Between 1 and 3 June 2017 at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Lodz the Annual Congress of the European Association of Tax Law Professors (EATLP 2017 Congress: Corporate Tax Residence and Mobility), organized by the Centre of Tax Documentation and Studies and the Foundation Centre of Tax Documentation and Studies, took place.
Annual EATLP congresses are the most prestigious cyclical events in the world of tax law education, offering the opportunity to learn the latest research trends primarily in the field of European and international tax law. The Lodz congress was undoubtedly the most important scientific tax event in Europe in 2017 and the largest international event ever organized in Poland.
More than 170 participants attended the Congress, including 134 from foreign scientific centers. Guests were represented mainly by European universities. From outside Europe we hosted people from Brazil, China, Israel, Japan, Canada, Singapore and the USA. Among the lecturers, a representative of Poland was Dr. Małgorzata Sęk from the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Lodz.
The main part of the Congress was preceded by a Library Session, devoted to 20 years of cooperation between the libraries of the Center for Documentation and Tax Studies in Lodz and the IBFD in Amsterdam.
On Thursday the General Assembly of the EATLP and the Welcome Ceremony took place. It was attended by representatives of academic authorities: Prof. Antoni Różalski, Rector of the University of Lodz and Prof. Agnieszka Liszewska, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, voivodeship and city authorities: Prof. Zbigniew Rau, Lodz Voivode and Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Lodz. All the guests were welcomed by Prof. Wlodzimierz Nykiel, Head of the Center for Documentation and Tax Studies and Prof. Wolfgang Schön, Chairman of the EATLP Board. During the opening ceremony there was also a lecture delivered by Dr. hab. Jacek Pietrzak (University of Lodz) dedicated to Lodz as a city of multinational history, which met with great interest of foreign guests.
On Friday there were sessions regarding a very important issue of residency and tax mobility of legal entities. The session was chaired by Prof. Peter Essers (University of Tilburg, Netherlands), Chairman of the EATLP Scientific Committee. The general reporter was Prof. Edoardo Traversa (Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium). There were 4 sessions devoted to: a concept of tax residence of legal persons, with speakers: Prof. Roland Ismera (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany) and Dr. Małgorzata Sęk (University of Lodz), a transfer and change of legal residence of legal persons, with speakers: Dr Bori Kolozs, Dr Carli de Pietro (University of Tilburg, Netherlands) and Guglielmo Maisto (Catholic University of Piacenza, Italy), a tax residence of multinational enterprises, with special focus on the BEPS project, with speakers: Prof. Irene Burgers (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Dr. Maartena de Wilde (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Prof. Wolfgang Schön (Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Germany) and the future of the tax residence, with speakers: Prof. Tsilly Dagan (Bar Ilan University, Izreal), Prof. Rity de la Feria (University of Leeds, UK) and Prof. Daniela Shaviro (New York University, USA). Participants of the Congress also took the floor during open discussions, asking questions to the speakers, and sharing interesting remarks.
On Saturday, the winner of the European Academic Tax Thesis Award (EATTA) was presented (the prize was awarded by the EATLP and the European Commission). Then there were sessions on issues of great relevance to scientific work: peer review and open access. Introduction to the subject was made by Prof. Pasquale Pistone (Economic University in Vienna, Austria and IBFD in Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Prof. Ana Paula Dourado (University of Lisbon, Portugal).
The Congress was sponsored by PWC. Financial support was also provided by the Rector of the University of Lodz and the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration.