Senior Tax Counsel: #The Tax Summit “one of the best programs” we’ve seen

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The Tax Institute’s Senior Tax Counsel Bob Deutsch, CTA, is really looking forward to #TheTaxSummit, and says attendees will walk away with practical tools that they can use day-to-day.

A taxation expert, Bob was until very recently the Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), and for over 20 years was a Professor in Taxation Law with the University of New South Wales. He specialises in taxation matters, with a special emphasis on international tax. He has written widely in his fields of specialisation as well as in the area of financial statements, and is an ongoing contributor to the highly successful Thomson Reuters Australian Tax Handbook.

We asked Bob about the challenges tax practitioners are facing at the moment.

“The biggest change is change itself and that seems to be happening in an increasingly accelerated rate] such that practitioners have to cope with the practical changes of tax practice, single touch payroll being a key example of that,” he says.

“But they also have to cope with tremendous levels of legislative change and changes in the way that practice is dealt with on an ongoing basis.”

Bob says the best ways to manage these challenges are to keep up to date with technology and innovation in particular, but more generally keeping up to date with all the changes that occur during the course of any given year.

He adds that 2020 is likely to be a year in which more change, rather than less change, is going to land on practitioner's desks.

Senior Tax Counsel Insights

“What I really like about The Tax Summit 2020 is the way there is something there for just about everybody,” says Bob.

“We've split up the topics now into a series of different streams; SMEs, corporate, various hot topics, professional practice, international and technology and innovation.

“And these are critical areas that need practitioner's attention, depending on where you sit in practice, but you can pick and choose between those and decide what are the important things for you as an individual.”

Bob will deliver his Keynote Address; the Senior Tax Counsel insights at The Tax Summit.

“I'm always excited to speak,” he says.

“My topic is essentially Senior Tax Counsel Insights, which will cover many areas regarding tax reform, ways in which in particular we can make the tax system simpler and fairer.

“Those two aren’t necessarily always pushing in the same direction, but I'm certainly going to try and touch on areas where I think there are important changes could be made, which are both practical and real.”

Practical takeways

Understandably, tax practitioners may select CPD events with practical learnings and tools that can be applied in their day-to-day responsibilities.

“We've introduced a lot of practice area topics both in terms of professional practice but also in terms of understanding tax practice,” says Bob.

“I think we've done a very good job in trying to make the topics more relevant to practical day to day operations of practitioners.”

Not to mention the importance of networking opportunities at The Tax Summit.

“There will be plenty of opportunities for people to interact both in a formal and informal way with various dinners including the gala dinner, various social networking opportunities and of course during the sessions themselves,” says Bob.

“There'll be plenty of opportunity to meet and discuss topics or discuss the football or whatever you want to discuss with other like-minded professionals,” he laughs.

Why tax leaders need to bring their teams

Bob says tax leaders should certainly bring their teams along to The Tax Summit, especially newer practitioners.

“There is a specific stream for Emerging Leaders which will deal with issues such as the imputation system, understanding how that works, building trust with clients and also looking at foreign income tax offsets,” explains Bob.

“These are areas where people who are relatively new to tax need some important basic understanding and knowledge and this will enable them to build on that through this particular program.

“The other reason that I would urge heads of tax teams to bring more junior practitioners is the networking opportunity that is presented through the Institute.”

There will also be plenty of opportunities for both more seasoned practitioners and less seasoned practitioners to mix and mingle with others and that will give everybody an opportunity to learn and develop skills.

Bob cites the Technology and Innovation stream which will be highly relevant to newer practitioners in understanding how the tax system is evolving in accordance with developments in technology.

“There will be many very talented speakers and one session in particular that is new and very different; which is the panel discussion to be chaired by Tony Jones from the ABC’s Q&A program, he adds.

“This session is likely to be very exciting and very interesting and should give everybody an opportunity to ask questions that they may want to hear answers to.

So there you have it. The Tax Summit offers something for everyone in tax. Have you registered yet?

The Tax Institute is combining two flagship events (National Convention and The NSW Tax Forum) into what will become the most significant tax program for tax and accounting professionals in the region.

This event is one members and non-members alike won’t want to miss. This is ground zero for our profession; the central point from which everything else revolves around.

There will be more than 60 sessions delivered by local and global tax experts, across SME, Corporate and Hot Topic streams. The Tax Summit also includes keynote sessions and four new streams: Professional Practice, Emerging Leaders, International and Technology.

Not to mention National Convention’s hugely popular networking events, the Welcome Reception, and Gala Dinner featuring The Tax Adviser of the Year Awards.

Register now.

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