting mutual assistance in tax matters (1998-2004).

Piet Battiau, Head Consumption Taxes Unit at OECD

Piet Battiau is the Head of the Consumption Taxes Unit in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) of the OECD. He is responsible for the OECD’s expanding work on indirect taxes, including the International VAT/GST Guidelines and the OECD Global Forum on VAT.

He has been included in the International Tax Review’s Global Tax 50 of the world’s most influential persons in tax policy and practice every year since its inception in 2011.

Piet joined the OECD in 2011. He began his career as a tax inspector for the Belgian Ministry of Finance in the early 1990’s before moving on to an international financial institution in 1995, where he became Head of International Taxation and subsequently Head of Public Policy. He was also Chairman of the Fiscal Committee of the European Banking Federation.

He studied Law in Brussels and Ghent and holds a Law degree and a degree in Tax Science.

Raymond Feen, ALLVAT (Netherlands)

Is an international VAT consultant. He has worked since 1996 in international VAT for a Big Four and worked several years in industry as in-house VAT manager. In 2010 he started his own VAT consulting firm ALLVAT. He is frequent speaker at international seminars, organizes trainings for the Federation of Dutch exporters, the Chamber of Commerce, the International VAT Expert Academy (IVEA) and is partner of VAT Forum CV. He is currently a board member of the IVA and liaises with the IVA members outside the EU. His focus is on the international supply chain in Europe and more recently the GCC.

Sophie Claessens, Amazon Europe (Belgium)

Sophie is a member of Amazon’s EU public policy team in Brussels where she is leading and coordinating Amazon’s VAT and corporation tax policy efforts at a pan-EU level.

She has previously worked as a tax advisor at PwC and has advised many technology, ecommerce, media and telecoms businesses on VAT. She works closely with EU policy stakeholders on reforms to the VAT system, including the implementation of the VAT ecommerce package, but also on future VAT reforms. She holds a Master degree in Law and an Executive Master in Taxation. She is author of different publications on VAT and the digital economy.

Stephen Dale, HEDEOS société d’avocats (France)

Stephen Dale is a partner in a specialist VAT practice in Paris in HEDEOS société d’avocats and has worked in French taxation for more than twenty years, having previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK.

Stephen is a member (and former Chairman) of the FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) Tax Policy Group and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales VAT Committee (and former Chairman). He represents the IVA on the Expert Group and is a member of the OECD’s Global VAT Forum.

He is a board member of the Association de la Pratique de la TVA européenne (APTE).

He is the author of several publications such as VAT Yearbook – Kluwer, VAT Guides – PwC, Articles – International Indirect Tax, BNA, journals and newspapers.

Takuma Yamazaki, OPTI (Japan)

Joined ORIX Corporation in 1995, engaged in business development and investment in overseas business units. In 2006, transferred to Singapore investment subsidiary ORIX Investment and Management as President. After that, worked as Managing Director in departments including Overseas Business Investment, Strategic Investment, and Overseas Business Development.

Carried out many projects including investment in Vietnam and Singapore under joint management with listed enterprises in Singapore, business development of microfinance as director of the listed enterprise in Sri Lanka, financing Cambodia’s largest commercial bank, and M&A of Indonesia’s second-largest independent finance company. After the investments were implemented, promoted with team members hands-on development of new business in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar with invested enterprises, PMI (Post Merger Integration) for an acquire in Indonesia, and investment strategy planning in Thailand and Malaysia.

Having experience of cross-border investment among industrial companies and PMI, started to be willing to support the overseas business development of Japanese companies in a hands-on way. Also sympathized with Fuchigami, who had worked together in ORIX, and his idea “making world’s tax matters easy by the cloud.” Confident in the growth potential of OPTI as TaxTech and joined its management by co-funding.

Graduated from Kwansei Gakuin University.

Thibauld Manson, French Tax Administration

Thibauld Manson is currently Tax Attache for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at the French Embassy in Berlin.

Prior to his current position, he was the head of the French VAT Refund Unit for foreign businesses, international organizations and diplomatic missions at the non-resident tax directorate (DINR).

Thibauld attended the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Cachan and has 15 years of experience in both public and private sectors regarding economic and tax issues.

Andrew Tucker, HMRC (UK)

Andrew Tucker is Head of VAT Deductions and Financial Services policy in HMRC.  Prior to his current role he headed up the VAT policy team in HMRC dealing with EU Exit.  He has previously led a variety of teams and projects across a number of different UK Government departments including on legal aid reform, devolution and in the somewhat niche area of coroners and burials.  He is a trustee of two charities, is Chair of Governors at a free school in London and (at the time of writing) is currently training for the London Marathon.  He is married to Jane with two daughters Hannah (7) and Sophie (5).

Bradford Rohmer, Oxford Research (Sweden)
Bradford Rohmer is a partner at Oxford Research, a small policy research consultancy (bizarrely) based in Stockholm. He has spent the last 12 years specialising in evaluations and related studies for the European Commission, with a focus on applying social research techniques rigorously to assignments across a range of policy areas. These have included in particular studies in the fields of tax and customs policies. He is currently team leader for the study on the review of the VAT treatment of the financial and insurance industries, and among others has recently completed an evaluation of the Fiscalis programme for tax cooperation. Bradford has degrees in European studies and political science from the Institute of European Studies of the Free University of Brussels and Sciences-Po Strasbourg.

Dr. Christian Salder, KMLZ (Germany)
Christian advises clients on all aspects of national and international VAT issues and specializes in customs and excise duty matters. His particular focus is on import VAT related issues as well as optimizing cross-border supply chains and processing schemes. Christian has extensive experience in carrying out SAP-VAT audits and customs reviews. He also accompanies external audits and represents clients before tax authorities and fiscal courts. His clients range from individuals to international groups.

He is a post-graduate degree lecturer at the University of Münster and regularly lectures on VAT and customs related topics, as well as regularly publishing comments, articles and annotations in these areas.

Cyrille Konter, TEVEA International (France)
Graduated from HEC in 1997 with a specialisation in Finances, Cyrille Konter started his career in Germany within various investment banks as structureur and seller of derivatives on action. In 2003, he returns to France to take over the business development of TEVEA International.

Damien Moras, VAT4U (Germany)
Damien Moras is Founder and Managing Director of VAT4U. Armed with an academic background in business administration and finance from Toulouse-Barcelona Business School along with 12 years of consultancy with a strong focus on strategic costs optimization and financial risk mitigation strategies, Damien has managed strategic projects across different regions for large corporations, including digitization of the tax function. His work, has been going well beyond borders: Barcelona, Paris, Milan and Düsseldorf. Damien co-founded VAT4U with the core commitment of improving the way corporations recover VAT.

Prof. Dr. David Hummel, European Court of Justice (Luxemburg)
David Hummel is since October 2016 legal secretary (référendaire) at the European Court of Justice at the cabinet of advocate general Kokott.

Before (2013 – 2016) he represented several tax law chairs at the Universities of Münster, Trier, Leipzig and Hamburg. In mid-2017 the appointment as a Professor at the University of Leipzig took place. His academic career starts with the Study of Law at the University of Leipzig, a Graduation (Phd) as an assistant of Prof. Dr. Stadie with a VAT-Thesis in 2009 and a Habilitation in 2013 with the matter: „Rechtsformneutralität im Öffentlichen Recht“ (neutrality of legal forms in public law – venia legendi: public law, especially tax law and public economic law).

David Hummel is one of the authors of, inter alia, „Rau/Dürrwächter“ (commentary of the VAT-Law), „Kirchhof/Söhn/Mellinghoff“ (commentary of the income tax law) and “Hübschmann/Hepp/Spitaler” (commentary of the procedure tax law). Furthermore he is engaged as a tutor in the field of European Tax Law and State Aid Law.

Dermot Donegan, Irish Tax Administration

Dermot Donegan is head of VAT Policy and Legislation in the Revenue Commissioners in Ireland. He is an Irish delegate at Council Working Party meetings and other Commission Groups. He chaired discussions at Council on the new 2015 Place of Supply rules for Telecomms, Broadcasting and eServices which were agreed during the Irish Presidency. He has worked in many roles within the Irish Tax Administration and spent 5 years in Africa as a Government adviser on GST and VAT.

Emmanuel Cotessat, E. Cotessat Law Firm (France)

Emmanuel is a French tax lawyer specializing exclusively in indirect taxes (VAT, Excise and Customs duties). After 10 years of experience at Price Waterhouse Tax and Legal and then Arthur Andersen International, he started his own consulting law firm in 2000. He has specifically built a significant experience in international supply chain structuring, ERP/SAP VAT implementations and multi-national advisory and compliance coordination. His main areas of activity are pharmaceuticals, energy utilities, aeronautics and chemicals. He is a partner of VAT Forum CV and regularly lectures at international VAT events.

Fabian Völkel, VAT4U (Germany)

Fabian Völkel is Founder and Managing Director of VAT4U. After legal studies in Münster, Düsseldorf, New York, and London, Fabian worked for 15 years in consultancy at Clifford Chance, KPMG, Ayming (Ex-Lowendalmasai) and TALA Consult before starting VAT4U. His professional focus is on cross-border VAT, combining operational aspects of VAT compliance and VAT recovery with IT technology. Fabian holds a Ph.D. from the University of Munster and an LL.M. (Tax) from the University of London.

Fatima Gouveia, Comark Consultoria LDA (Portugal)

Fátima Gouveia is a Portuguese Economist with Post-Graduations in Taxation. Born in in 1968, she entered Comark, Lda. in 1992, and is General Manager since 2014. She has been working in VAT issues, including cross-border VAT for about 20 years. All her professional experience has been focused in international business and cooperation. Comark, Lda is a member of the IVA since 1998 and has been on the IVA Board in the last 5 years.

Fernando Matesanz, Spanish VAT Services Asesores (Spain)

Fernando Matesanz is the owner and Director of the firm named Spanish VAT Services Asesores SL. He Counts on more than twelve years of experience in providing advice in VAT and other Indirect Taxes.

Fernando holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Degree in European Legislation. He also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in Corporate Tax Law from the IE Business School.

He is an active Tax Lawyer, member of the Bar and a certified Tax Advisor.

Fernando began his carrier within the VAT Group of Ernst & Young, managing the VAT and customs practice for more than eight years. After that, he founded the firm Spanish VAT Services Asesores SL a firm exclusively working on international VAT matters and other Indirect taxes. Spanish VAT Services is currently one of the main VAT services providers for small and medium-sized companies within the Spanish market.

Fernando regularly acts as speaker and lecturer in different Universities and organizations. He is also a member of the VAT Forum CV.

Giacomo Luchetta, Economisti Associati (Italy)

Giacomo Luchetta is a senior evaluator for Economisti Associati, a boutique consultancy providing services to the European Commission and other international organisations. Over the last 10 years, he has delivered several evaluations and foresight studies for various directorate-generals, with a focus on fiscal policies. For DG Taxation and Customs, he has worked on excises, administrative cooperation, and VAT issues. In the latter area, he currently is deputy team leader for the study on the review of the VAT treatment of the financial and insurance industries, and was so for the study on the evaluation of e-invoicing rules. Giacomo has a law-and-economics background, with a PhD from LUISS University and a joint LL.M. from the Universities of Gent and Rotterdam.

Hans Joachim Narzynski, Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany)

After studying law at Freiburg University in Germany Hans Joachim Narzynski joined the tax administration in Ge‎rmany in 1998. He worked in different local tax offices in the federal state of Saxony. In 2009 he became an advisor in the Federal Parliament of Germany. He joined the Federal Ministry of Finance In 2013, first working in the press department of the Ministry. Since 2016 he is involved in European negotiations on tax issues as head of division. Hans Joachim Narzynski is now head of division in the Ministry’s directorate for customs and indirect taxation. In this position he is dealing with international VAT matters, in particular European VAT regulations.

Madeleine Merkx, BDO (Netherlands)

Madeleine Merkx (1982) studied tax law at Tilburg University (2000-2004) where she obtained her PhD in 2011 on the subject of (fixed) establishments in EU VAT. She is currently working as a partner at the Tax Research Center of BDO and as an endowed professor of indirect taxation at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is also a deputy judge at the District Court of Noord-Holland.

Mojca Grobovsek

Mojca Grobovsek is an indirect tax specialist and has been working in the field of VAT for 11 years now. She has started as a VAT Manager in a private company specialized in VAT recovery and VAT Compliance. In 2011, she wanted to give another significant dimension to my career. She therefore decided to join the Paris Chamber of Commerce, where she was working as a tax expert for the Enterprise Europe Network, which aims at helping SME,’s to develop and to support their activities on the European market. In July 2016, Mojca has joined Ayming as a VAT Expert where she identifies tax risks and propose compliant VAT schemes to their clients and their subsidiaries. Mojca also participates to commercial and partnership development. She deals with technical analysis of all kind of indirect tax issues and has a strategic oversight of the businesses. Mojca is also an official trainer on indirect taxation (VAT and customs) for the Paris Chamber of Commerce and takes often part of different conferences as a guest or as a speaker.

Olivier Alinat, French Tax Administration

Olivier Alinat is currently part of the VAT unit of the tax legislation department (Direction de la législation fiscale) of the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. He joined the French tax administration after studying law at Aix-Marseille University and obtaining an LL.M in European Law at Leiden University.

He mainly works on issues related to the right to deduct and financial services, as well as payroll tax (taxe sur les salaires). He also participates in the work of the OECD Working Party on Consumption Taxes (WP 9) . More recently, his work has focused on the implementation of a VAT group mechanism in France.

Pia Michelsen, European Commission (Belgium)

Since joining the Commission since 1995, across the range of issues in which she has been involved, her efforts have focused on the recast of the Sixth VAT Directive, the VAT package, vouchers, SMEs, rates and more recently financial services, travel agents and passenger transport. She is also in charge of the VAT Committee. Prior to that, she worked at the Danish Ministry of Taxation and briefly in the private sector.

Raymond Feen, ALLVAT (Netherlands)

Is an international VAT consultant. He has worked since 1996 in international VAT for a Big Four and worked several years in industry as in-house VAT manager. In 2010 he started his own VAT consulting firm ALLVAT. He is frequent speaker at international seminars, organizes trainings for the Federation of Dutch exporters, the Chamber of Commerce, the International VAT Expert Academy (IVEA) and is partner of VAT Forum CV. He is currently a board member of the IVA and liaises with the IVA members outside the EU. His focus is on the international supply chain in Europe and more recently the GCC.

Ruth Corkin, The VAT Practitioners Group (UK)

Ruth is the national Technical Chair for the VAT Practitioners Group. She is also an Associate specialising in indirect taxes with Hiller Hopkins LLP in the UK. In her VPG role, Ruth has worked closely with HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) on the “Making Tax Digital” project, ensuring that HMRC is fully aware of the challenges faced by taxpayers unused to accounting software.

She also represents the VPG and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”) on various committees with HMRC and was seconded to the Office of Tax Simplification for seven months in 2017 to look at ways of simplifying the VAT code in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Dale, HEDEOS société d’avocats (France)

Stephen Dale is a partner in a specialist VAT practice in Paris in HEDEOS société d’avocats and has worked in French taxation for more than twenty years, having previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK.

Stephen is a member (and former Chairman) of the FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) Tax Policy Group and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales VAT Committee (and former Chairman). He represents the IVA on the Expert Group and is a member of the OECD’s Global VAT Forum.

He is a board member of the Association de la Pratique de la TVA européenne (APTE).

He is the author of several publications such as VAT Yearbook – Kluwer, VAT Guides – PwC, Articles – International Indirect Tax, BNA, journals and newspapers.