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The Italian tax authorities are gearing up for more detailed monitoring of major taxpayers. Perhaps the traditional deficit of qualified tax personnel can be offset by Italy’s sectoral studies approach. By Dr Davide Bergami, Studio Associato Legale Tributario, Milan (correspondent firm of Ernst & Young)

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the US, the prospect of a week in the beautiful US West Coast city of San Francisco did not prove alluring enough to the members of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) this year. Estimates put the level of cancellation for the 55th Congress ? held from September 30 to October 5 ? at an astonishing 30%-35%. In total, just over 900 delegates registered for the congress. Although the number of accompanying persons boosted numbers for the social side of the congress, attendance was still down on the Munich event last year.

Baker & McKenzie has strengthened its indirect tax group by hiring a senior lawyer from HM Customs & Excise in the UK. Hassan Khan has joined Baker & McKenzie as a senior associate after spending six years with Customs & Excise where he was also EU legal coordinator and human rights act coordinator. The expansion is part of the London office's strategy to concentrate on specific industries.

London law firm Nabarro Nathanson has hired a tax partner from the London office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Jim Mottram joins the firm on November 26 after spending just under two years at PricewaterhouseCoopers specializing in the taxation of investment funds. Prior to that he worked at Norton Rose.

KPMG's German law firm, KPMG Treuhand & Goerdeler GmbH, has merged with BBLP alliance member BBLP Beiten Burkhardt Mittl & Wegener. The merger will be effective from January 1 2002 and the combined firm will go by the name of KPMG Treuhand Beiten Burk hardt. The decision poses questions about the future of other BBLP alliance members, Meyer Lustenberger, Moquet Borde & Associes and Pavia e Ansaldo.

International tax attorney Daniel M Berman has left Sutherland Asbill & Brennan to join Thelen Reid & Priest as a partner in the firm's Tax, Benefits, Trusts and Estates department in Washington, DC.

French tax authorities issue guidelines on parent-subsidiary regime

HONG KONG

Stock option programmes have become a standard part of the compensation package for a wide range of employees in multinational corporations. A recent decision by the First Chamber of Germany's highest tax court reaffirms the position consistently taken by German courts and tax authorities that individuals receiving employee stock options recognize income when the options are exercised, not when they are granted, at least where the option is non-marketable (decision dated January 24 2001, docket no I R 100/98).

India has enacted a series of transfer pricing regulations, but there are certain omissions that need to be addressed before international taxpayers can act with certainty. By Vispi Patel, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Mumbai