Pictured: Opening Ceremony Site

From July 18 to July 23, 2016, the "The 3rd China Tax Lawyers, Tax Agents and Tax Law Graduate Students Summer Academy(2016)" jointly organized by the Finance and Tax Law Professional Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association, the Education and Training Department of the China Certified Tax Agents Association, and the School of Civil, Commercial and Economic Law of China University of Political Science and Law, and jointly hosted by Hwuason Law Firm, Huashui Tax Agents Firm, and the Finance and Tax Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law was held at China University of Political Science and Law. This Summer Academy has received extensive responses from lawyers, tax associations, law firms, tax law firms and lawyers, tax agents, law faculties of universities and postgraduate students of tax law, enterprises and tax managers, tax authorities and tax cadres, etc. Since its official enrollment, this Summer Academy has been held at China University of Political Science and Law. Since the official enrollment, the organizing committee of this summer academy has received a total of 479 applications, which were carefully examined by the main organizer and finally 180 people were admitted, including 70 lawyers, 70 tax agents, 30 tax law postgraduates, and 10 tax cadres and finance and tax executives. Compared with the "The 2nd China Tax Lawyers, Certified Tax Agents and Tax Law Graduate Students Summer Academy(2015)", this summer academy will continue to select lawyers, tax agents, tax law graduates, tax cadres and tax executives to participate in this summer academy, in addition to the number of lawyers and tax agents. In addition to continuing to select lawyers, tax agents, tax law postgraduates, tax cadres and tax executives to participate in the training, the number of lawyers and tax agents has been adjusted, and the cross-border cooperation mode of "tax + law" has been emphasized, so that the importance of cross-border cooperation between tax lawyers and tax agents will be discussed in depth in the course of knowledge learning, theory upgrading and experience sharing. The formation of tax service community will play a significant role.

At 8:30 a.m. on July 18, the Summer Academy held a grand opening ceremony. Mr. Liu Tianyong, Deputy Director and Secretary General of Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the National Lawyers Association and Director of Hwuason Law Firm, was entrusted by the National Lawyers Association and the China Taxation Association to be the moderator. Mr. Shi Zhengwen, Director of the Research Department of China University of Political Science and Law and Director of the Research Center of Finance and Taxation Law, attended the opening ceremony and made a speech.

Picture: Vice President Li Linjun

Vice President Li Linjun said in his speech that it is of great significance for the two associations to successfully hold the "Summer Academy" again, which has a very positive effect on promoting the cooperation and exchange between lawyers and tax agents, business collaboration, and improving the level of tax-related professional services, etc. He also hoped that all the trainees would cherish the opportunity and live up to the social and historical mission.

Figure: Speech by Mr. Ma Guohua

Deputy Secretary General Mr. Ma Guohua, Deputy Secretary General of Hwuason Law Firm, said in his speech that since the opening of the Summer Academy, it has provided the country and the society with more than 300 key tax lawyers and tax agents, who have become the backbone of tax law professional services in various places. Hwuason Law Firm has made outstanding contributions in organizing the Summer Academy and promoting the development of tax lawyers in China. The purpose of the third Summer Academy is to continue to promote the development of tax-related practice and the improvement of the practice level of lawyers. At the same time, through active cooperation with tax lawyers, it explores the space, ways and modes of cooperation between the two major professional service organizations.

Figure: Prof. Liu Jianwen's Speech

In his speech, Prof. Liu Jianwen believes that tax law and fiscal law are the hotspots of concern for the whole society, and better protection of taxpayers' rights requires strengthening the construction of fiscal rule of law, and China has entered the era of fiscal rule of law.

Picture: Prof. Shi Zhengwen's Speech

In his speech, Professor Shi Zhengwen analyzed the important role of the rule of law in finance and taxation, pointed out that it is a new period for the country to manage its finances and rule the country, and hoped that this summer academy would be a dream journey, a rewarding journey and a happy journey for all the participants.

Figure: Liu Tianyong lawyer presided over the opening ceremony

In his presiding speech, Mr. Liu Tianyong emphasized that the Summer Academy is of great significance to enhance the overall development level of the industry, to change service concepts, to improve professional competence, and to promote business expansion, etc. He also hoped that all the participants could put down their distractions and study quietly, put down their affairs and concentrate on their studies, and put down their shelves and study happily.

During the six-day course, experts and scholars from domestic top law firms, famous universities and tax authorities focused on the current tax-related services, such as the revision of the Tax Administration Law, tax reform, tax inspection, international taxation, EIT legislation, "comprehensive reform", tax planning, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, tax disputes and other hot issues. Hot issues such as taxation reform, tax inspection, international taxation, EIT legislation, "Comprehensive Reform of Taxation", tax planning, cross-border M&A, tax disputes, and agency skills were analyzed and interpreted in depth from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

On the morning of July 18, Professor Shi Zhengwen, Director of the Research Center of Finance and Taxation Law of China University of Political Science and Law, gave a speech on the topic of "Revision of the Taxation Administration Law and Analysis of Tax Cases", in which he discussed the legal issues of equity transfer involved in the "Tax-related Equity Transfer Case of a Certain Company", such as whether judicial interpretation is applicable, the validity of civil agreements, and the legal issues involved in the transfer of equity, and whether it is a tax-related case. Prof. Shi discussed the legal issues of equity transfer involved in the case of equity transfer of a company, such as the applicability of judicial interpretations, the effect of civil agreements, and the period of tax recovery, etc. with the students in depth. In addition to the case, Prof. Shi explained the background and process of the revision of the Tax Administration Law, its fundamental objectives, legislative framework, and improvement of the relevant system, and also put forward suggestions for revision.

At 1:30-3:00pm on July 18, Li Linjun, Vice President and Secretary General of China Association of Registered Taxation Technicians and former Director of the Department of Levy and Administration of the State Administration of Taxation, gave a special lecture on the theme of "Double Pressure Promoting the Transformation and Upgrading of Taxation Technician Profession", combining with his own experience of many years in tax levy and administration and analyzing the double pressures of rapid development of the Internet and deepening reforms. He analyzed that under the double pressure of the rapid development of the Internet and the deepening of the comprehensive reform, China's tax agent industry needs to seek changes and development, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry. President Li pointed out that the tax agent industry needs to promote transformation and upgrading in ten aspects, including from practice threshold to market opening, from traditional operation to intelligent interconnection, from low price competition to effective supply, from closed-door research and development to crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, from homogeneous service to professional craftsmen, from single-handed fight to win-win cooperation, from industry barrier to cross-border innovation, from individualism to standards, from ethical misconduct to honesty, and from domestic vision to international vision. International vision and other ten aspects to promote transformation and upgrading.

From 3:00 to 5:00 pm on July 18, Liu Tianyong, Director of Hwuason Law Firm, delivered a speech entitled "New Trend of Tax Lawyer Development: Professionalism, Branding and Cooperation". He shared with the participants from the three levels of professionalism, branding and cooperation, pointing out that the development of tax lawyers relies on the segmentation of professionalism and the precision of service, and that branding is the label of professional service, and that through the cooperation mode of "tax + law", the leaps and bounds development of tax lawyers can be realized. Intermediaries that can precisely provide professional services to clients and have high-end brands are more likely to stand out in the fierce market competition. The cross-border development model of sharing brands and social resources, realizing business complementarity and cross-regional cooperation is a new opportunity for tax-related service agencies to realize leapfrog development.

On the morning of July 19, Cai Chang, professor of School of Finance and Taxation of Central University of Finance and Economics, took "Methods and Cases of Tax Planning in the New Economy" as the theme, and shared with the participants 16 types of tax planning such as flexibility of tax law, platform for avoidance, pricing techniques, organizational structure, deferred tax, contract optimization, process reengineering, asset restructuring, business transformation and so on, starting from the theory of effective tax planning and the principle of tax control, Business transformation and other 16 tax planning methods.

Picture: Mr. Duan Aiqun's lecture

From 1:30pm to 3:00pm on July 19, Duan Aiqun, Deputy Director of Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the All-China Lawyers' Association, shared with the participants about "Cross-border M&A Transaction Structuring and Selection of Accounting and Tax Treatment Policies" with reference to the actual cases in which he has been involved.

On July 19, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, Guo Yongmao, Tax Partner of Haiwen & Partners, gave a special lecture on "Preparation and Review of Tax Provisions in Major Asset Transaction Contracts", analyzing the role, significance and impact of tax representations, warranties and covenants/commitment clauses and indemnification clauses in transaction contracts.

Picture: Prof. Yang Xiaoqiang's lecture

On July 20, Yang Xiaoqiang, Professor of Tax Law and Economic Law at Sun Yat-sen University School of Law, gave a wonderful lecture on the topics of "Tax Practices in Contract Management" and "Corporate Structure Arrangement under the Influence of Tax". In the morning session, Prof. Yang introduced the legal risks and liabilities of tax evasion, tax leakage and tax avoidance in contract management, and then focused on tax planning through contracts in daily operation of enterprises. In the afternoon session, Prof. Yang introduced to the participants how tax is a factor that affects market players' choice of company organization and business structure by analyzing different types of company structure and their tax impact on enterprises.

Picture: Lecture by Mr. Wang Jiaben

In the morning of July 21, Mr. Wang Jiaben, Deputy Director of the Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the National Lawyers Association of China, gave a lecture entitled "Interpretation of Tax Audit Regulations and Case Analysis of Tax Audit", which was based on practical cases, and focused on the interpretation of tax audit regulations, the rights and responses of the target of audit, and the use of invoice-related issues for the participants.

In the afternoon of July 21, Mr. Zhao Lin of Hwuason Law Firm made a speech titled "Practice and Skills of Tax Lawyers Representing Taxpayers in Tax Dispute Cases" from the perspective of tax lawyers representing taxpayers in tax dispute resolution. Based on the practice experience of tax lawyers, Ms. Zhao shared the process, methods and skills to deal with tax disputes, and analyzed the "soft underbelly" that can easily cause the tax authorities to lose the case, as well as the controversial key issues in the determination of the crime of false invoicing and the crime of evading payment of taxes with the combination of real cases.

In the morning of July 22, Professor Zhang Bin of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences gave a special lecture on "Analysis of Hot Issues of Current Tax Reform", which focused on the requirements of the Third and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the Outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan on the reform of the financial and taxation system, and analyzed the current reforms of camping and consumption tax, personal income tax, real estate tax, resource tax, environmental protection tax, and environmental protection tax reform. It focuses on analyzing the hot issues and future paths of the current camp reform, consumption tax reform, individual income tax reform, real estate tax reform, resource tax reform, environmental protection tax reform and other key tax reform projects.

In the evening of July 19, from 6:00 to 9:00, Hwuason Law Firm, the organizer of the Summer Academy, held a salon on "Exchange of Tax-related Professional Service Experiences and Cross-border Cooperation", in which more than 10 well-known lawyers from the Summer Academy participated. More than 10 directors, chiefs and senior partners of famous law firms and tax firms from the "Summer Academy" had a fruitful discussion on "cross-border cooperation mode of tax + law".

In addition, during the Summer Academy, relevant experts and leaders from the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Taxation (BMGBT) made cutting-edge reports on hot issues such as "Comprehensive Reform of Reform and Increase of Taxation", international tax development, and legislation on enterprise income tax.

Pictured: the scene of the closing ceremony

At 4:00 p.m. on July 23, the course of "The Third Summer Academy for Chinese Tax Lawyers, tax agents and Graduate Students of Tax Law (2016)" was successfully concluded, followed by a short graduation ceremony, in which Prof. Shi Zhengwen, Director of the Research Center of Fiscal and Taxation Law of the China University of Political Science and Law, and Mr. Liu Tianyong, Vice-Director and Secretary General of the Committee on Fiscal and Taxation Law of the National Lawyers Association presented graduation certificates to the qualified students and delivered a short graduation speech. Prof. Shi Zhengwen, Director of the Finance and Taxation Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, and Liu Tianyong, Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the National Lawyers' Association, issued certificates of completion to those who had passed the examination and made brief speeches on the completion.

Since its inception, the Summer Academy has been successfully held for three times in 2014, 2015 and 2016. "The 3rd China Tax Lawyers, Tax Agents and Tax Law Graduate Students Summer Academy(2016)" is a six-day program with scientific curriculum and cutting-edge practical contents, and more than 200 participants have taken the theme of "Pursuing Excellence, Courageousness and Cultivation" as their theme. More than 200 participants took "pursuing excellence, taking responsibility, seeking truthfulness and pragmatism, being independent and open-minded" as their responsibility, and not only learned knowledge and improved their skills, but also updated their concepts and gained sincere friendships through exchanges and collision of ideas. This year's Summer Academy continues to uphold the three major values and concepts of training backbone and reserve talents for tax law professional service organizations, promoting the business complementarity and strategic cooperation between the two professions of tax lawyers and tax agents, and providing a platform for tax law professionals to exchange and study, and is committed to cultivating more tax law professionals. At the same time, the convening of the Summer Academy is at the critical period of the country's deepening reform of the fiscal and taxation system, which once again conveys a large number of lawyers, tax agents, postgraduates in tax law, tax cadres and corporate finance and taxation executives with "tax + law" composite professional backgrounds to the country and the society, and will certainly play a positive role in promoting the tax collection and management and the rule of law in the country. It will certainly play a positive role in promoting tax administration and the rule of law in the country!