Former EC Tax Director Joins Law Firm Taj

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

16 January 2008

Michel Aujean, former Director of Tax Analysis and Policy at the European Commission has joined the law offices of Taj as Partner in charge of the Tax Planning and Corporate Strategy practice group, it emerged earlier this month.

After working for 32 years for the European Commission, where he designed and implemented in particular the VAT system without any border controls (1992) and implemented the "code of conduct" tax package related to corporate taxation and the Directive on the Taxation of Savings Income (2005), Aujean has joined Taj, a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

In a statement, the French firm announced that:

"For Taj, the arrival of this European expert responds to a double necessity: to integrate increasingly the European dimension into Taj's client enterprises' problem-solving and to build a research and planning capability in order to develop forecasts and innovate in legal and tax matters."

"We are not only proud of having attracted this prominent expert, who is a 'reference' in European taxation matters, but we are also delighted that our clients and our teams will be able to benefit from his experience and expertise. His research will increase our innovation capabilities," noted Gianmarco Monsellato, Managing Partner of Taj.

On joining Taj, Mr Aujean will be tasked with creating "a tax planning and corporate strategy" practice group responsible for steering the firm's research in legal and tax matters.

His first projects will primarily include studying the harmonisation of corporate taxation in Eurpope.

After conducting, in 2001, the study on tax obstacles impeding corporate cross-border activity in the European Union, he worked on the preparation of targeted solutions and, most importantly, launched the preparation of the proposal for a consolidated joint corporate tax base.

"More than ever, this issue is of current concern. The year 2008 should mark the completion of these works for the preparation and technical launch of the harmonisation process," announced Aujean, going on to add that:

"We must focus our efforts in order to plan ahead of this change, so that it does not hinder French enterprises' progress. The purpose of this research will be to optimally prepare enterprises so that their growth strategy may factor in and integrate any regulatory changes."

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