Athens Tax Forum 2017

The Chamber and its Taxation Committee convened the 13th Athens Tax Forum, attended by almost 500 delegates, under the title: The Tax System: Growth Incentive or Competitive Disadvantage?, on April 10, 2017 at the Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel.

Chamber President Simos Anastasopoulos welcomed the delegates to what has become Greece’s premier event on taxation issues. This year’s event drew a record number of delegates. Speakers shared their insights and discussed good governance proposals in view of planned tax measures, both temporary and structural, aimed to secure fiscal stabilization and trigger economic growth in Greece, entrenched in a deep and prolonged economic crisis.

The Athens Tax Forum 2017, according to the Chairman of the Chamber’s Taxation Committee, Stavros Kostas, was designed to offer delegates first-hand knowledge of crucial taxation issues and provided a decisive platform for high-level dialogue between the public and the private sectors in Greece. Delegates included distinguished state officials, taxation experts, high level finance executives, accountants, consultants, professors, attorneys, decision and policy makers, members of the Greek business community and members of the press.

       

The Forum produced constructive dialogue, crafted practical suggestions, and highlighted valuable proposals to overcome current weaknesses of the national tax system. In particular, the Forum focused on those tax policies to be followed that will lead to healthy fiscal positions and economic growth.

INTRODUCTORY SPEECH

Stavros Kostas, Tax Committee Chairman, American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce

SESSION I: NATIONAL TAX BASE PROTECTION FROM AGGRESSIVE TAX COMPETITITION- BUSINESS AND TAX AUTHORITIES’ SYNERGY AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BASIS

Evangelos Abeliotis, President, Abeliotis & Associates

George Venieris, Private Clients Services Leader, Tax, Deloitte

Vassilios Vizas, Tax Partner, PwC

Yerassimos Yannopoulos, Partner, Tax & Accounting Practice Group Lead, Zepos & Yannopoulos Law Firm

Theodoros Skouzos, Managing Partner, Iason Skouzos and Partners

MODERATOR: Ioannis Stavropoulos, Managing Partner, Stavropoulos and Partners Law Firm

SESSION ΙI: CUSTOMS SYSTEMS: THE SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET SUPPORT PILLARS AND PROTECTION OF REVENUE TARIFFS AND EXCISE TAX

Eirini Gialouri, Director General of Customs & Excise, Independent Authority for Public Revenue

George Maniatis, Head, Department of sectoral studies, Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (ΙΟΒΕ)

Gregory Tapinos, Senior Partner, Key Consultants

MODERATOR: George Nikolaou, Tax & Treasury Manager, Athenian Brewery

SESSION ΙII: NEUTRALITY OF THE TAX SYSTEM: A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW GREEK ECONOMIC MODEL

Nikos Evangelopoulos, Tax Partner, ΕΥ Greece

Liana Κosmatou, Lawyer / Director, C. Papacostopoulos & Associates, Law Firm, Member of the International Legal and Tax Network of KPMG

Panagiotis Pothos, Partner, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm

Aristomenis Manouras, Head of Legal Department of SOL S.A.

Sotiris Gioussios, Tax Senior Partner, Grant Thornton

MODERATOR: George Samothrakis, Chartered Accountant, Senior Partner, AS Network

SESSION ΙV: RELIABILITY AND PREDICTABILITY IN TAXATION: BASIC CONDITIONS OF INVESTMENT MOBILIZATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH SECURING

Konstantinos Bitsios, Executive Vice-Chairman, SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises

Athanassios Savvakis, President, Federation of Industries of Northern Greece

Socrates Lazaridis, Chief Executive Officer, ATHEX Group

MODERATOR: John Perlepes, General Manager, Naftemporiki Newspaper