A Successful Week at the 76th IFA Congress in Cape Town
Last week, IBFD colleagues attended the 76th Congress of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) in Cape Town, South Africa. The congress took place from 27 - 31 October and featured five days of knowledge exchange, networking opportunities and exciting cultural events.
The event, which was attended by over 1200 delegates, brought together global tax experts to discuss and debate international tax topics of current major interest and importance. The diverse IFA programme this year was developed by the IFA 2024 programme committee, which was chaired by Johann Hattingh, Chief Editor of the Bulletin for International Taxation at IBFD.
Day 1 - Sunday, 27 October
We set up our IBFD booth in the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), where the congress was held. The booth soon became a hive of activity, where colleagues from marketing and sales spoke to visitors on our latest product offerings and news, including the launch of our new Environmental and Green Taxes Monitor and the announcement that our 10th annual Africa Tax Symposium would be taking place in Rwanda next year.
Day 2 - Monday, 28 October
IBFD colleagues Johann Hattingh and João Félix Pinto Nogueira, Deputy Academic Chairman at IBFD and team manager of IBFD Academic, chaired 'Subject 1: Finding the Meaning of Nexus for Taxes: Past, Present, and Future' and spoke at 'Seminar A: Nexus, New Forms of Taxes, and Double Taxation', respectively.
In the evening, we hosted our IBFD Dialogues on International Taxation seminar on 'The Role of the OECD and the UN in International Taxation'. This was a full-house seminar, and included a surprise dedication to Jan de Goede, Senior Principal of Tax Knowledge Management at IBFD, who will be retiring later this year.
The high spirits didn't end there, as many delegates gathered in the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) that night to catch up with their IBFD colleagues and friends for an evening reception we hosted there. The backdrop of Table Mountain in the magnificent setting of the Zeitz MOCAA will live long in the memory.
Some of the authors that featured in the exclusive IFA edition of the Bulletin for International Taxation, free in each attending delegate's hand-out, were also able to meet in person and share a toast. There was particular hype around this journal as it features a special article titled “The Interaction between Directives and Tax Treaties: Three Case Studies” by Mees Vergouwen, who was recently announced as winner of the IFA Mitchell B. Carroll Prize 2024.
Day 3 - Tuesday, 29 October
Day three featured a strong IBFD presence in the IFA programme, with Craig West, Principal Associate, and Jan de Goede taking part in 'Subject 2: Practical Approaches to International Tax Dispute and Resolution' as speaking secretary and general reporter, respectively. Being one of the key seminars of the congress, this was widely attended and received strong engagement from the audience.
Aisha Aize Isa, manager for the Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) and managing principal for Africa and the Middle East department within the IBFD Knowledge Centre, also was a panellist in the WIN Seminar, which explored 'Tax and Technology: Innovative Use Cases from Around the Globe'. Given the increasing interest in this topic globally, this was cited by some as the most compelling seminar of the week.
Day 4 - Wednesday, 30 October
‘Doing Business in Africa: Transfer Pricing and other Cross-Border Tax Issues’ was the subject matter of Seminar F. The session saw experts discuss regional tax uniqueness and the set of challenges that face countries in Africa when accommodating this uniqueness. Belema Obuoforibo, Director of the IBFD Knowledge Centre, Member of IBFD’s Executive Board, and Chair of the Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT), and Aisha Aize Isa were representing IBFD in the panel as chair and secretary of the seminar, respectively. The topic of this seminar is close to IBFD, particularly through our work with the IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) and our colleagues provided valuable input in this setting.
Day 5 - Thursday, 31 October
The congress concluded on Thursday, 31 October, with final sessions finishing that afternoon. All delegates, speakers, panellists and colleagues from IBFD left Cape Town pleased with their contribution towards progress in the field of international taxation and with a renewed sense of collaboration with IFA.
Catch up on more photos, conversation and behind-the-scenes action from the IFA Congress via our LinkedIn page.