Global Tax 50 2014: CTPA

CTPA is a new entry this year

To say it has been a busy year for the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) would be an understatement. The conveyor belt has been set to overdrive all year as discussion drafts on the 2014 deliverables of the centre's BEPS project have continued to fly out. Pascal Saint-Amans, CTPA director, lays the praise for this at the feet of the CTPA staff.

"The reason we have been able to deliver is that the countries are working very hard, we have political support and so on, but I have the best team in the world," says Saint-Amans.

"They are extremely good and I think they are recognised as that. It's an extremely dedicated but very excellent team that I have. I realise every day how lucky I am, and that's not lip service, we are working like hell."

Saint-Amans says the CTPA is delivering significant value-for-money, too.

"We're doing all that for €4 million in two years – the cost of the BEPS project. That's what we call cost efficiency, I think! And it means that we really are killing ourselves."

Another standout feature of the CTPA's work in 2014 has been its efforts to be as inclusive as possible, and this is reflected in the way its director now uses terms like 'member countries'.

"The delegates from the member countries, and when I say 'member countries', it's interesting because when I say that Iinclude China and India and the others now, but they are working like hell, too," says Saint-Amans. "We are all extremely fortunate to be where we are at this point in time, because things are happening and it's extremely challenging and interesting, but demanding as well. And the team is really fantastic. The whole team, from Grace, my deputy, to all the heads of division and all the heads of unit and so on. It is really good to be here."