More about EFS

Top-Level Seminar ‘EU VAT: Recent Developments and Outlook’ (in English)

During this 3-day seminar (in English) you and other top international indirect tax specialists will discuss the VAT implications of a wide range of topical issues, including the measures recently implemented across the EU and the recent Court of Justice case law.

You will be brought fully up-to-date with all the important developments in your field and can be assured of in-depth discussions with prestigious international speakers: Agustín Míguez Pérez, Edoardo Traversa, Bart Heijnen, Martijn Schippers, Emilia Sroka, Tiina Ruohola, Ruben Dirks, David Hadwick, Stefania Lotito Fedele, Jurian Langer, Marie Lamensch and Madeleine Merkx. The seminar will be held from Wednesday 24 – Friday 26 September 2025.

Key Benefits

  • In-depth, interactive sessions
  • Intensive 3-day programme
  • Max. 25 participants
  • Bridging theory and practice
  • International networking

EFS is pleased to invite you and other top specialists from tax advisory services, legal practice, the judiciary, government bodies, tax authorities and academia to discuss the VAT implications of a wide range of topical issues, including measures recently implemented or soon to be implemented across the EU, in an informal setting.

During the seminar we will be discussing the developments regarding the future of VAT, currently on the European Commission’s agenda and the developments on the VAT and customs related initiatives included in the Tax Action Plan and VAT in the Digital Age. On the first day we will also delve deeper into green policy options under current and future VAT rules and recent developments on the combination of VAT and TP and its impact on intracompany transactions. High profile speakers will give their opinion on the existing and future digital reporting obligations supported by e-invoicing, during a panel session on the second day. Before we start with this panel session, there will be lectures on the customs reform and its impact on VAT, the enforcement of VAT and customs rules
via platforms and the Single VAT Registration and its implementation.

The final day of the seminar will ensure you are up-to-speed with all the relevant developments in Court of Justice case law, after an introduction on the functioning of the ECJ and the Court. All the sessions will include plenty of opportunity to discuss each of the topics in detail. The seminar will end with a general reflection on the issues presented and some overall conclusions.

If you are looking to update and expand your highly specialised knowledge and to network with other leading professionals, sign up now for the EFS top-level seminar on ‘EU VAT: Recent Developments and Outlook’ to be held at the Erasmus University Rotterdam on 24 – 26 September 2025.

EFS is looking forward to welcoming top-level indirect tax specialists who want to discuss recent and future developments in VAT and to network with peers from the following backgrounds:

  • tax advisory services ((senior)managers, directors and partners)
  • multinationals ((senior)VAT managers and heads of indirect tax)
  • legal practice (associates and partners)
  • judicial authorities (judges in indirect taxation at courts of first instance or higher/supreme courts)
  • government bodies (senior policy advisors and heads)
  • tax authorities (heads of indirect tax)
  • academia (PhD researchers, assistant professors, associate professors and full professors)
Day 1: Wednesday 24 September 2025

12.30 – 13.00 Arrival of participants at Erasmus University Rotterdam

13.30 – 13.45 Opening and welcome address
Prof. Madeleine Merkx and mr. John Gruson MA 

13.45 – 14.30 Update European Commission on future of VAT
Agustín Míguez Pérez

14.30 – 16.00 Green policy options under current and future VAT rules
Prof. Edoardo Traversa

16.00 – 16.30 Coffee/tea break

16.30 – 18.00 VAT, TP and intracompany transactions
Bart Heijnen

19.30 Dinner

Day 2: Thursday 25 September 2025

09.00 – 10.00 Customs reform and its impact on VAT
dr. Martijn Schippers LLM

10.00 – 10.30 Coffee/tea break

10.30 – 12.00 Enforcing VAT and Customs rules via platforms
Prof. Madeleine Merkx and dr. Emilia Sroka

12:00 – 13.00 Lunch at the Erasmus Pavilion

13.00 – 14.30 Single VAT Registration and its implementation
Tiina Ruohola

14.30 – 15.00 Coffee/tea break

15.30 – 17.00 Panel session – Digital reporting obligations supported by e-invoicing – experiences
Agustín Míguez Pérez

Panel members:
Ruben Dirks, Emilia Sroka, David Hadwick and Stefania Lotito Fedele.

18.30 Boat trip in the port of Rotterdam for drinks and dinner with speakers

Day 3: Friday 26 September 2025

09.00 – 10.00 Functioning of the CJEU
Jurian Langer

10.00 – 10.30 Coffee break

10.30 – 12.30 The Court of Justice and VAT: recent judgments, opinions and pending cases (I)
Prof. Madeleine Merkx and Prof. Marie Lamensch

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch at Erasmus Pavillion

13.30 – 15.00 The Court of Justice and VAT: recent judgments, opinions and pending cases (II)
Prof. Madeleine Merkx and Prof. Marie Lamensch

15.00 – 15.45 Certificates awarded to participants
Prof. Madeleine Merkx and mr. John Gruson MA

16.00 Closing and drinks at Erasmus Pavilion

AGUSTÍN MÍGUEZ PÉREZ

Team Leader at the VAT policy unit of the European Commission, focusing on the digital reporting requirements and electronic invoicing under the ViDA-initiative.

Prof. Edoardo Traversa

Professor UCLouvain and Advocat Of Counsel Arteo Law firm

Bart Heijnen

Partner Indirect Tax Loyens & Loeff

dr. Martijn Schippers

Associate Professor Erasmus School of Law, Senior Manager EY and EFS Programme Coordinator

dr. Emilia Sroka

Advocate and visiting Lecturer at Lazarski University

PROF. MARIE LAMENSCH

Arteo, Belgium,
Vrije Universiteit Brussel,
Université Catholique de Louvain,
Cyprus International Institute of Management

Tiina Ruohola

Tiina Ruohola is the Chair of Business Europe’s VAT policy group and the Head of VAT at the Confederation of Finnish Industries. Tiina teaches VAT in the Universities of Tampere and Vaasa in Finland. She is a Member of the VAT Expert Group. Her motto is: it is okay to smile whilst working and working with taxes can be fun.

Ruben Dirks 

Ruben Dirks is a policy officer at the Ministry of Finance in the Netherlands. He has drafted VAT legislation for investment services, solar panels, and RET. He is one of the delegates who represented the Netherlands in the negotiations on VIDA, with a particular focus on DRR. Ruben regularly publishes annotations in the journal Vakstudie-Nieuws.

PROF. MADELEINE MERKX

Erasmus School of Law
Seminar Director and Board member EFS,
Partner BDO, The Netherlands

David Hadwick LL.M.

Researcher at Centre of Excellence DigiTax (University of Antwerp), Member of the Antwerp Centre for Responsible Artificial Intelligence (ACRAI) and administrator of taxadmin.ai.

Stefania Lotito Fedele

Ph.D. and Doctor Europaeus in European Tax Law (University of Bari, Italy – Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium), EU Qualified Tax Lawyer and Indirect Tax Specialist, IBFD.

Jurian Langer

Head of European Law Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and principal agent for the Dutch government in proceedings before the European Court of Justice.

JOHN GRUSON

Lecturer VAT Erasmus School of Law / Economics
Seminar Coordinator Top-Level Seminar EU VAT
Deloitte Tax Research Center
PhD student at the Erasmus University Rotterdam

PROF. MADELEINE MERKX

Seminar Director
Madeleine Merkx is Professor of Indirect Taxes at the Erasmus School of Law and Programme Director of the EFS Post-Master EU VAT. She is also a partner in BDO’s Department of Professional Practice, an editor at MBB and FED and on the staff at WFR, BNB, Btw-bulletin and Taxvisions.

JOHN GRUSON LLM

Seminar Coordinator
John Gruson lectures on VAT in various Bachelor and Master courses at the Erasmus Schools of Economics and Law. He also conducts research in the field of VAT on soft law and is the coordinator of the Bachelor course Value Added Tax and the Master course Indirect Tax Assurance and Technology. He is also working as a tax advisor for the Tax Research Center of Deloitte.

DATES AND TIMES
From Wednesday 24 September (13.00 hrs) to Friday 26 September (16.00 hrs) 2025.

VENUE
The seminar will be held at the Erasmus University Rotterdam campus, Woudestein.

EFS, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Bayle Building, J5-29
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam
The Netherlands

ACCOMMODATION
Hotel accommodation close to the Erasmus University Rotterdam campus will be available for all participants. Please find more information about the hotel accommodation in the brochure and application form.

FEE
€ 2,750 (this includes all seminar materials and meals).

LANGUAGE
The seminar will be in English.

TARGET GROUP
EFS is looking forward to welcoming top-level indirect tax specialists who want to discuss recent and future developments in VAT and to network with peers from the following backgrounds:

  • tax advisory services ((senior)managers, directors and partners)
  • multinationals ((senior)VAT managers and heads of indirect tax)
  • legal practice (associates and partners)
  • judicial authorities (judges in indirect taxation at courts of first instance or higher/supreme courts)
  • government bodies (senior policy advisors and heads)
  • tax authorities (heads of indirect tax)
  • academia (PhD researchers, assistant professors, associate professors and full professors)

GROUP SIZE
As groups will comprise a maximum of 25 participants, you can be assured of optimal and active participation.

DISCLAIMER
EFS reserves the right to change the policy, programme, fees and any other items referred to in this brochure.

ACCREDITION / CONTUINING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The programme is accredited and you will therefore be eligible for continuing professional development (‘Permanent Education’) points in line with the rules applied by your own professional organisation. This programme comprises 16 hours of tax-related study, based on the professional development required by the Dutch Association of Tax Advisors. You can find more information about this on the EFS website and on the website of your professional organisation.

CERTIFICATE
All participants will receive a certificate of attendance issued by EFS, Erasmus University Rotterdam

CONTACT / TO APPLY
For more information, please contact:
John Gruson
Seminar Coordinator
gruson@ese.eur.nl
+31 (0)6 83 33 04 19
www.eur.nl/efs

Please use this application form to apply for the Top Level Seminar on EU VAT 2025.

You can click on the fillable form fields to fill in the form digitally. Once completed, please send your application form by mail to the address specified therein, or e-mail it to tlseuvat@erasmusfiscalstudies.nl.

For more information

Prof. Madeleine Merkx
Seminar Director


John Gruson
Seminar Coördinator
+31 (0)6 83 33 04 19
gruson@ese.eur.nl

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