ATTA News January 2014 http://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/attanews Editor: Colin Fong, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney [email protected] ATTA website http://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/atta Contents 1 Presidential column 1 2 2014: ATTA’s 26th Annual Conference 1 3 ATTA AGM agenda 3 4 Arrivals, departures and honours 3 5 Review of ATTA Constitution: Update 4 6 Overseas postgraduate programs in international tax law 6 7 Vacancies 7 8 Call for papers 8 9 ATTA members in the media 10 10 Tax, accounting, economics and law related meetings 10 11 Recent publications 13 12 Quotable quotes 16 1 Presidential column I hope that we have all had a chance to wind down over the Christmas period so that we commence the new academic year refreshed. I remember being advised many years ago that to be restorative, holidays should be long enough to start to feel bored otherwise you have not fully relaxed. That was in the days before the internet meant that we can – and in many cases are expected to - keep in touch with work while we are officially on leave. Over the Christmas period, in between packing to relocate to Perth, we have been acclimatising our dogs to different environments by taking them on excursions several times a week. Watching them enjoy a new beach or park reminds me that we all need to take time out to have fun. Of course there are some of us who have not had the opportunity to take a break – particularly the conference team at Griffith University. The conference is now only a week away but there is still time to register to attend. The theme, The Politics of Tax, encourages a multidisciplinary view of taxation, as demonstrated by background of the keynote speakers. The panel discussions will allow a range of views to be debated, and as always, there are so many interesting papers that it will be hard to decide which sessions to attend. Full details of the conference follow in this newsletter. I am looking forward to ATTA’s 26th Annual Conference and I hope to see you there. Helen Hodgson 2 2014: ATTA’s 26th Annual Conference The 2014 ATTA Conference - “The Politics of Tax” - is just days away. The conference is looking very good with over 120 registrants, 69 presentations, four keynote addresses and two panel sessions. (And good news the temperature has dropped below 40 degrees and the venue is all air-conditioned and activities are inside). Below are some of the final details. 1 Presentation slides: If you are presenting please ensure that you bring your presentation on a USB stick so it can be uploaded just prior to your presentation. As a courtesy to the other presenters, when designing your presentation please be mindful of your allocated time, either (a) PhD presentations: 15 minutes + 5 minutes for questions, or (b) Tax/Teaching: 20 minutes + 10 minutes for questions Location: ATTA’s 26th Annual Conference will be held at Griffith University (South Bank campus) from Monday 20 January to Wednesday 22 January 2014. The standard of dress for the conference itself is smart casual. The conference itself will be held in the buildings of Griffith University’s Conservatorium of Music (South Bank city campus) in the heart of Brisbane. There are detail maps are available on the Conference web page. The Conference Dinner: will be at Rydges Rooftop Restaurant with Justice Richard Edmonds (Federal Court of Australia) giving the dinner address. The standard of dress for the conference dinner is business / cocktail attire. Full Papers: Full papers that were submitted in time will be made available in the conference bag on an USB stick. An abstract booklet should be available soon on the website to give attendees insight into the presentations. Accommodation: Rydges Hotel is directly across the road from the conference venue. Phone: +61 7 3364 0800. Conference Program: An updated conference program is now available on the conference website. Please check the website closer to the event as there may be some small changes. Generally the program is: Monday 20 January: PhD and Tax Teaching Seminars & Cocktail function; Tuesday 21 January: Keynote Plenary Presentations, Parallel Sessions & Conference Dinner; Wednesday 22 January: Parallel Sessions, Patron’s Address, ATTA AGM (including prizes) and Closing event. Registration: To attend the conference you must be registered. Registration for the 2014 ATTA Conference costs $560 (this includes all 3 days of the conference & the Conference Dinner). For Full Time PhD students there is a special registration fee of $350 (which does not include Opening Drinks & Conference Dinner). To register go to: http://attaconference2014.com.au/?pgid=319. Note it there is a special industry registration of $165 to attend just the Keynote Addresses on the morning of Day 2 - feel free to the notify any industry contacts of this. Things to do in Brisbane: If you are arriving early or staying a few days afterwards there are a lot of things to do a South Bank, including great museums and attractions. See the following websites for some ideas: http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/ and http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/. Remember Brisbane is (arguably) the hippest city in Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-07/brisbane-named-australias-hippest-city- by-lonely-planet/5188818 Questions/Help: If you have any questions please contact Laura Hopper (email: [email protected] or phone: (+61 7 3735 7475: Note Laura’s phone will be forwarded to a mobile during the conference) or visit the conference website at: http://attaconference2014.com.au. 2 3 ATTA AGM agenda Date: Wednesday 22 January 2014 Time: 1.45 pm Venue: Griffith University, Ian Hanger Recital Hall Present: Attendance List to be circulated Apologies: The meeting to be chaired by Helen Hodgson 1.Minutes of the Previous Meeting a) The minutes of the previous meeting to be confirmed as a true and correct record. b) Matters arising from the Minutes 2. Reports a) President’s Report – Helen Hodgson b) Treasurer’s Report 2014 – Shirley Carlon c) Secretary’s Report 2014 – Colin Fong 3. Office Bearers a) Election of Assistant Treasurer b) Confirmation of State Representatives 4. Constitution review report - Brett Freudenberg and Brett Bondfield 5. CCH/ATTA Doctoral Series: Profs Chris Evans, Rick Krever, Dale Pinto & CCH rep 6. JATTA – Dale Pinto 7. ATTA Conference 2015 a) Expressions of Interest ATTA Conference 2016 8. General Business 4 Arrivals, departures and honours Woung Suek Hua It is our sad duty to report the untimely passing of Woung Suek Hua, our PhD student at Atax, University of New South Wales, Australia. Woung was enrolled in a PhD in Atax commencing in March 2009 and jointly supervised by Chris Evans and Binh Tran-Nam. Her enrolment was supported by a PhD scholarship from the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. Her thesis, entitled “The study of tax morale in Malaysia”, focused on tax morale of unincorporated self-employed small businesses in Malaysia with an aim to improve voluntary tax compliance in Malaysia. Woung was an extremely hard working PhD candidate. She was always at her desk doing work, reading articles, writing her thesis and interacting with other PhD students. She also 3 regularly participated in school seminars and other research events. Woung had also presented a paper titled “Tax morale in Malaysia” in the Doctoral section of the 2010 Australian Tax Teacher’s Association Annual Conference and it was only her illness that prevented her from publishing further. Woung had made good progress toward the completion of her PhD. She completed the first three chapters of her thesis and had successfully obtained permission from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) to conduct her field work in Malaysia in 2011. Woung had virtually completed all her data collection before finding out about her health condition in December 2011. After a year of leave, Woung made a brief visit to Sydney in May 2013. Soon after that visit, her health condition deteriorated and she passed away in her family home in Sarawak in August 2013. Besides being a valued member of the academic community in the School and Faculty, Woung was also a person who brightened the lives of everyone in that community as well. She touched the hearts of many of us here and is sadly missed. Chris Evans, Binh Tran-Nam & Michael Walpole *************** Ian Tregoning resigned from the University of South Australia (effective 20 December 2013). *************** After 5 years at RMIT, Christine Peacock has accepted an offer of a Director position at KPMG Malaysia, and will be assisting through the implementation of GST there (planned for 1 April, 2015). Her start date is dependent on receiving an employment visa, but is likely to be 10th February; and she will move there just before that. Christine is likely to finish her time at RMIT at the end of January 2014. Her role at KPMG will be a 4 day a week role, enabling her to continue with her research interests. She can be contacted at [email protected] ********************** John Fitzgerald has now retired from part time teaching at the University of Technology, Sydney. 5 Review of ATTA Constitution: Update The following is intentionally discursive and lacking in detail. It is an overview to facilitate thought and discussion. A detailed brief is considered inappropriate for ATTA News. There were 4 people that provided feedback following the initial request earlier in 2013. These 4 were either on the Executive Committee or directly involved with the review of the constitution. This is indicative that there is not any particular issue with the way ATTA’s foundation document works in practice that concerns the general membership.