Astrid Grünkorn, Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (Germany)

I am a lawyer by profession. Since 2009, I have been working as the head of one of the divisions in the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern responsible for VAT refund in Germany. My work covers, in particular, policy issues, quality control and appeal procedures.

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Ágnes Fekete, European Commission

Ágnes Fekete is a Hungarian economist by profession. Since 2020, she is leading the sector responsible for e-commerce, import and export related VAT matters and derogations in the VAT unit of the European Commission. After working on the implementation of the VAT e-commerce package, currently she is busy with the VAT in the Digital Age proposal, and more specifically with the Single VAT Registration element of it, including the Import One-Stop Shop.

Prior to joining the indirect taxation unit, she worked on various customs projects in the Commission, including four years in the cabinet of Commissioner László Kovács.

Andrea Springer, Panasonic (Germany)

Andrea is the Head of Tax (Direct & Indirect Tax) at Panasonic Industry Europe GmbH, based in Hamburg, Germany. She is an experienced in-house VAT professional and leads the VAT and direct tax expert team which deals with EU and non-EU tax issues. Andrea established the first tax epartment inside the Panasonic group, worldwide. Andrea has extensive experi-ence in merger & demerger group activities. She previously worked, for several years, at Deloitte in the International AT Department in Düsseldorf and prior to that operated her own business in Berlin (as an executive consultant).

Anthony Allgood, HMRC

Anthony Allgood is the HMRC policy lead for import VAT (including Postponed VAT Accounting). He has been on officer of HMRC (and previously HM Customs and Excise) for 27 years and has worked in a variety of roles in the department. Most notably he was an early pioneer in the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for tax disputes and is an accredited mediator. He was also a senior member of the team working on the Brexit transition, specialising in air freight, the cultural sector and ATA carnets.

 

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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.

Christina Alderson, HMRC

Christina has been in HMRC for 6 years and has been working with the Overseas Repayment Unit (ORU) and the Non-established Taxable Persons Unit since 2021. She works closely with Policy on all aspects of overseas repayment claims and has contributed to several digital solutions including the launch of the Secure Data Exchange Service within the ORU. Following a secondment in Policy, she has been leading on proposals for reforming the overseas repayment process and meets biannually with the International VAT Association.

 

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Cyrille Konter, TEVEA RF Consulting SASU (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 RF Consulting SASU.

 

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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. 

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.

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 20 years of experience in providing advice in VAT.

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

Fernando began his carrier within the VAT Group of Ernst & Young. 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 the largest independent VAT services providers within the Spanish market.
Fernando is a Board Member of the IVA, a Member of the EU Commission´s VAT Expert Group and President of the Madrid VAT Forum Foundation.

Jane Holmberg, VAT IT Group

Jane holds a degree in Economics from the University of Bradford School of Management and has during the last 30 years specialized in foreign VAT recovery services. From 1997, as General Manager for the United Cash Back franchise group, she developed the business model and complete processes to enable companies to recover their foreign VAT, liaising closely with business and the VAT authorities to generate compliant and efficient practices. Since the acquisition of Cash Back in 2019, she works with VAT IT Reclaim continuing to ensure best practices are in place between the claimants, agents and the authorities.

Jane has been an active member on and off the board of the International VAT association since its foundation.

Jane lives in Gothenburg, Sweden where she makes the most of all outdoor activities and the fantastic West Coast surroundings.

Jean Aubert, DFDS A/S (Denmark)

Jean is a graduate chartered accountant from the “Université des sciences sociales de Toulouse” and has an MBA from the University of Canterbury (Kent).

He moved to the UK the year of the EU single market 1993 for the Norbert Dentressangle Group and then moved to Shipping as Financial Controller of SeaFrance (SNCF group) dealing with the UK subsidiary and all fiscal maters in the UK. Jean joined DFDS as Indirect tax manager in 2013 and, for all his sins in a previous life, had to deal with the Brexit preparations looking after the AEO program, the training of staff to build a customs dept and the reintroduction of Duty Free for international travel. He has been active in the Taxation working group of the European community Shipowners Associations since 1997.

Jeremy Woolf, CFE

Jeremy is a barrister specialising in tax law at Pump Court Tax Chambers, London. He is chair of the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s European and Human Rights working group. He is also chair of the indirect tax committee of CFE Tax Advisors Europe and was one of its representatives on the European Commission VAT Expert Group. He has been awarded a certificate of merit by the CIOT. Cases he has argued include C-169/04 Abbey National -v- Customs and Excise Comrs, C-291/03 MyTravel v Customs and Excise Comrs and C-308/96 and C-94/97 Customs and Excise Comrs v Madgett and Baldwin.

Marcel Eggen, Dutch Tax Administration

Marcel Eggen is the Product Manager for VAT Refund claims (8th & 13th Directive incoming and outgoing) at the Dutch Tax Office for Foreign Taxpayers in Heerlen – The Netherlands. He is responsible for the workflows around VAT Refund and for the IT-solutions to support those workflows.
He has studied tax and economics (in Dutch: fiscale economie) and is a certified SAFe® Product Manager. His work area is therefore at the intersection of taxation and IT.

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Martina Yemi-Akala, HMRC

Martina has been in HMRC for 19 years and worked in different areas of the department including the VAT Written Enquiries team, the team responsible for providing technical replies to VAT queries.

She has worked in different policy areas, which include VAT Principles, she was the policy lead for both the EU VAT refunds and Overseas Repayment Scheme from July 2017 – Feb 2021 and worked collaboratively with external stakeholders including members of the IVA to deliver deduction policy that provides the right outcome for both HMRC and our customers.

She is currently the policy manager for VAT Deductions which include Import VAT Deduction.

Maxime Monleon, European Commission (Belgium)

Maxime Monleon is a policy officer working in the team in charge of policy and legal aspects of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in DG TAXUD (European Commission). With a background in political science, he had several experiences as deputy head of unit in the French Treasury (Direction générale du Trésor) of the Finance ministry on various economic policy proposals. From 2015 to 2019, he was head of sector in charge of international and EU discussions on direct tax matters in the Tax Policy Department (Direction de la legislation fiscale) of the Finance ministry. He then joined DG TAXUD and later the Permanent Representation of France to the EU during the Presidency of the EU Council.

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

Ruth is 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, Roosevelt (France)

Stephen Dale is a partner at Roosevelt Associés – accountants and has worked in French taxation for more than twenty years, having previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in France and in the UK.
Stephen is a member (and former Chairman) of the FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) Tax Policy Group and chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales VAT Committee. He represents the IVA on the VAT 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) and the Association des représentants fiscaux français.
He is the author of several publications such as the VAT Yearbook – Kluwer, VAT Guides – PwC, and for PKF, Articles – International Indirect Tax, BNA, journals and newspapers.

Thibauld Manson, Tax Attaché for Germany, Austria and Switzerland

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

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

Thibauld attended the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Cachan and holds a Master’s Degree in Management Science as well as 20 years of experience in both public and private sectors regarding economic and tax issues.

Thomas Hoppe, Schwarz Dienstleistung KG (Germany)

Thomas is a certified tax consultant since 1993. He has been Head of Indirect Taxes / Customs at Schwarz Dienstleistung KG since 2013. (Lidl, Kaufland, PreZero). Previously, he worked for Henkel KGaA in Düsseldorf in Germany, the USA and Austria. Thomas is also co-founder of the platform www.taxpunk.de and deals intensively with the effects of digitalization on the tax environment.

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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.

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.

Cyrille Konter, TEVEA RF Consulting SASU (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 RF Consulting SASU.

 

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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.

Emilia Teresa Sroka, Kozminski University (Poland)

Emilia Teresa Sroka is a licensed attorney-at-law and a specialist in the field of EU law, with expertise in VAT and new technologies. She holds a master’s degree in law from Jagiellonian University in Poland. From 2010 to 2016, she worked for major Polish law firms, including SK&S and Deloitte. Emilia has expanded her expertise by completing courses in “Chinese Law Taught in English” at universities in Beijing and Shanghai, thanks to the UNESCO “Great Wall” scholarship program. Between 2019 and 2023, she served as the chief policy officer on international VAT law at the Polish Ministry of Finance. During this period, she also contributed her expertise to the European Commission (DG TAXUD C1) in Brussels, where she worked from March to July 2022. Emilia has actively participated as a speaker in various international debates and conferences. She has published articles on VAT policy in the digital age and the evolution of the one-stop shop in the EU VAT system. Currently, Emilia is pursuing her Ph.D. at Kozminski University and is a member of the Polish Tax Scientific Association.

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.

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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

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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 20 years of experience in providing advice in VAT.

He is an active Tax Lawyer, member of the Spanish Bar and a certified Tax Advisor. Fernando began his carrier within the VAT Group of Ernst & Young. 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 the largest independent VAT services providers within the Spanish market. Fernando is a Board Member of the IVA, a Member of the EU Commission´s VAT Forum and President of the Madrid VAT Forum Foundation.

Gwenaelle Bernier,

Gwenaelle is a partner at Ernst & Young Société d’Avocats specialized in Tax Technology and Indirect Taxes (VAT, customs). She has a Double Master degree in Business and International law. Gwenaelle is a Tax Lawyer (Avocat) since 1994.

Her representative activities in EY are: Energy (EY Europe West Tax leader), Life Sciences and Transportation services. Her specific expertise is in: Tax technology (mainly, ERP implementations, e-invoicing, data analysis, RPA and Blockchain), VAT & Customs, Tax law and International Business law.

Gwenaelle is fluent in French and English.

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.

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Jean Aubert, DFDS A/S (Denmark)

Jean is a graduate chartered accountant from the “Université des sciences sociales de Toulouse” and has an MBA from the University of Canterbury (Kent).

He moved to the UK the year of the EU single market 1993 for the Norbert Dentressangle Group and then moved to Shipping as Financial Controller of SeaFrance (SNCF group) dealing with the UK subsidiary and all fiscal maters in the UK. Jean joined DFDS as Indirect tax manager in 2013 and, for all his sins in a previous life, had to deal with the Brexit preparations looking after the AEO program, the training of staff to build a customs dept and the reintroduction of Duty Free for international travel. He has been active in the Taxation working group of the European community Shipowners Associations since 1997.

Justyna Szponar, Bolt

Justyna is an indirect Tax professional with 15 years of practical experience in IT, petroleum and tobacco industries. Over those years, Justyna participated in various projects like: VAT package implementation, preparing businesses for VAT introduction in UAE, setting up a new ERP system for multinational company or dealing with VAT implications deriving from the company’s merger.

After successful implementation of VAT quick fixes and several CTC requirements across Europe, currently owning VAT advisory role in Bolt – the first European mobility super-app.

Marcos Álvarez Suso, Spanish Tax Administration

Marcos Álvarez is a senior Tax Auditor in the Spanish Tax Administration in Madrid, where he´s been working for 25 years. He worked as a Tax Inspector in Barcelona, as a head officer of the Enforced Collection services and as a member of the Regional Administrative Tax Court in Madrid, before joining the Head Department of Tax Auditing, where He was appointed as Deputy Director for Legal Matters during 12 years (2009-2022). Although he worked in different fields (direct taxation, aggressive tax planning, enforced collection) his main expertise is focused in VAT, auditing and control procedures and strategies, and upholding the Tax Authorities cases upon the Courts (both national and EUCJ). He´s been speaking and contributing to many international workshops and conferences about VAT in the International VAT Association, Vienna University (WU), etc. He´s author of many articles about VAT in Spanish and international publications, including the International VAT Monitor with the IBFD. He was selected by the OECD, WB, IDB and CIAT as a senior expert to produce the Toolkit for VAT in the digital Era for LAC region, and also provided assistance to the OECD to the ones targeted to the South East Asia and Africa regions. With IDB. OECD and CIAT, he has taken part in technical assistances to introduce the VAT to digital economy in Panamá, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Dominican Republic. He holds a Law degree from Universidad Complutense (Madrid)

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.

Marta Agnieszka Papis-Almansa, University of Copenhagen (Denmark)

LL.D. Marta Papis-Almansa is an associate Professor. She is a lecturer and researcher specializing in VAT. Currently she is a MSCA Fellow at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) where she pursues an individual research project on the advantages and challenges of the use of new technologies in VAT reporting, collection and auditing (VATTECH). She is also associated with Lund University and Kristianstad University (Sweden). In Lund she for several years she has been responsible for indirect tax education at the Master’s Programme in European and International Tax Law. Marta has been also case law section co-editor at INTERTAX (Wolters Kluwer). She has experience in educating and advising business on issues of European VAT. In 2017 Marta was awarded the Maurice Lauré Prize by International Fiscal Association for her doctoral thesis on “Insurance in European VAT: On the Current and Preferred Treatment in the light of New Zealand and Australian GST Systems”.

Dr. Martin A. Sepiol, PwC (Switzerland)

Dr. Martin A. Sepiol is an experienced Data and AI Manager at PwC Switzerland, specialising in disruptive technologies for tax and legal services. He is a trusted advisor to executive management in med-tech, manufacturing, and governmental organizations. Martin is skilled in developing enterprise-grade solutions based on generative AI, large language models, machine learning, data analytics, and modern data stacks. He has background in physics, with a doctorate in quantum computing from the University of Oxford. Previously worked in the manufacturing industry, leading large-scale product development projects in the area of sensor technology and IoT, and overseeing industrialization processes.

Michaela Merz, PwC (Switzerland)

Michaela is the Leading Indirect Tax Partner in PwC Switzerland, with over 25 years of professional experience in advising domestic and multinational companies in indirect tax matters.

Within the PwC network, Michaela served as Global Indirect Tax Leader and the Global Leader for Indirect Strategy and Operations.

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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.

Neil Hedger, HM Revenue and Customs

Neil is currently Head of VAT Principles, Indirect Tax Directorate, HM Revenue and Customs with responsibility for the policy development and protection of the core legal framework and principles that defines VAT, which includes the impact of new and emerging technologies on VAT. Beyond the UK, he is supporting the OECD on the development of a paper on Crypto Assets and provide advice on strategic VAT risk management as part of the UK’s programme of support to the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. On Before joining policy, he had a 20+ year career leading operational VAT, excise and International Trade teams in HMRC, specialising in tackling fraud and non-compliance.

Ninja-Antonia Reggelin, Zalando SE (Germany)

Ninja is senior lead for tax policy at Zalando SE based in Berlin. With a Master of Laws and Master in International Relations she has worked at the crossroads of tax law and policy for over 10 years with engagements at PwC, the OECD and the German family business association. She later specialized in VAT law as tax policy advisor of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs before joining Zalando in 2022. Ninja is chair of the Young IFA network in Germany and member of the EU VAT Expert Group.

Patrice Pillet, European Commission (Belgium)

Patrice Pillet is the Head of Unit of the VAT Unit, in DG Taxud (European Commission). He is responsible for the development and implementation of EU VAT policy, and notably for the VAT in the digital age negotiations.

He was previously Head of DG TAXUD’s legal Unit and has also been 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.

Shaikh Abdul Samad, Sanjiv Shah & Associates (India)

Shaikh Abdul Samad is a distinguished Chartered Accountant and a valued partner at Sanjiv Shah & Associates, a Chartered Accountancy firm in Chennai, India. CA. Samad is the head of the Indirect Taxes Compliance Team and ensures that his clients remain compliant while optimizing their tax strategies.

He has extensive experience in Indirect Tax laws compliance dating back to the pre-GST regime. He has witnessed the evolution of indirect tax laws and has successfully guided clients through various changes and reforms in the tax landscape. The rich experience acquired over the years has made CA. Samad devise effective strategies and navigate the complexities associated with compliance seamlessly.

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.

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Søren Jensen (Gwenaelle Bernier, Ernst & Young Société d’Avocats), Danish Tax Administration 

Søren Jensen is a chief adviser in the VAT Unit of the Legal division of the Danish Tax Agency. He has previously worked at the regional tax office in Elsinore and at the Danish Ministry of Taxation. He has contributed to the work of the VAT Expert Group other EU expert groups.

 

 

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Stephen Dale, Roosevelt (France)

Stephen Dale is a partner at Roosevelt Associés – accountants and has worked in French taxation for more than twenty years, having previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in France and in the UK.

Stephen is a member (and former Chairman) of the FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) Tax Policy Group and chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales VAT Committee. He represents the IVA on the VAT 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) and the Association des représentants fiscaux français. He is the author of several publications such as the VAT Yearbook – Kluwer, VAT Guides – PwC, and for PKF, Articles – International Indirect Tax, BNA, journals and newspapers.

Tuula Karjalainen, Ministry of Finance (Finland)

Tuula Karjalainen is a Master of Laws and works as the Head of VAT Unit (Tax Department) at the Ministry of Finance. She has over 20 years of experience with VAT, having held various positions in both the public and private sectors. In her current role, Tuula is responsible for preparing and implementing domestic and EU VAT legislation in her unit, also taking part in the work of the Working Party on Tax Questions / Indirect Taxation, VAT Committee and the Group on the Future of VAT. Tuula has previously worked for customs administration and two of the Big 4 companies. She has also served as an administrative court judge at the Helsinki Administrative Court handling appeals concerning indirect taxation. Tuula is a member of the Central Board of Taxation.

Alexia Garcia, Marosa (Spain)

Alexia works at Marosa as a Senior tax advisor. She has been in the company for over four years. She worked in the VAT compliance team, ensuring they meet all VAT returns deadlines, assisting clients in VAT audits, and was also involved in the VAT registrations team.

At the moment, she leads the Knowledge area, from where she supports different teams in Marosa. Her main goals are keeping their team and audience updated on EU VAT changes and implementing internal training actions.

Bart Caluwé, Expedia Group (Switzerland)

Bart Caluwé is Director of Indirect Tax at Expedia Group. He is responsible for dealing with indirect tax legislative developments internationally (excl. North America), advising B2C brands and supply partner relationships.

Prior to Expedia, Bart was EMEA VAT Lead at HP where he had VAT responsibility for the region as well as marketing programs. He was involved in spin-off and acquisition work, the VAT impact of the Union Customs Code and advocacy on anti-VAT fraud measures.

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

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).
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.

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.

Emmanuelle Levieils, French Tax Administration

Emmanuelle Levieils is a project manager in the Electronic invoicing Project Department of the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.

 

 

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Emmanuelle Mouard, French Tax Administration

Emmanuelle Mouard is a member of the “Electronic invoicing” project group of the French General Directorate of Public Finances since 2021. Emmanuelle Mouard is in charge of IT topics and communication.

She previously worked in the communication department before joining the non-resident tax directorate where she was in charge of management and recovery services for foreign compagnies.

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Frank Heijmann, Dutch Customs Authorities

Frank is Director of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation of the Netherlands and Head of Trade Relations at the Netherlands Customs. Next he teaches about Customs, Trade facilitation and Enforcement at several academic institutes in NL and Germany and he is a member of the teaching team at Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), MSc program Customs & Supply Chain Compliance. Frank holds over 36 years of Customs experience, having an in-depth knowledge in the fields of customs legislation international business and logistics, e-commerce, enforcement strategy and he is co-author of the book ‘Customs, Inside Anywhere, insights everywhere’.

Ian Broadhurst, HMRC

Ian started his career with HMRC (and its predecessor department HM Customs & Excise) over 30 years ago and has worked in a number of roles, mostly in VAT but also other indirect taxes. For the last 20 years, he has been working on VAT policy, including a three-year secondment to HM Treasury (2008-2011). He has broad experience across a range of VAT policy areas, including extensive experience in international forums. Ian is currently a Deputy Director in Indirect Tax Directorate in HMRC, responsible for policy on VAT Reliefs, Deductions and Financial Services.

Ilse Verouden, Dutch Tax Administration

Ilse Verouden is working in VAT law since 1994, at first with Deloitte and then with Loyens & Loeff, both in Rotterdam. As of 2013 she is working for the Dutch tax authorities/Ministry of Finance. She has worked as a VAT inspector in the unit for financial institutions and as a policy advisor.

In her current role Ilse is responsible for the national coordination of the VAT practice of the Dutch tax authorities.

She is also involved in the EU VAT Committee.

Ine Lejeune, Ine Lejeune bv (Belgium)

Ine Lejeune is an independent attorney with 39 years of experience in VAT policy, advice, dispute resolution and litigation.

She has led PwC’s Global Indirect Tax Practice and conducted more than 40 studies on tax/VAT for the EU Commission/EU Parliament. She has published extensively on the subject (books and articles). Ine was a member of the EU VAT Expert Group (2012-2019) and is a member of the OECD’s Consumption Tax TAG.

She has done policy work for EU Member States and globally (China (VAT reform programme), the UAE (introduction of VAT) and development of The Unified VAT Agreement for The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf).

She has lectured at the University of Antwerp (UFSIA), the VUB, the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) and given guest lectures at universities in the EU and China. She has spoken at conferences organised by the European Commission, by universities and other organisers.

She is doing a PhD at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and co-chairs with Professor J. Owens WU University’s work on cross-border VAT dispute prevention and resolution.

She is a member of the editorial board of the International VAT Monitor, IFA and the International Vat Association.

Jane Holmberg; VAT IT Reclaim Group
Jane holds a degree in Economics from the University of Bradford School of Management and has during the last 30 years specialized in foreign VAT recovery services. From 1997, as General Manager for the United Cash Back franchise group, she developed the business model and complete processes to enable companies to recover their foreign VAT, liaising closely with business and the VAT authorities to generate compliant and efficient practices. Since the acquisition of Cash Back in 2019, she works with VAT IT Reclaim continuing to ensure best practices are in place between the claimants, agents and the authorities.
Jane has been an active member on and off the board of the International VAT association since its foundation.
Jane lives in Gothenburg, Sweden where she makes the most of all outdoor activities and the fantastic West Coast surroundings.

Jean Aubert, DFDS A/S (Denmark)

Jean is a graduate chartered accountant from the “Université des sciences sociales de Toulouse” and has an MBA from the University of Canterbury (Kent).

He moved to the UK the year of the EU single market 1993 for the Norbert Dentressangle Group and then moved to Shipping as Financial Controller of SeaFrance (SNCF group) dealing with the UK subsidiary and all fiscal maters in the UK. Jean joined DFDS as Indirect tax manager in 2013 and, for all his sins in a previous life, had to deal with the Brexit preparations looking after the AEO program, the training of staff to build a customs dept and the reintroduction of Duty Free for international travel. He has been active in the Taxation working group of the European community Shipowners Associations since 1997.

Lena Odelberg, Volvo Group (Sweden)

Lena Odelberg works as a senior director at Volvo. She is acting as the Senior VAT Policy Advisor. The overall responsibility means that she is engaged in all kind of VAT issues around the world. Previusly from 1986 until 1998 she was working at the Tax Authority (local) in Gothenburg and Stockholm in Sweden.

 

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Mathijs Klemm, Dutch Tax Administration

Mathijs Klemm works as a VAT specialist at the Foreign Office of the Dutch Tax Authorities, with international trade and e-commerce as his main focus. He has been working at the Foreign Office for the past ten years after obtaining his master’s degree in tax law at Maastricht University. Mathijs is further affiliated to Maastricht University both as a lecturer on indirect taxation as well as a PhD candidate. Occassionally, he publishes in journals on VAT related issues.

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).

Phil Hurst, HMRC

Phil is a senior policy advisor at HMRC, specialising on Northern Ireland Protocol VAT policy. His team is responsible for the implementation of VAT policy in Northern Ireland.

Following roles in telecoms and publishing, Phil joined the civil service in 2012 and worked on strategy and new school delivery in the Department for Education before joining HMRC in 2020.

He has a degree in International Relations from the University of Leicester.

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 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, Roosevelt (France)

Stephen Dale is a partner at Roosevelt Associés – accountants and has worked in French taxation for more than twenty years, having previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in France and in the UK.

Stephen is a member (and former Chairman) of the FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) Tax Policy Group and chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales VAT Committee. He represents the IVA on the VAT 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) and the Association des représentants fiscaux français.

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

Thomas Vanhee, Aurifer Middle East Tax Consultancy (United Arab Emirates)

Thomas founded Aurifer, an award-winning boutique tax firm established in Dubai and Riyadh, with a representation office in Brussels. After a decade of working at tier 1 tax law firms in Brussels and Paris, and after having been seconded with Deloitte in the Gulf, it was time to spread his wings and personally serve the exciting Gulf market. He is grateful to be surrounded by high quality people who want to make

their mark in the Gulf tax market.

Thomas has been involved in several high-profile deals and have worked for blue chip and quoted companies and institutions in various sectors. In recent years Thomas has also been heavily involved in tax policy in Europe and the Gulf. Recently, he has been assisting businesses in assessing them with their readiness for the introduction of VAT and Corporate Income Tax and helping them with coping with new tax challenges in the Gulf driven by tax reform. He advises businesses on compliance with direct taxation and transfer pricing in the region.

He is the Editor in Chief of Gulf Tax Magazine and Co-Chair of the Middlesex/Aurifer GCC Tax Certificate. Thomas is also teaching taxation at Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi. He holds a law degree of the Catholic University of Leuven (cum laude) and a tax master’s degree of Solvay Business School (magna cum laude).

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.

Tuula Karjalainen, Ministry of Finance (Finland)

Tuula Karjalainen is a Master of Laws and works as the Head of VAT Unit (Tax Department) at the Ministry of Finance. She has over 20 years of experience with VAT, having held various positions in both the public and private sectors. In her current role, Tuula is responsible for preparing and implementing domestic and EU VAT legislation in her unit, also taking part in the work of the Working Party on Tax Questions / Indirect Taxation, VAT Committee and the Group on the Future of VAT. Tuula has previously worked for customs administration and two of the Big 4 companies. She has also served as an administrative court judge at the Helsinki Administrative Court handling appeals concerning indirect taxation. Tuula is a member of the Central Board of Taxation.

Alex Baulf, Avalara Europe Ltd (UK)

Alex Baulf is Senior Director, Global Indirect Tax with Avalara. Alex is responsible for tracking international indirect tax and e-invoicing legislation and policy, parsing and articulating impact (across Avalara’s products, content and strategy), and dialoguing with Government, tax authorities, policymakers and customers. Alex has 17 years’ experience within Global VAT / GST and sales tax, working in the UK and USA and on projects across the EMEA region. Previously, Alex was a Director and Principal at Grant Thornton and a member of the Grant Thornton global indirect tax leadership team. Earlier in his career, he was seconded to Grant Thornton LLP’s Chicago office where he provided global VAT and GST advice to US clients with a global footprint or international supply chain. He has experience on large global indirect tax change management and transformation projects across people, process, systems and data.

Alex Cooksley, His Majesty’s Treasury (UK)

Alex Cooksley leads the International VAT and Excise Unit in the UK’s economic and finance ministry, HM Treasury. The unit is responsible for cross-border VAT and excise policy, international negotiations, VAT aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol and international engagement, including the UK’s input into the OECD indirect tax working group.

Over the past eight years Alex has worked across various roles in HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs. Prior to joining the UK Civil Service Alex studied as an economist, completing an MSc at University College London.

Andrew Menzies, TGS network

Andrew’s career began as a broadcast journalist with the BBC Radio and after completing and MBA worked as an international business development consultant for SMEs and multinationals.

TGS (Think Global Sustainability) is a dynamic global business network of independent firms providing accounting, audit, tax, business advisory and commercial legal services. Currently operating with 68 members from 57 countries, TGS is a credible alternative to the Big4 and has sustainability at the heart of everything they do. TGS are committed to implementing responsible business practices and developing global VAT solutions with a positive impact on society.

Andrew Tucker, HMRC (UK)

Andrew Tucker has had a variety of roles at HMRC and is currently Head of Northern Ireland Protocol VAT Policy. He is a certified leadership coach, a sought after speaker on a variety of topics, and lectures at St Mary’s University on leadership in the 21st century. In his spare time, he is a trustee for two education charities, coaches football at his daughter’s school and (at the time of writing) is currently training for a half-ironman. He is married to Jane with two daughters, Hannah (10) and Sophie (8).

Belén Palao Bastardés, bln palao abogados, S.L.P. (Spain)

Since May 2014, Belén is the managing partner of bln palao abogados, S.L.P., a Spanish boutique law firm based in Madrid and focused in Customs, VAT, excise duties and energy/ environmental taxes for national and international clients. Before that, she has worked for more than 14 years for international law firms based in Spain, such as KPMG, Cuatrecasas and Deloitte where, in 2005, she was appointed as head of the Customs and excise duties practice, within the Spanish Indirect Tax group.

With more than 21 years of experience, she has been recognized awarded by the International Tax Review as one of the best indirect tax advisors (June 2012 to June 2021) and as one of the most important women in tax in Spain, from 2015 to date, rated as “Highly Regarded”. Besides she has listed by Best Lawyers Spain as from 2020 onwards in Tax and Energy Law.

Together with its business activity, Belén is a usual lecturer for VAT, customs and energy taxation in public universities (UCM, UC3M, UPV) and private institutions (ISDE, Enerclub, UEM). She also coordinates a specific course dealing with Customs Law organized by the Escuela de Práctica Jurídica, belonging to the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

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.

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.

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 20 years of experience in providing advice in VAT.

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

Fernando began his carrier within the VAT Group of Ernst & Young. 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 the largest independent VAT services providers within the Spanish market.

Fernando is a Board Member of the IVA, a Member of the EU Commission´s VAT Forum and President of the Madrid VAT Forum Foundation.

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.

Helene Dinsdale, Vodafone (UK)

Helene is a Senior Manager in the Vodafone Group Tax team, supporting Vodafone’s global business with indirect tax matters across its international footprint. Before working at Vodafone Helene spent 8 years in practice at Grant Thornton’s office in London.

Jane Holmberg, VAT IT Reclaim Group

Jane holds a degree in Economics from the University of Bradford School of Management and has during the last 30 years specialized in foreign VAT recovery services. From 1997, as General Manager for the United Cash Back franchise group, she developed the business model and complete processes to enable companies to recover their foreign VAT, liaising closely with business and the VAT authorities to generate compliant and efficient practices. Since the acquisition of Cash Back in 2019, she works with VAT IT Reclaim continuing to ensure best practices are in place between the claimants, agents and the authorities.

Jane has been an active member on and off the board of the International VAT association since its foundation.

Jane lives in Gothenburg, Sweden where she makes the most of all outdoor activities and the fantastic West Coast surroundings.

Kirsti Piiskoppel, Finnish Tax Administration

Kirsti Piiskoppel is a Director of Customer Relations at the Finnish Tax Administration. Kirsti has worked within the area of taxation more than 15 years and during latest years has been focusing developing new and improved ways to provide predictability and legal certainty to taxpayers. In perspective of developing customer solutions on international level, Kirsti has e.g. been involved in further development of the Co-operative Compliance framework and other specific tools aiming to provide early certainty on tax matters. Working with both taxpayers and stakeholders has given Kirsti wide range of knowledge and experience on taxpayers’ expectations and needs which lay the base on working out future customer solutions.

Luisa Dressler, OECD

Luisa Dressler is an Economist in the Tax Policy and Statistics Division at the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, a position she has held since 2015. Her work focuses on the use of taxes to pursue environmental and climate policy objectives and on the nexus of tax and investment policy. Luisa leads on the investment tax incentives workstream that establishes and informs a dialogue between tax and investment policy makers and is building an Investment Tax Incentives Database and related analysis. Luisa is also a co-author to the flagship OECD publications focusing on carbon pricing trends (Effective Carbon Rates), a lead author of country-specific tax policy analysis and policy papers on the use of tax policy to support a green recovery. Luisa has published in academic journals and frequently speaks at policy and research events.

Before joining the OECD, Luisa was as a researcher with the Belgian National Science Foundation and a visiting doctoral researcher at UC Berkeley. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.

Marcos Álvarez Suso, Spanish Tax Administration

Marcos Álvarez is a senior Tax Auditor in the Spanish Tax Administration in Madrid, where he´s been working for 25 years. He worked as a Tax Inspector in Barcelona, as a head officer of the Enforced Collection services and as a member of the Regional Administrative Tax Court in Madrid, before joining the Head Department of Tax Auditing, where He was appointed as Deputy Director for Legal Matters during 12 years (2009-2022). Although he worked in different fields (direct taxation, aggressive tax planning, enforced collection) his main expertise is focused in VAT, auditing and control procedures and strategies, and upholding the Tax Authorities cases upon the Courts (both national and EUCJ). He´s been speaking and contributing to many international workshops and conferences about VAT in the International VAT Association, Vienna University (WU), etc. He´s author of many articles about VAT in Spanish and international publications, including the International VAT Monitor with the IBFD. He was selected by the OECD, WB, IDB and CIAT as a senior expert to produce the Toolkit for VAT in the digital Era for LAC region, and also provided assistance to the OECD to the ones targeted to the South East Asia and Africa regions. With IDB. OECD and CIAT, he has taken part in technical assistances to introduce the VAT to digital economy in Panamá, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Dominican Republic. He holds a Law degree from Universidad Complutense (Madrid).

Maria Delia Ruggiero, Italian Tax Administration (Italy)

Delia has been working, as VAT expert, for the Italian Department of Finance for ten years. Previously she worked for the Italian Revenue Agency and, before that she had been a school teacher in Law and Economics.

As national VAT expert, she has attended several Commission working groups, such as the VAT Committee, the Group of the Future of VAT, the EU VAT Forum, and a few of their sub-groups.

The Office in Italian Department of Finance, where she currently works, deals with International and EU profiles of Indirect Taxation including environmental taxes.

Melchior Wathelet, ECJ Court (Belgium)

Melchior Wathelet was Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities from 1995 until 2003. He was an Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union from October 2012 until October 2014, and was a First Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union from October 2014 to October 2018. He is Minister of State in Belgium since 2009 after having been Deputy prime Minister and Minister of Justice. He is honorary Professor of European Law of the Universities of Louvain-la-Neuve and Liège and is currently guest Professor in the KU Leuven.

Natalia Kozieradzka–Wanke & Robert Sasak, Enersys sp. z o.o. (Poland)

Natalia and Robert play the role of Senior TAX Experts APAC & EMEA in Enersys Group.

Both are responsible for indirect taxation (VAT, GST, duties, customs & environmental taxes) for APAC & EMEA regions. As inhouse specialists they are involved in all tax matters from setting the systems in all jurisdictions to dealing with the tax administrations during audits.

They have both started their career in Polish tax administration in indirect tax department and had worked with VAT & indirect taxation for more than 15 years now.

Their last huge challenge was to prepare the business for post Brexit reality what have been completed successfully. Dealing with practical dimension of international taxes is their daily routine. We can say that the work with taxes is their passion, not the duty.

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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).

Pedro Pestana, Marosa (Spain)

Pedro Pestana is the founder and Director of Marosa. He has 15 years of experience in VAT compliance in Europe and Asia-Pacific. He is the author of a comprehensive manual on European VAT compliance and several articles about European VAT. Pedro has a degree in Law, LLM in International Taxation and a full stack bootcamp degree on software development.

Marosa is a pan European VAT firm with an international team of over 50 VAT specialists handling 30,000 VAT returns per year. All work is handled in our Compliance Centre of Excellence. Marosa uses VATify, a software developed internally to monitor, prepare and submit all filings in Europe. We combine RPA, API rest and tax knowledge to add value to our automated reporting function.

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.

Sascha Jafari, Summitto (Netherlands)

Sascha holds a Master’s degree in taxation from the University of Maastricht. In the past he worked for Accenture in the Financial Services industry, and later on for Deloitte in the Tax Management Consulting unit. His unique skill set allows him to build a bridge between IT and taxation. Although these two fields are not often combined, Sascha has been writing software for many years and knows how to bring IT and taxation together. In the past he built tax analytics software and internal fraud investigation tools for publicly listed companies. After years of research into cryptography, in 2017 he started summitto to build the confidential real-time reporting system to prevent VAT fraud throughout the EU and even the entire world in a secure manner.

Simon Shaw, KPMG (UK)

Simon is a VAT Partner at KPMG UK and a former Anti-Avoidance Adviser at HM Revenue & Customs. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser and has more than 27 years of experience of advising on VAT. He has extensive experience in resolving disputes between tax payers and HMRC (from both sides of the table!), litigating issues before the courts and advising clients on indirect taxes across a range of different industry sectors. The former head of KPMG’s Indirect Tax practice in the UK, he now leads their indirect tax work in the automotive sector, which is a move welcomed by his 10-year-old son who thinks VAT is ‘really boring’ but thinks cars are ‘really cool’.

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.