dark grey zones between tax avoidance, tax evasion...
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DARK GREY ZONES BETWEEN TAX AVOIDANCE,
TAX EVASION AND MONEY LAUNDERING
24TH-25TH OFSEPTEMBER 2019
WIRTSCHAFTSUNIVERSITÄTWIEN
COFFERSEU Horizon 2020 Project
EXPLORING GREY ZONES BETWEEN LEGAL AND ILLEGAL TAX BEHAVIOR
This conference shows some of the dark zone cases where tax avoidance tips into criminal tax evasion shows the relation between tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering measures how much money is involved in tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering investigates law enforcement challenges emphasizes the role of tax morale identifies solutions that bring unpaid taxes back into the public COFFERS.
OBJECTIVESThis conference:shows some of the dark zone cases where tax avoidance tips into criminal tax evasion
• Shows the relation between tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering
• Measures how much money is involved in tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering
• Investigates law enforcement challenges• Emphasizes the role of tax morale• Identifies solutions that bring unpaid taxes
back into the public COFFERS.
TARGET AUDIENCE• Academics and people interested in
taxation and fairness: In academia tax evasion scholars ( e.g. Alm, Frey, Kirchler, Schneider, Torgler) and money laundering scholars (e.g. Baker, Masciandaro, Reuter, Savona, Unger, Walker, Zdanowicz) rarely meet. There is a need for their approaches to merge.
• Tax Advisors: Big tax advisory firms like KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and Ernst and Young were specialists in detecting tax law loopholes and advising firms how to avoid taxes legally. Is there a change in their advice? What role plays tax morale for these advisors?
• Regulators: For regulators, dealing with the dark grey zones of tax avoidance is difficult. Loopholes in the law have to be filled. But if companies’ behaviour obviously aims only at not paying taxes – is this legal? Questions also arise in regard to the implementation of the Fourth Anti Money Laundering Directive: can tax evasion really fall under money laundering in the EU Member States?
• Law Enforcement: For law enforcement, detecting complex tax avoidance-evasion-money laundering structures, is a challenge. Even with the tax scandals discovered by whistle blowers and investigative journalists like the Panama papers and Lux Leaks, perpetrators remain very often unpunished.
CASESProminent cases in the media demonstrate a dark grey zone between what is legal tax behaviour and what is criminal. Cases include:
• The double Dutch-Irish sandwich construc-tion, resulting in unpaid corporate taxes of companies like Apple, now stopped
• The Panama Papers and Lux Leaks• Uber, a digital platform versus taxi compa-
ny • The ‘cum-cum, cum-ex’ case and unpaid
dividend taxes • High value art markets and freeports• Structured finance• Online gambling
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DAY 1 · 24TH · FROM LEGAL TO ILLEGAL10.30 - 10:45 WELCOME COFFEE
10.45 - 10.50 Opening Brigitte Unger COFFERS Project Leader
10.50 - 11.00 Welcome Petri Backman, European Commission - Research Executive Agency, COFFERS Project Officer
11.00 - 11.25 Dark grey zones between tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering, Brigitte Unger, Utrecht University School of Economics and COFFERS Project Leader
11.25 - 11.50 Keynote: Exploring new approaches to combat tax evasion, tax avoidance and money laundering, James Alm, Tulane University, US
11.50 - 12.15 Keynote: The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion from a legal perspective: how thick is a prison wall? Claus Staringer, WU Wien
12.15 - 12.45 Discussion
12.45 - 14.00 LUNCH BREAK
I. LEGAL OR ILLEGAL?
14.00 - 14.30 High value art markets, Uber and the cum-cum, cum-ex case. Blurred boundaries between tax avoidance and fraud. Oddný Holgadóttir and Duncan Wigan, Copenhagen Business School and COFFERS
14.30 - 14.45 Financial innovation and tax avoidance Anastasia Nesvetailova, City University London and COFFERS
14.45 - 15.00 Online gambling - tax avoidance, tax evasion or money laundering? Thomas Havranek, Tax advisor and consultant, Vienna
15.00 – 16.00 Legal challenges of dealing with grey zones between tax avoidance and criminal behaviour LAW EXPERT PANEL FLASHLIGHTS and Discussion
Photo: Josh Hild
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Chair: Umut Turksen, Coventry University, UK and PROTAX leader Moderation: Astrid Frohloff, TV Journalist Stefanie Öner, Judge, Austrian Ministry of Justice and PROTAX Franz Reger, Head of Department Fiscal Penal Law, Austrian Ministry of Finance and PROTAX PD Dr Reinhard Kreissl, Director VICESSE and PROTAX Dr Tarcisio Scicluna, Ministry of Finance Malta
16.00 - 16.30 COFFEE BREAK
II. THE ROLE OF TAX MORALE AND TAX COMPLIANCE
16.30 - 16.50 Keynote: Merging ideas - the role of tax morale and the attitudes approach, Erich Kirchler, University of Vienna
16.50 - 17.15 The role of tax experts and of tax morale, Jane Mc Cormick, Global Head of Tax & Legal, KPMG and COFFERS advisor Sheila Killian, University of Limerick, Ireland and COFFERS
17.15 - 17.30 Regulating tax morale in the tax eco system, Peter Gerbrands, PhD candidate Utrecht University and COFFERS
17.30 -17.40 Discussion
III. ESTIMATING TAX AVOIDANCE, TAX EVASION AND MONEY LAUNDERING
17.40 – 18.40 Dark Number Estimation Models: (How) can we measure tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering? Flashlight Inputs and Discussion
Chair: Brigitte Unger Dr Irmgard Zeiler, UNODC Dr Petr Jansky, Charles University Prague, TJN, UNCTAD and COFFERS Prof. Dr. Michael Getzner, TU Vienn, iCOV Dr Joras Ferwerda, Utrecht University, iCOV and COFFERS Comments: Prof. James Alm
19.00 Dinner in the Schweizerhaus, Prater 116, 1020 Wien (free for speakers and COFFERS members– other guests can subscribe with payment)
Photo: Jacek Dylag
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DAY 2 · 25TH · POLICY DAY IV. COMBATTING TAX AVOIDANCE, TAX EVASION AND MONEY LAUNDERING
8.30 - 8.50 Welcome COFFEE
8.50 - 9.00 Policy Recommendations, Brigitte Unger, Utrecht University School of Economics and COFFERS Project Leader
9.00 - 9.15 The OECD’s 10 Global Principles to fight tax crime, Huub Adema, OECD and FIOD
9.15 - 9.30 Money Laundering and Confiscating Assets - The EU efforts towards money laun-dering and tax evasion, Burkhard Muehl, EU Carin, Europol, BKA and COFFERS advisor
9.30 - 9.45 Is Europe a playing ground for Corporate Tax Avoidance? Dr Ronen Palan, Inter-national Political Economy at the Department of International Politics, City, and University of London
9.45 - 10.00 Discussion
10.00 - 10.15 Fighting tax evasion as money laundering in the EU, Jan van Koningsveld, Offshore Research Center and COFFERS, PhD candidate Lucia Rossel Flores, Utrecht Univer-sity and COFFERS
10.15 - 11.15 Law Enforcement Panel Flashlights and Discussion – Why is there so little prosecu-tion and punishment in Europe?
Chair: Brigitte Unger Dr Jan van Koningsveld, former FIOD Director Offshore Research Center, the Neth-
erlands and COFFERS Detective Sergeant Daniel Mac Ginthy Anti-Corruption Unit, Garda National Eco-
nomic Crime Bureau, Ireland and PROTAX Peeter Paisuots from Tax and Customs Board – Republic of Estonia Marvin Gearty, Commission for Revenue Malta
Photo: Simon Matzinger
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11.15 - 11.45 COFFEE BREAK V. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY AND FAIRNESS 11.45 - 12.00 Financial Secrecy Risks in Europe, Markus Meinzer, Tax Justice Network and COF-
FERS
12.00 - 12.15 Transparency and the Politics of Capital Taxation, Thomas Rixen, University of Bamberg/FU Berlin and COFFERS
12.15 - 12.30 Corporate Tax Avoidance (and Fairness) – the FAIRTAX EU Horizon 2020 project, Margit Schratzenstaller WIFO,Vienna and Danuše Nerudová Mendel University Brno, Czech Republic
12.30 - 13.00 Keynote: Summary. Taxes, Fainance and Money Laundering seen from a Feminist Perspective Brigitte Young, University Münster and COFFERS advisor
13.00 - 13.30 COFFEE AND FINGERFOOD
13.30 - 15.00 Young COFFERS Researchers for Future Taxation
Chair: Brigitte UngerModerator: MA Astrid Frohloff, TV Journalist
Young Coffers researchers present their 10 points program on how to reduce tax avoidance and tax evasion:
PhD candidate Rasmus Corlin Christensen, Copenhagen Business School, COFFERS Dr Oddný Helgadóttir, Copenhagen Business School, COFFERS PhD candidate Markus Meinzer of Utrecht University, Director Tax Justice Network and COFFERS PhD candidate Lucia Rossel Flores, Utrecht University and COFFERS
15.00 - 15.10 Concluding remarks by Brigitte Unger15.10 END OF CONFERENCE
Photo: Pierre Blaché
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SPEAKER LIST
Adema, Huub, LL.M works for FIOD, the criminal investigation
service of the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration. Recent
lines of business are technical assistance in the framework of the EC
SRSS (Greece, Latvia) on tax crimes & money laundering. He is
vice-chair of the OECD's Task Force on Tax Crimes and Other
Crimes.
Alm, James, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Economics at
Tulane University. Much of his research has focused on public
economics, in such areas as tax compliance and the tax treatment
of the family. He has served as editor of Public Finance Review and
as President of the Southern Economic Association, and he is
currently the Second Vice-President of the National Tax Association.
Backman, Petri, MSc Econ, works as Programme Administrator at
the European Commission (Research Executive Agency). Since 2015,
he is managing a portfolio of research projects in the context of
Horizon 2020 in particular the deepening process of the EMU, and
taxation. He is also engaged in projects dealing with science
diplomacy.
Christensen, Rasmus Corlin, PhD Fellow is a researcher in
International Policital Economy at Copenhagen Business School and
COFFERS member. He studies processes of global tax. He has also
been recognized as a leading individual in international taxation by
the International Tax Review.
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Ferwerda, Joras, PhD, is assistant professor Economics of the Public
Sector at the Utrecht University School of Economics in the
Netherlands. His main (multidisciplinary) research interests are
money laundering, dark number estimations, tax avoidance and tax
evasion, economics of crime, risk assessments, shadow economy
and corruption. He is a member of COFFERS.
Frohloff, Astrid, MA pol., Dipl-Journ is a renown German television
presenter and journalist, communication adviser and media coach.
She has presented numerous TV news shows and magazines (e.g.
“Kontraste”/ ARD). For many years she also reported as a TV
correspondent from the Middle East, based in Jerusalem.
Gearty, Marvin. , Fellow of chartered certified accountant,
Maltese Institute of Accountants, Malta Institute of Taxation,
Certified Public Accountant, Ministry of Finance,the Economy and
Investment, Malta, Revenue officer at the Inland Revenue.
April 2017: Appointed board member of the Asset Recovery Bureau
Representing the MFEI on various committees such as the Code of
Conduct group and Tax Policy group (EC).
Involved in tax treaty negotiations
Gerbrands, Peter, is a PhD candidate at Utrecht University, School
of Economics and COFFERS member. After a 15-year career in
Business/IT he pursued a transfer to academia. His dissertation is
on agent-based simulation for governing tax compliance.
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Getzner, Michael, Dr., is Professor of Public Finance and Head of
the Department of Infrastructure Policy, Institute of Spatial
Planning, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien). His research
is on Infrastructure Economics, Spatial Economics and Ecological
Economics.
Havranek, Thomas, Mag., CPA (Certified Public Accountant Austria),
CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner), Public Certified Expert Witness for
white collar crime, accounting and compliance. He has a vast
experience in investigation, data forensic and data analysis projects
and is a partner of HFP tax consultants and the founder of CIN
Consult, a forensic accounting firm, specialized on big data
investigations and analysis.
Helgadóttir, Oddný, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the
Department of Organization at the Copenhagen Business School.
Her research focusses on finance, the production and legitimization
of economic knowledge and free trade zones. Her Ph.D. is from
Brown University and she has a background in journalism. She is
member of COFFERS.
Jansky, Petr, PhD, is associate professor of economics, Charles
University, Prague and Head of the Department of European
Economic Integration and Economic Policy. He collaborates with
international organisations such as the European Parliament and
the United Nations. He is a member of COFFERS.
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Killian, Sheila, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Kemmy Business
School, University of Limerick, Ireland where she coordinates the
ARC Accountability Research Cluster. Her research centres on
accountability and the common good, with a particular focus on the
work of tax professionals in the context of tax avoidance, evasion
and inequality. She is a member of COFFERS.
Kirchler, Erich, Dr., is Professor of Economic Psychology at the
University of Vienna, Austria. He is head of the department of
Applied Psychology, Work, Education, Economy at the Faculty of
Psychology, University of Vienna. The major research interest is in
economic psychology, household financial decisions and tax
behavior.
Koningsveld, Jan, Dr., has been a financial detective at the Dutch
Fiscal Information and Investigation Department (FIOD) for 25
years. Since 2011 he is director of the Offshore Kenniscentrum
(Offshore Knowledge Center) in the Netherlands
(see:www.okcnl.nl ). His expertise is on the offshore world,
corruption, tax fraud and money laundering.
Kreissl, Reinhard, Dr., Director of Vienna Centre for Societal
Security, has published and conducted research in security studies,
criminology and sociology of law. He is a partner in the PROTAX
project.
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MacGinty, Daniel, a BA in Law, BA in Policing, is a Detective
Sergeant in charge of Anti-Corruption Unit, Garda National
Economic Crime Bureau, Ireland. He is an experienced investigator
of economic crime and conducted investigations relating to
insurance fraud, investment fraud, boiler room fraud, tax fraud and
social welfare fraud.
McCormick, Jane, MA, is a HM Inspector of TaxesShe joined KPMG
in 1990 and was appointed Global Head of Tax in January 2016.Jane
is a member of the Forum for Tax Professionals and contributes to a
variety of bodies working in the area of tax policy, including the
Responsible Tax Project of which she was a co-founder.
Meinzer, Markus, PhD cand, is Director of the Financial Secrecy
workstream at Tax Justice Network and is the lead researcher on
the Financial Secrecy Index and the Corporate Tax Haven Index. He
authored the book “Tax Haven Germany” (“Steueroase
Deutschland”, C.H. Beck), and is TJN’s working package leader on
the COFFERS project.
Mühl, Burkhard, MA in Financial Investigation and Financial Crime,
has worked as a financial investigator within the Austrian Ministry
of the Interior and headed the Europol Criminal Assets Bureau from
2007-2017. He is member of the COFFERS Advisory Board.
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Nerudová ,Danuše, PhD, is profesor of Public Economics at the
Department of Accounting and Taxes and rector at the Mendel
University Brno. Since 2016 she has been the leader of working
package on CCCTB within the H2020 project FairTax. She is a
member of the Chamber of Certified Accountants and International
Fiscal Association and Association of European Tax Law Professors.
Nesvetailova, Anastasia is Professor of International Political
Economy at City, University of London, where she also directs City
Political Economy Research Centre (CITYPERC) and is a member of
COFFERS. Her main research focuses on the structure of the global
financial system, financialisation, financial crises and governance.
Since July 2017, she had been an adviser to the Anti-Corruption
Task Team of the OECD. She is a member of COFFERS.
Öner, Stephanie , Dr., is a judge for the Vienna Regional Court of
Criminal Matters and is currently appointed to the Austrian Ministry
of Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice. As a
judge she mainly dealt with cases of economic crime. She is a
member of the EU Horizon 2020 project PROTAX.
Paisuots, Peeter graduated from the Police College of the Estonian
Academy of Security Sciences in 1996 and has been working at the
Estonian Tax and Customs Board's Investigation Department for
the past 18 years as the Head of the Tax and Customs crime unit.
Since 2004 he is Head of the Western Division of the Investigation
Department of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. In addition to
cigarette, alcohol and drug-related crimes, this unit also
investigates tax crimes.
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Ronen Palan is a professor of International Political Economy at the
department of International Politics, City, and University of London
and current holder of an ERC Advanced Grant. Ronen's main
research and teaching interests are in offshore finance, tax havens
and evolutionary political economy. He is a working package leader
of COFFERS.
Reger, Franz, Mag Dr. has been Head of Department Fiscal Penal
Law, Austrian Ministry of Finance until his retirement. He
contributed as co-author to a commentary on the Austrian Fiscal
Penal Act and published several articles in the field of tax-offences.
Now he participates in PROTAX on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of
Finance.
Rixen, Thomas, Dr., is Professor of Political Science at the
University of Bamberg. His research interests and teaching are in
international and comparative political economy, institutionalism,
taxation and financial regulation. For more info, please visit
www.thomasrixen.eu He is working package leader in the EU
Horizon 2020 COFFERS project.
Rossel, Lucia, is currently a PhD candidate at Utrecht School of
Economics. She hold a BSc in Political Science and a MSc in
Economic Policy. Her main interests are the interplay between law
in economics in regards to taxation, the behavioural aspects of tax
compliance, inequality and development.
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Schratzenstaller, Margit, Dr., is senior researcher at the Austrian
Institute of Economic Research in Vienna; she was Deputy Director
at WIFO from 2015-2019. Her areas of expertise include (European)
tax and budget policy, gender budgeting and gender aspects of
taxation. She was partner in the H2020 EU project FairTax
(2015-2019).
Scicluna, Tarcisio is currently the Director General responsible for
Compliance and Investigations in Malta, within the Office of the
Commissioner for Revenue. He has served in various positions at
the Inland Revenue Department since 1979 and was one of the
main players in the process of amalgamation of the Revenue
Departments.
Staringer, Claus, Dr., is professor at the Institute for Austrian and
International Tax Law at WU, focusing on corporate tax and
international tax. Among other professional positions, he served as
a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the
International Fiscal Association (IFA). Outside academia, Claus
Staringer is a tax partner with the international law firm Freshfields
Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
Turksen, Umut, PhD, is Professor of Law at Coventry University,
leading a H2020 project, PROTAX, www.protax-project.eu . He has
provided consultancy to prestigious international businesses and
organisations (e.g. France Telecom, Orange, Commonwealth
Environmental Investment Forum, NATO and EUROPOL).
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Unger, Brigitte, Dr., is professor of Public Sector Economics at
Utrecht University, School of Economics. She works on money
laundering and tax evasion, advises governments and international
organizations, and is the Principal Investigator of the EU Horizon
2020 Project COFFERS.
Wigan, Duncan, PhD, is Associate Professor in International Political
Economy at Copenhagen Business School. He is Director of the
Masters programme, Pubic Management and Social Development
at the Sin-Danish Centre, Beijing.
His research interests incorporate multinational corporate
organization, international capital markets and international
taxation. He is a member of COFFERS.
Young, Brigitte, PhD, is Professor em. Of International Political
Economy, University of Muenster, Germany. Her research areas
include European monetary and economic integration; global and
regional financial market governance. She received the Kaethe
Leichter State prize of Austria in 2016 for her work on Finance
Economics and Gender.
Zeiler, Irmgard, Dr., is a statistician at the UNODC Research and
Trend Analysis Branch. Her research areas include statistics and
models on estimating drug trafficking and drug production, and
more recently measuring illegal economic activities and illicit
financial flows from crime in the context of the Sustainable
Development Goals.
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