World Cup? England have as much chance of winning that as the Asia Tax Awards!

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

World Cup? England have as much chance of winning that as the Asia Tax Awards!

As an Englishman, it's hard to be too optimistic about the upcoming World Cup. But, as a Southampton supporter, it's good to know that it probably won't be any more depressing than the regular football season was!

It's was a welcome break, therefore, to compile the pages of this month's International Tax Review cover story. They are bursting with happy faces, as partners and in-house directors from across the Asia-Pacific region celebrate the achievements of the year gone by. It's kind of like the opposite of the England team's post-World Cup debrief.

Of course, as is now customary, the Asia Tax Awards were held in tandem with our two-day Asia Tax Forum, and skilfully presented by ITR and TP Week managing editors Anjana Haines and Sonja Caymaz.

The Asia Tax Forum, as is the case with many of our events, is a great barometer for us as a team. It gives us the chance to reach out to subscribers and non-subscribers and see that the issues on their minds are the same as the issues we're covering. Seeing as some of the most discussed developments were the multilateral instrument, principal purpose test and digital taxation – three topics ITR has endeavoured to cover extensively on its website and in print – we came away happy, as well.

Also in this month's magazine, we have an exclusive interview with Tim Dyce of the ATO ahead of Australia's imposition of GST on low-value goods on July 1. Australia is the first country to take this step, and the eyes of the tax world will be upon them. While it's perhaps uncouth to comment on another nation's World Cup chances, given that the Socceroos' final group stage game is on June 26, at least it's unlikely that anyone there will have football matters to distract them from the task at hand.

We also have special features on transfer pricing from the Netherlands and Chile – perhaps people there have extra time on their hands this summer – and from Sweden. In addition, we have an update from our Mexican correspondents on the budding use of special purpose acquisition vehicles.

So, a final congratulations from me to the winners of our Asia Tax Awards, and I hope all readers enjoy this month's magazine, which is mercifully free from any more football talk.

Joe Stanley-Smith

Editor, International Tax Review

joseph.stanley-smith@euromoneyplc.com

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Thanks to operational slickness and sheer force of will, A&M Tax will continue hoovering up talent across the globe
Setu Kamal became the first practising barrister to be added to the UK’s tax avoidance promoter list; in other news, UHY expanded its network in Canada
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs may get thrown out by courts in the future and taxpayers should already be planning for that possibility, BDO’s Dustin Stamper tells ITR
Awards
ITR is delighted to reveal the first shortlisted nominees for the Middle East Tax Awards
The firm has appointed Deloitte’s former tax leader for Thailand to lead the new operation, which builds on considerable Asian investment in recent months
The Donald Trump administration could use legislation from 1930 if the Supreme Court blocks its tariffs; in other news, China has updated its VAT refund procedures
Braun gives ITR an exclusive insight into WTS Digital’s UK launch of its AI product, which can free up more than 1,500 hours per month by reducing routine tasks
Long tells ITR about her varied role, why curiosity is a key characteristic for the tax professional, and what she’d be doing if she wasn’t working in tax
The choice facing governments is not whether to adopt AI in taxation, but how to do so in a way that upholds the principles of tax fairness, writes Neil Kelley
As ITR’s client data reveals discontent with German tax advisers’ cost management, Grant Thornton’s local TP head insists it’s a two-way street
Gift this article