General Electric's Global VAT/GST Director Delivers Keynote at Vertex Exchange Europe 2013

London, UK

Two of most prominent thought leaders in global corporate tax headlined this year’s Vertex Exchange Europe 2013 Conference on 24-25 April at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London, United Kingdom.

This year’s conference, the annual premier event for European business tax technology professionals, featured Chris Needham, currently the Global VAT/GST director for General Electric Corporation and one of International Tax Review’s “50 Biggest Influences in International Tax.” Needham discussed the shifting global landscape for international tax, including regulatory trends, corporate tax operations, and the evolution of international tax. 

Needham has spent the last 18 years developing GE’s in-house Global VAT/GST team that now has more than 80 team members. He began his career as the VAT Inspector for HM Customs and Excise in the UK, and also spent seven years with PwC and established the firm’s first European VAT desk in New York in 1994.

“We are pleased to bring Chris Needham’s unique and influential perspective to this year’s Exchange Europe,” said Jeff Westphal, Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Inc. “He offered tax and technology professionals attending this year’s conference access to insights about the current international tax landscape, as well as direction on how global multinationals are responding to shifts in corporate tax internally and externally.”

This year’s conference also welcomed Bill Dodwell, head of Deloitte’s Tax Policy Group, specialising in international corporate taxation. As part of Deloitte’s tax leadership team, Dodwell is responsible for shaping all aspects of the firm’s tax policy, managing tax knowledge, training and Deloitte’s compliance with the tax disclosure rules. Additionally, he chair’s the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s (CIOT) Technical Committee and was appointed to the interim Advisory Panel on the General Anti-Abuse Rule. Bill represented Deloitte before the Public Accounts Committee, in their enquiry into the role of the Big 4 in giving tax advice and is frequently sought for his expertise by tax and business media. 

Vertex Exchange Europe is an annual conference that explores the challenges of managing global indirect taxation and provides insight into strategic solutions to help mitigate risk and control costs. This year’s event experienced record attendance, bringing together 80 of Europe’s top tax and technology thought leaders to investigate the critical issues impacting indirect tax management, the practical application of automation technology and offers hands‐on experience with Vertex’s corporate enterprise tax solutions.

“Exchange Europe offers tax and technology professionals the opportunity to network with and learn from key figures in global tax management,” said Alan James, Director of Client Solutions for Vertex Inc. “The event explored trends impacting multinationals and how large corporations are responding to the challenges of keeping up-to-date in a rapidly changing global indirect tax landscape.”

About Vertex

Since 1978, Vertex, Inc., has been a leading provider of tax technology and services, enabling companies of all sizes to realize the full strategic potential of the tax function by automating and integrating tax processes, while leveraging advanced and predictive analytics of tax data. Vertex provides cloud-based and on-premise solutions that can be tailored to specific industries for every major line of tax, including income, sales and consumer use, value added and payroll. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, and with offices worldwide, Vertex is a privately held company that employs over 900 professionals and serves companies across the globe.

For more information about Vertex, explore Our Company or follow Vertex on Twitter @vertexinc.

Company Contact

Marisa Norris
Vertex, Inc.
Director, Corporate Communications
marisa.norris@vertexinc.com