Christian Amand
Lawyer - VAT, Customs Duties and Excises Lawyer Xirius
Christian AMAND has a law degree from the Université Catholique de Louvain (1977), a degree in business law (1978) and holds a Master in tax law from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Fiscales (Brussels - ICHEC-1988). He has gained extensive experience in indirect taxation and in VAT issues in particular, first as a tax adviser with major audit firms and later as a lawyer specialised in VAT.
As a lawyer, he has been involved in the VAT aspects of the re-structuring of European and Belgian financial companies, in the reduction of the VAT charge on real estate projects and service centres, in rental and VAT matters for cross-border services organisations, in the compliance with European rules governing VAT deductions, in the financing and structuring of the VAT applicable to Belgian and international not-for-profit companies and professional organisations, in the introduction of electronic invoicing and archiving systems, in the prevention of VAT missing trader fraud, and in the study of legislative changes to excise duties.
His preferred areas of practice are reducing VAT charges and the prevention and amicable resolution of VAT disputes. He also has extensive experience in the preparation of preliminary rulings in VAT cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union (cross-border rentals and permanent establishment for VAT, real estate rentals, exemptions, rates, the treatment of intermediaries, etc.).
As a lawyer specialised in VAT matters, Christian chaired the VAT and indirect taxation subgroup of the Confédération fiscale Européenne (CFE) from 2008 to 2012 (http://www.cfe-eutax.org/) that represents tax advisers and lawyers specialised in taxation at the European Institutions. He is currently involved with the "EU VAT Forum" at the European Commission which is developing an on-going dialogue between national VAT authorities, business and VAT advisers to find practical solutions within the current framework of European VAT legislation.
His working languages are French, English, Dutch, and Spanish.