We examine our subject mostly from the point of view of the taxpayer; membership is limited to practitioners who act for or in the interests of taxpayers. We were founded in 1975 and are the only association devoted solely to the study of this subject.
The object of our Association is to disseminate and exchange information about international tax planning. This we do in three ways - through our meetings, through our publications and via the internet.
Our next meeting is in Geneva (21-23 March, 2010). It is followed by meetings in Venice (6-8 June, 2010) and Amsterdam (7-9 November, 2010).
The general pattern of our meetings is that in the morning the speakers deliver their talks and in the afternoon members have the opportunity to address questions to each speaker and to explore his topic in more detail. At the conclusion of each meeting, members receive by e-mail a summary of all the talks given at the meeting.
An important feature of membership of the Association is the opportunity it offers to form contacts with practitioners in other jurisdictions. The programmes at our meetings are not overcrowded – deliberately so. There are opportunities during each of the two days and at the receptions in the evenings to mingle with other members.
It is virtually impossible to come away from a meeting of the Association not having learned something new and useful, and not having made at least one contact which proves valuable.
Talks given at past meetings are available on the website as summaries and transcripts. At the conclusion of each meeting, every member who has an e-mail address receives a summary of the talks given at that meeting. The Summaries are also printed in the issue of itpa News following the meeting, and the Transcripts appear in the next issue of the itpa Journal. The Summaries and Transcripts are an invaluable resource, especially for those members who were unable to attend the original meeting. While the Summaries and Transcripts are necessarily obsolescent, a search of these materials can often reveal a clue to the solution of a difficult problem.
Between the meetings, members receive the itpa News and the itpa Journal. These are published three times a year. The itpa News contains (among other things) a summary of the proceedings of the last meeting and the programme and booking forms for the next two. The itpa Journal has an edited text of the proceedings. There are also occasional publications. For 2006, these were Retirement in Europe: The Tax Aspect and Retirement in the Caribbean: The Tax Aspect. In 2007 the Private Foundations Handbook and Ten Retirement Destinations were published, and in 2008 (with The Bank of Cyprus) Cyprus Tax Treaties.
Each
member also receives each year a hard copy of the
Directory of Members. Like its internet counterpart, it contains the address and the telephone and fax number of each member, the name of his firm and his position in the firm. It is perhaps the most significant advantage of belonging to the Association, that a member faced with a problem involving another jurisdiction, has the telephone and fax number of a fellow member practising in that jurisdiction - often someone he has met and spoken to in the course of one of the Association's meetings.
Members can advertise the services they provide in the Green Book, a directory of services with a circulation of over 5,000 selected recipients. Entries in the Green Book are free, and each member may have up to five of them. Members may also take full-page or half-page advertisments in this publication.
Members also receive an annual diary, with stick-on labels to mark the dates of the meetings during the year and their early booking dates.
- view on our website, or download if he wishes, any part of the Portfolio of Laws, which contains the trust laws and company laws and other relevant laws and tax treaties of the major offshore jurisdictions (and see under Tax Treaties below);
- be listed on our website in our Directory of Members, which includes the member's address, fax and telephone numbers and all the descriptive text of the hard copy, and which may be visited by other members, who are in possession of the passwords;
- advertise in our Directory of Services, which is open to the public and, if he also has a website, to install a hyperlink between the two;
- contribute to the White Papers, where members are encouraged to share their practical knowledge and experience in tax planning issues and legislation;
- appear as a sponsor of that part of the Portfolio of Laws which is devoted to his jurisdiction;
- read (or download) verbatim Transcripts of recent papers delivered at ITPA meetings;
- read headnotes and download judgements contained in the International Trust Cases;
- install a reciprocal hyperlink between his website and the Links@itpa page of the Association's website;
- access the ITPA Yearbook, which contains articles of interest to members, and contribute articles to it;
- have an e-mail address in the form of his name@itpa.org (an address, it may be said, more easily remembered by clients, and intending clients, than many other e-mail addresses, but not requiring him to abandon any existing address or to search two mailboxes). No charge is made for this facility and the rental of the address is paid by the ITPA;
- peruse the programmes for the next two meetings of the Association, and, if he decides to attend, to make a reservation (space permitting).
- download earlier ITPA Publications.
Full members:
- A member pays an enrolment fee of £130 and an annual subscription of £380. Members are entitled to appear in the Directory of Members and Directory of Services (Green Book). Members have unlimited and unrestricted access to the website and have the right to attend all meetings of the Association.
Library members:
- If you do not plan to come to meetings or access the website, you can become a Library member for £120 a year plus an enrolment fee for new members of £40, and receive all the Association's publications (excluding the diary).
Students and Trainees:
- Membership is open to bona-fide students and trainees without enrolment fee and at a reduced annual fee of £110. Application should be made to the Registrar, enclosing evidence of student or trainee status. A limited number of bursaries are available for each meeting, to enable students and trainees to attend the meeting at a reduced fee. A student or trainee awarded a bursary contributes one-third of the attendance fee and the Association contributes the other two-thirds (travel, hotel and other expenses being the responsibility of the student or trainee). Application for a bursary should be made to the Convention Director.
- Admission to and renewal of membership shall be on and subject to the terms of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of The International Tax Planning Association (the “Association”) and the provisions following (which shall have effect in accordance with the law for the time being in force in the Cayman Islands).
- The Committee shall have power to grant or refuse any application for admission to or renewal of membership without being required to disclose any reason and may delegate such power to a sub-committee established for the purpose (the “Membership Sub-committee”) or any member thereof. In the event of refusal of such application any enrolment or annual membership or booking fee paid shall be returned in full.
- The list of members shall not in any circumstances be used as a mailing list or for distributing any circular whether by mail fax e-mail or otherwise except with the prior consent of the Committee. A member shall not make use of the logo of the Association or otherwise give to any person the impression that the services offered by him or his firm are in any way endorsed by the Association.
- A member charged with any criminal offence in any part of the world (which expression shall not include any traffic offence) or with any breach of professional etiquette shall bring the facts to the attention of the Registrar who shall bring them to the attention of the Membership Sub-committee. The membership of a person so charged may be suspended by the Membership Sub-committee and such suspension shall be brought to the attention of the Committee at its next meeting. In the event of conviction such suspension shall become indefinite but the Committee shall nevertheless have power on the application of the suspended member and after considering such evidence as it shall fit to revoke such suspension in which event such suspended member shall be at liberty to renew his or her membership without being required to pay any enrolment fee
- The enrolment fee and the annual fee shall be such as appear from time to time on the website
- A member joining or renewing on or before 30th June in any year shall enjoy the full benefit of membership of the Association from that date until 30th June in the following year and a member joining or renewing on or before 31st December in any year shall enjoy the full benefit of membership of the Association from that date until 31st December in the following year PROVIDED THAT in the event that by reason of the death imprisonment or incapacity of the member or the insolvency or winding-up of the Association or for any other reason whatsoever such benefit shall not be enjoyed for the whole of such period the Association shall be at liberty but shall not be obliged to make to such member such refund (if any) as the Committee shall think appropriate in the circumstances and such member shall have no other or further claim on the Association
- The Association does not endorse any views expressed or guarantee the accuracy of any information contained in any presentation or publication or on the website of the Association and a member making use of such content for any purpose does so at his own risk.
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