On 28 September 2016, the European Tax Adviser Federation – ETAF, whichunites more than 230,000 tax advisers from Germany, France and Italy, presented itself for the first time to a broad international audience on the occasion of its launching conference “Europe’s tax agenda for the future"
The conference was integrated into the opening of the annual congress of the Conseil Supérieur de l’Ordre des Experts-Comptables – CSOEC, an ETAF founding member. The audience included approximately 5.000 professionals from Europe and overseas.
The welcoming address of Philippe Arraou, CSOEC and ETAF President, and the opening speech of Guy Verhofstadt, Chairman of the liberal ALDE-Group at the European Parliament, were followed by a video message from Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the Center for Tax Policy and Administration at the OECD, who set the topics for the roundtable discussion.
Subsequently, top representatives from the Commission, the European Parliament, the OECD and the International Tax Center of the Bavarian Ministry of Finance discussed the EU’s tax policy priorities for the years to come. The discussion also dealt with taxation issues of the digital economy – a crucial topic for the future of tax consulting.
During a following roundtable, the ETAF Board members explained why the establishment of a powerful European tax adviser organisation was essential and of vital importance. It was emphasized that many ‘advisers’ in Europe perform beyond a legislative framework and without professional guidelines, due to the fact that the profession is not regulated in all Member States. Some of them have significantly damaged both reputation and public image of the profession. The ETAF Board members further discussed ways to guarantee the highest possible quality of tax consulting throughout Europe and outlined the benefits of professional regulations for customers and the state in those Member States where they already exist.
