For more than a quarter century, TEI members from across Canada have travelled to Ottawa in December for the Institute’s annual liaison meetings with officials from the Canadian government. As a member of the Toronto Chapter and a former chair of the Canadian Income Tax Committee, I have had the opportunity to participate in the meetings for many years. My perspective in attending our 2011 meeting as the Institute’s President, however, was a bit different. Specifically, while the meetings supported the effectiveness of the Institute’s advocacy efforts in Canada, they more broadly served as a model for TEI’s efforts worldwide.
Liaison Meetings Illustrate the Value of Collaborative Tax Administration
There were four liaison meetings held in Ottawa: two with the Canadian Department of Finance (one on income tax issues and the other on commodity/GST issues) and two additional ones with the Canada Revenue Agency (with the same breakdown of topics). This year’s meetings were organized by Dave Daubaras, the Institute’s Vice President for Canadian Affairs, and the chairs of our Canadian Income Tax Committee and Canadian Commodity Tax Committee — respectively, Carmine Arcari and Kim Berjian. Dave, like Carmine, is a fellow member of the Toronto Chapter, but Kim hails from Calgary and the membership of the two Canadian committees — and, hence, our delegation to the meetings — is drawn from across the country.
The agendas for the Canadian liaison meetings are reprinted in this issue, and like nearly every successful venture, they are the product of teamwork: Members of the two Canadian committees submitted suggested topics, vetted them among themselves, and then — with the able assistance of TEI’s legal staff — crafted our write-ups into a cohesive whole, which then was reviewed and approved by the Institute’s 11-person Executive Committee. The committees divvied up responsibility for handling the various issues at the meetings, and as has been the case year after year, the Institute’s representatives at the 2011 meetings were outstanding.
TEI’s liaison meetings — indeed, all of the Institute’s advocacy work — succeed because our members and staff are prepared; they are professional; and they are practical. TEI’s committees are passionate about “getting it right,” but they are dispassionate and responsible in how they present their views and push for change. Through their actions both before and during the meetings, the participants thus epitomize the following TEI Standard of Conduct:
The member recognizes an obligation to make an affirmative contribution to the sound administration of tax laws and to the development and adoption of sound legislation, by cooperation and consultation with the persons charged with those functions....
The efficacy and effectiveness of the Canadian liaison meetings, however, are not the only reason that, year after year, very busy tax executives raise their hands and offer to travel to usually snowy Ottawa in the midst of year-end work and shortly before the holidays. The liaison meetings are truly enjoyable. This is because of the goodwill and camaraderie, not only among members of TEI’s two committees, but between TEI’s delegation and the representatives of Finance Canada and CRA. This bonhomie in turn owes itself in large measure to the continuity of our respective delegations to the meetings; some of the government officials have participated for nearly 30 years. I offer my thanks to everyone — TEI members and government representatives alike — for their positive approach to the meetings and their common commitment to our tax system.
One final note about TEI’s Canadian advocacy. For the first time in my memory, every submission in an issue of The Tax Executive had its genesis in the work of either the Canadian Income Tax Committee or Canadian Commodity Tax Committee. I have no doubt that TEI’s U.S., European, and Asia committees will “catch up” in 2012, but I offer my congratulations for this first to Carmine Arcari and Kim Berjian, to the members of their committees, and to Jeff Rasmussen and Dan De Jong, who serve as legal staff liaisons to the two Canadian committees.
The Newest Recipient of TEI’s Distinguished Service Award
One of the CRA representatives who had long been a mainstay of our Ottawa meetings did not participate in our 2011 meetings. Wayne Adams, the agency’s Director General of the Income Tax Rulings Directorate and the Chief Technical Officer, retired earlier in the year. In recognition of Wayne’s 30-plus years of service, TEI’s Board of Directors in October voted unanimously to grant him the Institute’s Distinguished Service Award. I wholeheartedly supported the Institute’s recognition of Wayne. He truly was an exemplar of a dedicated agent for change.
Let me elaborate. Wayne Adams stood out among the many CRA officials who are committed to sound administrative practices and a recitation of positions held understates his contribution to sound tax administration. His exceptional skill in resolving questions made him the foremost tax authority at the agency, and he was known inside and outside the agency as Mr. Fix-it — the go-to guy for resolving the thorniest and most intractable problems in a fair and balanced fashion. Throughout his CRA service, Wayne stressed the need for openness and consultation with taxpayers and for reaching the correct result with neither a pro-taxpayer nor pro-agency bias. He was a strong advocate for a strong relationship between TEI and CRA and was very supportive of TEI’s work to improve tax administration. He led the tax administrator’s side of our liaison meetings for many years on the income tax side, and also showed a willingness to participate in TEI educational programs and technical meetings and actively sought TEI’s input on many projects.
Finally, Wayne helped to instill respect and support for TEI in the CRA staff by demonstrating common sense and fairness on taxpayer issues. At the same time, his empathy and ability to connect with others was indispensable in communicating concerns to TEI members as well as to his own CRA colleagues. He consistently demonstrated a belief that TEI can be trusted to advance an agenda based on the best practical approach to resolving issues.
Wayne Adams clearly satisfied the prerequisites for TEI’s Distinguished Service Award. He “contributed clearly above and beyond the routine call of duty in furthering the principles and progress of tax administration and the tax profession.” He “cooperated with the Institute and other professional organizations through liaison activities, conference participation, educational programs, and organizational activities.” And his work was “so outstanding that it achieved national or international prominence.”
I sincerely believe that TEI underscored its commitment to collaborative tax administration by honoring Wayne Adams, and I look forward to being present when the award is presented to him during TEI’s 2012 Canadian Tax Conference in May.
Global Tax Advocacy Tax Force
TEI has long had a goal of “exporting” the success of its advocacy efforts from North America to other areas of world. As the world has grown “flatter” and business has become more and more globalized, it behooves the organization to examine how it can better represent the interests of all members around the world. This is the overarching objective of the Institute’s Global Tax Advocacy Task Force, which TEI’s Board of Directors created in August.
The group, which is co-chaired by Vince Alicandri of the Toronto Chapter and Janice Lucchesi of the Chicago Chapter, will review TEI’s processes and practices relating to multijurisdictional activities and make recommendations consistent with promoting TEI and serving its members. For example, taking into account that the European Direct Tax Committee is currently charged with coordinating TEI’s activities in respect of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the task force is considering how to ensure the optimal involvement of all TEI’s members (including non-Europeans) in OECD initiatives.
The task force will also consider the effect of cultural (or, perhaps rather, continental) differences in how change is advocated for, and also address whether and the extent to which the Institute should engage with other quasi-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, that are asserting themselves in the tax arena. TEI’s role in evaluating and commenting on treaty developments will be addressed. So will opportunities to leverage TEI’s global footprint and ensure that the Institute’s Asia, EMEA, and North America chapters and committees effectively network and collaborate on advocacy matters.
One aspect of this will be consideration of whether TEI should create a Global Tax Committee. It will also consider the appropriate role for and control over informal, non-written advocacy, and also review the Institute’s procedures in respect of the development and approval of submissions (especially in respect of submissions to the OECD, European Commission, and United Nations). Finally, the task force will consider the staffing implications of the Institute’s global expansion.
The mandate of the Global Tax Advocacy Task Force is broad, and I thank the members of the group, which has been drawn from members around the world. I look forward to receiving the task force’s report in early 2012.
Annual Conference Appreciation
I would be remiss if I did not thank everyone who attended the Annual Conference in San Francisco, not only for their attendance but for the courtesies they extended to my family and me. Your thoughtfulness will not be forgotten.
Highlights of the conference are covered elsewhere in this issue, but I want to note my personal pleasure in having the opportunity to present awards to two members of the Institute: Phil Cohen of the New York Chapter, who received the President’s Award, and past Institute president Ray Rossi, who was elected to Honorary Member. Phil and Ray each epitomize a contributing, selfless member of the Institute. TEI honored itself by honoring them, and the Institute will long be in their debt.