From November 2 to 13, the two-week seminar, the 36th International Taxation Academy 2020, was held by the Training Institute of the Ministry of Finance (MOFTI) and was successfully completed.

Due to the effect of COVID-19, it was not possible to invite foreign scholars, experts, and tax officials to Taiwan this year (2020). However, MOFTI overcame the difficulties to hold the seminar for MOF colleagues by inviting domestic scholars and experts who lectured in English in order to promote attention to international taxation trends and information and to strengthen colleagues' understanding of important international taxation issues.

In this Academy, Chung Chi, an Assistant Professor from the Department of Finance, National Chengchi University, as well as Paulson Tseng and Cynthia Peng, a partner accountant and the Director from PricewaterhouseCoopers (Taiwan), respectively, gave lectures in “The Contexts and Reforms of Tax Treaties” and “Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy.” During the 2nd week, Jay Chuang, a chief Technology officer from CoolBitX Co., and Sophia Chou, a Finance Manager from MaiCoin Co., were also invited to discuss in class.

Participants included 37 tax officials from the Department of Planning, the Department of International Fiscal Affairs, the Taxation Administration, the Customs Administration, and the national taxation bureaus. They expressed their feedback that the lecturers have rich experience and prepared sufficient materials. The lecturers’ clear explanations and case studies deepened the participants’ impression and helped them to understand the theory and practice of the development of tax treaties and the tax challenges of the digital economy. The participants said that they had benefitted a lot and appreciated the lecturers’ efforts

(Chang Wan-Ju, 86632399#205)