Between 8 and 15 April 2021 the 29th edition of the EUCOTAX Wintercourse Programme took place online for the second time, due to the global situation originated from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The programme revolved around the topics of neutrality and business taxation in a post BEPS/ATAD/Corona.world. 

The programme had, as usual, a panel discussion with professionals from EY consultant, main private sponsor of the EUCOTAX Programme.

The knowledge exchange and conversation sessions took place online, which didn’t prevent the knowledge generation. The discussed topics revolved around the multiple business organisation structures and how, depending on these, should taxation be adapted. The ATAD Directive stablishes anti aggressive tax planning measures, directly affecting the internal market, while the current business dynamic led to situations of tax base erosion and profit shifting. Thus, the analysis carried out in the Eucotax 2021 programme is comprehensive, analysing different ways in which this issue can be addressed. The neutrality of the companies legal structure was discussed, questioning if it is needed or desirable. Therefore, the relationship between business taxation and this neutrality in the legal structure were addressed. Similarly, researchers discussed about the reorganisations and the effect of neutrality in the taxation of groups of companies. It was a topic of undeniable legal relevance. 

The 29th edition could not leave out the link between tax and commercial accounting, which supposedly one streams from the other, and how these can be disconnected. This discussion was highly valuable due to connecting different commercial accounting systems such as the one from the Netherlands or the USA. The current discussions also sparked an exhaustive analysis about business taxation and the funding between debt and capital. 

The last topic addressed was how the tax agreement policies affect taxation in an increasingly internationalised world that has surpassed national and community frontiers (referring to the European Union), a change process accelerated by the situation left behind after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The results of this edition are being subject to revision before publication.