This issue of International Tax Review is jam-packed, with our bumper cover story that details the global tax trends in the transactional market and reveals this year's rankings from the Transactional Tax Survey, and an array of features.
It's been a busy year so far, with ITR holding events across three continents – all of which are covered from page 16. I was privileged to take ITR back to India, and this issue's editorial comes from Milan, where we are holding the Indirect Tax Forum. Yes, I am chairing an event on the same day the magazine goes to press – sometimes, as tax directors will know, you just have to keep the plates spinning.
This is also a theme throughout the tax world. While companies are preparing for Making Tax Digital in the UK, they're also waiting to see what the UK's relationship with the EU will look like after Brexit – if there is a Brexit (see page 62). It's a huge undertaking, and the last-minute nature of the decision-making makes our country look amateurish.
But we're not alone. It seems that short timeframes to implement changes are very much in vogue at the moment. The Milan hotel where I am only had a few weeks to get ready for the Italian e-invoicing system, with implementing instructions released only shortly before Christmas – just as tax and finance staff across the West go on holiday.
In France, meanwhile, companies are likely to already be subject to a digital services tax for which the parameters are not yet set. They'll have to comply immediately and pay retroactively once the tax is pushed through the French Parliament.
Perhaps that's why we have not one, not two, but three indirect tax features in this month's magazine. The OECD is just about to host its International VAT/GST Forum in Melbourne, Australia (see www.internationaltaxreview.com for coverage).
We also have a huge repository of technology-related articles (see pages 6, 56 and 60) in this issue. In line with our efforts to expand our coverage of solutions to in-house problems (see the GP Surgery on page 87), we've been looking at a range of issues surrounding hiring and digital transformation.
I hope you enjoy this double issue of International Tax Review.
Joe Stanley-Smith
Editor, International Tax Review
joseph.stanley-smith@euromoneyplc.com
