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William Byrnes presents at LATAM International Tax Congress

June 18, 2014

William Byrnes presents at LATAM International Tax Congress
William Byrnes presents at LATAM International Tax Congress
William Byrnes presents at LATAM International Tax Congress

In May, the Instituto Colombiano de Derecho Tributario (ICDT) located in Colombia South America hosted its first international tax conference for Latin America (LATAM), bringing together government officials, industry stakeholders, and acclaimed academics to discuss challenges of automatic exchange of information (AEOI), base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), tax compliance, and revenue collection.

Associate Dean William Byrnes was an invited speaker, along with such dignitaries as Professor Stephen Shay of Harvard Law School who previously served as Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs and International Tax counsel and Professor Dennis Weber of the University of Amsterdam’s Center for Tax Law. The other speakers included representatives of LATAM revenue departments, influential tax academics, and industry stakeholders from professional firms. “This week at Harvard I will meet with Professor Shay and continue our discussion of AEOI and BEPS,” said William Byrnes.

Quoting the late Louisiana Senator Russell Long in his hour-long presentation, William Byrnes explained why the law and implementing regulations of the United States’ new Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regime had grown to over 2,000 pages in just four years:  “… It takes complicated amendments to end complicated devices.”

He continued, “It was an honor to be invited and to engage with the vast number of attending experts of the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, as well as the academics from the USA and Netherlands. I made many interesting contacts from the 200 attendees that I hope to connect them with my Thomas Jefferson students and alumni interested in this important region.”

“Moreover, I also had the opportunity to meet with various international tax program alumni, such as Lincoln Gomes, Guilie Castillo Oriard, and Kerry Cox.”

In addition to founding Thomas Jefferson’s international tax and financial services program, William Byrnes is the primary author of the 600 page Lexis Guide to FATCA Compliance, 2nd Edition, 20 other books and over 1,000 articles.