In the past few years we’ve seen momentum build around how the ATO and other regulators approach the tax treatment of foreign institutional investors. Tax leader Kai-Chen Lamb, who will be speaking at The Tax Summit 2020 on this timely topic, reveals some of the top challenges facing tax practitioners in the international arena.

Kai-Chen is a Partner in the Taxation team of King & Wood Mallesons with approximately 15 years’ experience advising on tax issues associated with the financial services and funds management industries. She specialises in Australian income tax with an emphasis on the tax treatment of managed funds, property, infrastructure, financing, mergers and acquisitions and cross-border investment.

Kai-Chen has represented a number of significant Australian and foreign institutional investors on significant investments in Australia, including negotiating on behalf of such investors in their interactions regarding tax-related issues with regulatory authorities in Australia, including the ATO and FIRB.

Kai-Chen’s Session - Session 14.4: Practical tax issues for non-resident investors

We asked Kai-Chen about her session at #TheTaxSummit and what she’s going to cover.

 “My session is going to be focused on a lot of the changes associated with making sure foreign investors pay their fair share of tax, and the practical side of that,” Kai Chen says.

“I think because of those legislative changes; a lot of foreign investors have been more critically evaluating what are appropriate structures to use.”

“I will share some thoughts and practical tips and tricks as well as some observations about some of the recent ATO guidance that has been issued, around these reforms.”

Kai-Chen explains that some of the challenges facing practitioners in this sector are around the amount of reform and change that has happened in recent years, both in terms of tax laws and the way that the ATO and other regulators approach the tax treatment of foreign institutional investors.

“We're also facing the situation where the ATO and FIRB are looking at tax statements and the tax structures used by the investors in Australia, at a much higher level of detail,” she continues.

“That increased scrutiny, as well as the significant amount of reform are key challenges that we face.”

Why The Tax Summit will equip you to face challenges in the tax profession

We asked Kai-Chen how she thinks tax practitioners can use The Tax Summit to stay on top of challenges in the profession.

 “It’s critical to keep informed, both in terms of the technical tax changes via shared guidance, but also in terms of what's happening in the market,” she says.

“And the best way in turn of doing that is just to keep your ears open and talk to as many people as you can

Kai-Chen says that being at one event with so many fantastic speakers, covering an array of topics, will give delegates access to a wide range of knowledge. in this space.”

“We often think that we know things and that our view is always correct,” she points out.

“I'm always really interested to go to these things to hear other people's thoughts.

“I think that that can help inform my own thinking on those issues on a practical day to day basis.”

Why #TheTaxSummit is a stellar networking opportunity

Kai-Chen has attended previous Institute events and tells us how useful she has found the networking opportunities.

“I've met so many people at functions and conferences and been able to meet those people again in my work,” she says.

“It’s always really good to meet people in the environment of an Institute conference because you’re both interested in a particular topic and it's just a really nice, friendly and relaxed environment,” Kai-Chen says.

“The real value add that comes from these things is being able to meet those other like-minded people and share ideas and your voice in a formal presentation setting, but also in a more relaxed social networking setting as well.”

Kai-Chen’s message for other tax leaders

Kai-Chen sees The Tax Summit as an opportunity for tax leaders to cover all bases by sending te

am members to every session.

“At an event like this, there's often number of sessions happening at the same time. I found when I was going through the program and selecting which sessions I wanted to go to, there was often three sessions at the same time that sounded good,” Kai-Chen explains.