The aim was to identify the persistent problems of tax evasion in France, Europe and abroad with a view to suggesting areas for improvement, particularly thanks to new technologies.

The webinar opened with a welcome address from Prof Olivier Gout (Dean of University Lyon 3 law school), Prof Jean-Christophe Roda (Director of the Business Law Center in Lyon), and Prof Thierry Lambert (Director of the International and European Journal of Tax Law – Larcier-Bruylant editions, where the papers delivered will be published – issue no 2/2023).

The various participants at the symposium made several proposals that could be implemented at EU level, for instance in order to find a balance between the protection of solicitor-client privilege and its misuse in tax matters, or the establishment of a coordinated refundable withholding tax system to be levied by the EU, but also the United States and Japan. A key focus of the symposium was on new technologies, which should complement, not supplant, human interventions.

The symposium gathered 160 participants from France, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Cameroun, United-States of America, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Switzerland. It gave rise to lively discussion. The full program can be downloaded here.

More information about the event is available in the European and International Journal of Tax Law 2023/2.