MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Fri Feb 21 12:18:49 PST 1997

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From: Tom McKegney <Tom.McKegney at arraydev.com>
Subject: MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
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I pass on the following which was received

Thu, 20 Feb 1997 16:58:48 -0500
From: Lara Becker <lbecker at law.harvard.edu>

                 The International Tax Program
                       Harvard University

       International Tax Program and the Tax Law Society
                   1997  Spring Symposium on

      MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

                       Saturday, April 5,
                 Cambridge, Massachusetts,U.S.A.

The Symposium:

Billions of dollars of valuable goods and services are
sold, exchanged or transmitted electronically. The amount of such
commercial activity is expected to grow exponentially in the
future. The appropriate taxation of this sector is one of the
most significant new tax issues of our day. The International Tax
Program and the Society for Law and Tax Policy of Harvard Law
School are sponsoring a symposium that will bring together the
leading policy makers, academics and practitioners in this field
in an effort to help derive uniform tax rules in this challenging
dimension of domestic and international taxation.

This symposium will consider a wide range of issues, including:

**Differences in determining the electronic commerce income
tax base.  Should source or residence rules be used, or should
some form of formulary apportionment be applied?

**Problems in imposing retail sales taxes on electronic sales.
Should traditional nexus rules apply?

**Problems in determining the value added by electronic
commercial inputs.  Should a tax be determined based on the
'bits' of information? If so, should each 'bit' be valued the
same?

**Problems involving the harmonization of tax rules.
International and sub-national aspects of this problem will be
considered. OECD efforts in this area will be contrasted with
proposed uniform state legislation in the US.

**Throughout the symposium the impact that these tax decisions
will have on cross-border investment decisions will be a primary
concern.

The Goals of the ITP:

The International Tax Program continues to sponsor symposiums on
topics of critical concern to government and private sector tax
practitioners at Harvard University. It is the belief of the
Program that such discussions will lead to advances in tax
policy, administration and compliance on a global basis. THE
MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE presents
such a challenge. Basic Income tax objectives such as efficiency
and equality of treatment are made more difficult to achieve if
the rules of the game are left to develop on an ad hoc basis.
Through this forum the International Tax Program hopes to
facilitate a meaningful interaction among policy makers around
the core issues of taxation and the internet.
=========

Schedule:

Saturday, April 5, 1997

     7:30 - 8:30: Coffee and Registration

     8:30 - 9:00: Keynote Speaker, Mr. Jeffrey Owens, Chief,
Fiscal Affairs Division: OECD (Paris)

     9:00 - 11:30:INTERNATIONAL PANEL:

     Moderator: Professor Diane Ring, Harvard Law School

     Speakers: Mr. Bruce Cohen, Attorney-Advisor, Office of
International Tax Counsel, U.S. Treasury

     Mr. Alan S. S. Ow, Senior Deputy Commissioner, Inland
Revenue Authority, Singapore

     Mr. Nicasio del Castillo, Partner, Coopers & Lybrand

     Professor Luc Soete, Maastricht Economic Research Institute
on Innovation and Technology, University of Maastricht, the
Netherlands

     Mr. Arthur Cordell, Industry Canada, Special Advisor for
Long Range Planning and Analysis

     11:30 - 12:30: Catered Lunch

     12:30 - 3:00: STATE PANEL

     Moderator: Professor Reuven Avi-Yonah, Harvard Law School

     Speakers: Ms. Deborah Bierbaum, Deputy Commissioner, Office
of Tax Policy, Department of Taxation, New York

     Ms. Linda Lettera, General Counsel, Department of Revenue,
Florida

     Mr. Wade Anderson, Director of Tax Policy, Comptroller of
Public Accounts, Texas

     Mr. Dean F. Andal, Member, State Board of Equalization,
Second District, California

     Mr. Walter Hellerstein, Attorney, Southerland, Asbill &
Brennan

     3:00 - 3:30: Coffee

     3:30 - 6:00: INDUSTRY PANEL

     Moderator: Professor Richard Pomp, University of Connecticut
Law School

     Speakers: Ms. Jeanne Goulet, Director of Tax, IBM Credit,
IBM

     Ms. Allyn Yamanouchi, Vice President and Global Technology
Tax Counsel, CITIBANK

     Mr. James Eads, Jr., and Mr. Paul Nolan, Legal Division,
AT&T

     Mr. Bruce Reid, Director of State and Local Tax, MICROSOFT

     Ms. Ellen Fishbein, Assistant General Counsel, AMERICA
ONLINE
===============

Registration and Fees:

The fee for this program is $500.00. An academic or government
employee discount is available. That fee is $200.00. To register
for the symposium please fill out and return the form below, with
a check or money order made payable to Harvard University, to:

Multi-Jurisdictional Taxation of
Electronic Commerce Symposium
Attn: Lara Becker
1563 Massachusetts Avenue
Pound Hall, Room 400
Cambridge, MA 02138
Lbecker at law.harvard.edu

Fax: 617-495-0423
Tel: 617-495-4406

...............................................................
Registration Form:

1997 Spring Symposium on Multi-Jurisdictional Taxation
of Electronic Commerce, Saturday, April 5, 1997.

Mr./Ms.

Name (First or Given Name)

(Surname or Family Name)

Email Address:

Title:

Organization:

Home Address/Work Address:

Telephone Number:

Fax Number:

I am Paying by:

Check:

Money Order:

--- end forwarded text

-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah at shipwright.com), Philodox
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"Never attribute to conspiracy what can be
explained by stupidity." -- Jerry Pournelle
The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/rah/
FC97: Anguilla, anyone? http://www.ai/fc97/