Tax & Blockchain

******************** Location Update ********************
The event will be in the main building of the VU Amsterdam. Enter through the main entrance and we will have signs guiding you to the right room.
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Welcome to our very first MEETUP session on Tax & Technology, hosted by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam!

Our aim is to organize bi-monthly meetups discussing current technological trends impacting the tax domain.

This morning's agenda will cover the application of Blockchain within the tax domain. The session will cover 1,5 hours during which we will listen to two experts on the topic.

Speaker 1: Tina van der Linden

Tax and Blockchain: Death and Playground.

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” (Benjamin Franklin, 1789)

My argument is: what tax is to blockchain, is like what death is to a children’s playground: they are incompatible; death is not what you think of when imagining a playground – tax is not what you think of when imagining a blockchain.

Blockchains facilitate DAOs, distributed anonymous organizations – the very term will frighten (or delight, depending which side you’re on) tax lawyers. But already the anonymity / pseudonimity of a public blockchain, the utter irrelevance of territory, the volatility of cryptocurrencies and the possibility to exchange cryptocurrencies directly for goods and services (a sports car, an apartment in Qatar) are a nightmare for taxation. Of course private or consortium blockchains can be designed in a very (tax)compliant way. Maybe that should be a requirement for large scale commercial use?

Speaker 2: Aleksandra Bal

Between Hype and Disillusionment: will a VAT blockhain ever be possible?

Blockchain would solve problems related to fragmented information systems, limited visibility of supply chains and real-time data traceability that are commonly encountered in the VAT systems. Unfortunately, a blockchain-based VAT system is not to be expected in the near or distant future as there are still serious limitations to the widespread adoption of the blockchain technology in the VAT sector.

Hope to see you all there!