On the afternoon of August 18, 2024, " The First High-level Forum on the Professional Innovation and Development of Chinese Tax Lawyers (2024)" hosted by Hwuason Law Firm, undertaken by Huashui Academy, and provided academic support by the Center for Finance and Taxation Law of China University of Political Science and Law was held in Beijing Chunhuiyuan International Conference Center. With the theme of "Professional Development and Innovation of Tax Lawyers", the forum adopted a combination of online and offline methods, with more than 200 students participating in the forum on site, and more than 6,000 lawyers, tax advisors, corporate finance and taxation personnel, tax cadres, and tax law graduate students from all over the world watched the live broadcast of the forum online.

Pictured: Editor-in-chief Liu Guiming

At 13:30 p.m. on August 18, the forum officially began. The forum was presided over by Mr. Liu Guiming, Executive Director of the Editorial Board of the Age of Rule of Law of China Democracy and Legal Publishing House, Vice President of the Legal Documents Research Association of the China Law Society, and Dean of the Guike College. In his speech, editor-in-chief Liu Guiming congratulated the successful holding of the 9th Summer Training Course and introduced the agenda of the forum and the guests.

The forum is divided into two sessions, the first session is guest speeches, and the second session is keynote speeches. In the guest speech session, Professor Shi Zhengwen, Vice President of the Finance and Taxation Law Research Association of the China Law Society and Director of the Finance and Taxation Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, Teng Xiangzhi, Researcher of the Institute of Financial Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Case Study Center of the Fiscal and Taxation Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Mr. Liu Tianyong, Director of the Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association and Director of Huashui Law Firm, delivered keynote speeches successively.

Pictured: Director Shi Zhengwen

The theme of Director Shi Zhengwen's speech was "Improving the Fiscal and Taxation Rule of Law System and Expanding the Field of Tax-related Services". He pointed out that the holding of this forum is timely, and the current international and domestic countries have entered an era of change, which means that opportunities and challenges coexist. How the majority of tax-related service personnel can seize the opportunity and display their talents has become an important proposition. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee put forward the "comprehensive implementation of the statutory principles of taxation" and made arrangements for further deepening the reform of the fiscal and taxation system. Combined with the content of the new round of fiscal and taxation system reform, he pointed out that the demand for tax law services will continue to grow from the perspectives of legislation, law enforcement, judiciary and law-abiding. Finally, he proposed that "specialization, integration, intelligence, and expertization" should be the goal of the development of tax lawyers.

Pictured: Researcher Teng Xiangzhi

The theme of Researcher Teng Xiangzhi's speech was "Deepening the Reform of the Fiscal and Taxation System and Improving the Agency Level of Tax Law Cases". He expounded on the relationship between the basic theory of tax law and the high-quality development of tax lawyers, and pointed out that the theory of tax law is of great significance to the handling of tax cases. Combined with cases, he explained in detail the impact of theoretical issues such as the nature of taxation, the constituent elements of taxation, the object of taxation, and the principle of substantive taxation on tax practice and the application of tax law. Finally, he introduced the qualitative theory of transactions in tax law and its impact on practical cases.

Pictured: Director Liu Tianyong

The theme of Director Liu Tianyong's speech was "Seize the Opportunity of Fiscal and Taxation Rule of Law Construction and Build a Professional Tax-related Service Brand". He shared his views on the proposition of the branding of tax lawyers from three aspects: first, the comprehensive tax statutory principle puts forward new standards for tax legislation, tax collection and management, and tax inspection, requiring tax lawyers to continue to "specialize and refine", combine taxation and tax law with industries and other legal departments, and improve their business capabilities; Second, the current business direction of tax lawyers focuses on tax dispute resolution, tax compliance, and tax planning for high-net-worth individuals, and tax lawyers should seize the opportunity to improve the team's ability to collaborate, execute and control risks. The third is to actively cooperate with tax agents, accountants, experts and scholars, and peers for win-win cooperation, and ultimately realize the brand development of tax lawyers.

Editor-in-Chief Liu Guiming summarized the wonderful speeches of the three guests and looked forward to the development and market prospects of tax lawyers. The forum was followed by a keynote speech session, which was divided into three groups.

The first group of topics was "Creating 'Professional and Refined' Advantages of Tax-related Legal Services", which was delivered by Mr. Wang Feng, Director of the Finance and Taxation Legal Committee of Beijing Lawyers Association and Senior Partner of Beijing Dentons, and Mr. Wang Minzhi, Director of the Tax Professional Committee of Hangzhou Lawyers Association and Senior Partner of Zhejiang Liuhe Law Firm.

Pictured: Director Wang Feng

Director Wang Feng pointed out that after more than ten years of training, the number of tax lawyers has increased, the tax law service market has expanded, and the specialization and refinement of tax lawyers are at the right time.

Pictured: Director Wang Minzhi

Director Wang Minzhi analyzed the common business directions of tax lawyers based on typical cases, and based on the help and empowerment of tax law to lawyers' perennial legal counsel services, he proposed that tax law services and tax compliance can solve the pain points of enterprises and have great development prospects.

The second group of topics was "Actively Expanding the New Direction of Tax Lawyer Business", which was delivered by Mr. Gui Weikang, Director of the Finance, Taxation and Customs Professional Committee of Shanghai Lawyers Association and Director of Shanghai Guiwei Law Firm, Mr. Zhao Hengzhi, Deputy Director of the Finance and Taxation Business Committee of Jiangsu Lawyers Association, Director of Finance and Taxation Legal Professional Committee of Nanjing Lawyers Association, and Senior Partner of Jiangsu Fade Dongheng Law Firm, and Mr. Chen Baoyuan, Deputy Director of Finance and Taxation Legal Professional Committee of Shandong Lawyers Association and Director of Shandong Qilu (Qingdao) Law Firm.

Pictured: Director Gui Weikang

Director Gui Weikang pointed out that tax lawyers should base their business development on the existing business direction and consider it from two perspectives: breadth and depth. He pointed out that tax lawyers can actively develop business in areas such as artificial intelligence, data assets, and helping enterprises go overseas.

Pictured: Director Zhao Hengzhi

Director Zhao Hengzhi pointed out that on the whole, there are still some deficiencies in the current development of tax lawyers and their teams, and they should focus on developing the market of emerging business formats, digging deep into the needs of traditional businesses, and developing corporate governance business in combination with the revision of the Company Law.

Pictured: Director Chen Baoyuan

Director Chen Baoyuan pointed out that the new direction of tax lawyers' business can start from the development of tax law service needs of tax authorities and the financial and tax service needs of local governments, so as to broaden the scope and service content of service objects.

The third group of topics was "Grasping New Opportunities for Cooperation with Tax-related Professional Service Institutions", which was delivered by Mr. Lu Zhihe, Director of the Tax Law Professional Committee of Shenzhen Lawyers Association and Senior Partner of Beijing Kangda (Shenzhen) Law Firm, Mr. Ge Hailin, Deputy Secretary-General of Guangdong Certified Tax Agents Association, and Mr. Kou Shiqi, Director of Yunnan Yingshui Law Firm.

Director Lui Zhihe pointed out that the legal nature of taxation enables lawyers to naturally intervene in the tax-related service market, and the cooperation between tax lawyers and tax agents and accountants is the current development trend of the market, and the "three divisions" have their own emphasis, and can cooperate with each other to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses to better serve the market.

Pictured: Deputy Secretary-General Ge Hailin

Deputy Secretary-General Ge Hailin pointed out that as a tax agent, he was very happy to see the vigorous development of tax lawyers, and emphasized that we should actively establish a good and positive cooperative relationship to jointly promote the development of the tax-related legal service market.

Pictured: Director Ko Shiqi

Director Ko Shiqi pointed out that the current development of tax lawyers has ushered in new opportunities, and should actively explore the business direction of tax lawyers, and compared the differences between lawyers, tax agents, accountants, consulting companies and other entities, and proposed that regional partners should be found.

Pictured: Group photo

At about 17:00 in the afternoon, the forum came to a successful conclusion. This forum focuses on the professional and refined development of tax lawyer services, which is of great significance for deepening the understanding of the development of the tax lawyer industry, promoting the business development of tax lawyers, and promoting the cooperation of the entire tax-related professional service industry, and has been highly recognized by the participants. The High-level Forum on the Professionalization and Innovation of China Tax Lawyers will continue to focus on the development of tax lawyers, and continue to invite well-known tax lawyers, tax law experts, scholars and industry leaders to discuss the new trends, challenges and coping strategies of tax legal services, so as to provide strong support for the construction of China's tax rule of law and the high-quality development of the economy and society.