"We're getting more and more cases of international significance regarding treaties and transfer pricing," said Gerald Rip, Chief Justice of the Tax Court of Canada, who is leading the initiative. "In a nutshell, the aim of the International Association of Tax Judges (IATJ) is to create an international forum for tax judges to exchange views and experiences on tax matters."
"Universities and law schools have professors dealing with international tax law but more from the taxpayers' and academic points of view, rather than a more neutral judicial viewpoint," he added. "There's a learning process that could be developed as there's a lot of commonality among countries. The same concerns are experienced by judges in other countries as well."
Judges and adjudicators with expertise in both direct and indirect tax are included in the project. The association has more than 100 members, including active and retired judges.
The first assembly of the IATJ will dovetail with this year's International Fiscal Association (IFA) congress in Rome at the end of August. Marshall Rothstein, judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, will address the group.
"Discussion at the first meeting will probably consider an exchange of views on tax issues in general and experiences in dealing with these issues, how tax appeals are dealt with in different jurisdictions, and rules and procedures of courts in different countries," said Rip.
Countries so far that will be represented include the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Finland, India, Canada and Argentina.
The IATJ was born out of an OECD-IFA seminar for tax judges in Paris during April 2009 and, at a subsequent conference in Vancouver last August, a group got together to work on the project.
Ten founding members have prepared a constitution for the association. The IATJ will hold regular meetings, undertake studies and circulate information.
Judge Olof Olsson of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, Wim Wijnen, a Dutch academic and part-time Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal judge, and Judge Philippe Martin of the French Supreme Court are promoting the IATJ in Europe and Asia.
Associate Chief Justice Eugene Rossiter and Justice Patrick Boyle of the Tax Court of Canada boost the strong Canadian contingent that are active in the project.
The association's executive will be located in the Netherlands.
