Tax Committee

The work of the Tax Committee focuses on the tax considerations AmCham members are confronted with in the Netherlands and in the USA.  The aim is to signal to relevant authorities the sometimes detrimental consequences of proposed or present tax legislation for foreign investors and how to improve the investment climate in the Netherlands.  The Tax Committee addresses tax issues for a group of members and not on an individual basis.

In 2011, the Tax Committee will meet on the following dates:

Wednesday, March 9
Wednesday, June 8
Wednesday, September 21
Wednesday, November 23

The meeting on March 9 was held in the offices of Loyens & Loeff in Amsterdam. Discussion focussed on a review of the tax changes under consideration/proposed by the new government and the action undertaken recently by the Committee. A letter was sent to the State Secretary of Finance and a meeting planned with leading Ministry officials with a delegation from our Committee. 

The meeting also approved a letter to the US Treasury's IRS with our comments/views on the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. A pdf of the FATCA letter can be opened here. 

At this meeting Chamber President Raoul  Oberman appointed Wouter Paardekooper (Baker & McKenzie) as new chairman of the Committee. Carola van den Bruinhorst (Loyens & Loeff) was appointed vice chairman.

Between the March and June meetings the Committee was extraordinarily active. A delegation of the Committee met on March 15 with senior staff of the Ministry of Finance. On April 21 a conference call was instituted to coordinate a response to the recently published Fiscal Agenda of the Ministry. This was to be completed before a previously scheduled meeting of a delegation of the Committee with the State Secretary of Finance on May 11. A letter was also formulated by the Committee to respond to a request from a government working group (Top Team Hoofdkantoren) for suggestions on how to improve the Netherlands investment climate  - specifically to attract more European head offices to the country (available here).  The June meeting focussed on reviewing the activities of the past couple of months and coordinating a quick response group to comment on the draft report of the Top Team Hoofdkantoren.

At the meeting held on September 21 discussion largely focused on the 2012 Tax Proposals as announced on Budget Day. The Tax Committee formulated comments on the measures insofar as these had an effect on the investment climate. These comments were forwarded to the Parliamentary Committee on Finance who will be discussing the proposals with the State Secretary of Finance Frans Weekers. Here are the Committee's comments (pdf - only available in  Dutch).

Developments in the discussions surrounding the 2012 Tax Proposals saw the Committee seeking support for its position from other foreign investment associations. Together with the Economic and Fiscal Forum of the Netherlands British Chamber of Commerce a position paper (pdf) was formulated and sent to the State Secretary of Finance, the Minister of Economic Affairs and the financial spokespersons of the CDA, VVD, PvdA, D66 and PVV politial parties

Current Committee Members:

  • Wouter Paardekooper, Chairman AmCham Tax Committee
    Partner
    Baker & McKenzie

     

  • Suzan Arendsen
    EMEA Tax Director
    Nike EMEA

 

  • Eugene Bartman
    Sr. Vice President Fiscal Affairs & Head of Tax
    Royal Ahold nv

 

  • Paul A.J. Beks
    Executive Director Taxes
    Sara Lee International B.V.

     

  • Marcel van den Berg
    Vice President & Global Head of Tax
    Liberty Global Europe BV 

     

  • Gert-Jan Boer
    Tax Manager Benelux
    IBM Nederland B.V.

     

  • Mark van Casteren
    Partner
    Loyens & Loeff

     

  • Mark S. Doets
    Chief Tax Officer
    Anthos Amsterdam

     

  • Paul Gerrits
    Tax Director EMEA
    Aon Nederland BV

     

  • Bas van der Goorbergh
    Tax Director
    HP Enterprise Services

     

  • Richard Grotendorst
    National Executive & Sr. Regional Tax Manager
    Honeywell B.V.

     

  • Franklin Hagel
    Director Finance
    Microsoft Nederland

     

  • Harald Kleijn
    Tax Manager
    Cisco Systems International B.V.

 

  • Ernst Frederik Kraaij
    Tax Director
    General Electric

     

  • Regina van der Kuip
    Associate
    PricewaterhouseCoopers

     

  • Erik R. van Lunteren
    Tax Counsel
    AEGON N.V.

 

  • Frank R.M. Mattijssen
    Controller
    Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V.

 

  • Willem Jan G. Paardekooper
    Partner, Amsterdam
    KPMG Meijburg & Co.

 

  • Wim Peters
    Tax Manager
    Diageo Holdings Netherlands B.V.

     

  • Roderik Rademakers
    Partner Tax
    Ernst & Young

     

  • Marcel Speklé
    BNL Tax Manager
    ExxonMobil

 

  • Pauline Thiébaut
    Tax Manager
    ADP Nederland 

  

  • Gesina van de Wetering
    Partner
    Norton Rose LLP 

 

  • Marlies Vermeulen
    Director, Treasury & Taxation
    Applied Materials Europe B.V.

 

  • Haico Vollema
    Director International Tax
    Deloitte

     

  • Michaela Vrouwenvelder
    Tax Director Corporate Tax
    Abbott  Healthcare BV