The Conference on ‘Digital Service Taxes (DSTs): A fair and effective way to tax the data economy?’ will be organised under the umbrella of the research project Designing the tax system for a Cashless, Platform-based and Technology-driven society” (CPT project).

Location

The Conference will be held on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 September 2025, at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This will be an on-site event without the possibility to participate online.

About the Conference

This Conference aims to discuss the opportunities and challenges related to Digital Services Taxes (DSTs). It focuses on the underlying policy rationale of DSTs, their main design features, differences and similarities between selected countries, and compatibility with existing legal frameworks. The Conference aims to analyse whether DSTs, in their current or in an improved version, could become a fair and workable solution which countries could multilateral rely on to capture the value that digital businesses extract from users’ data and contributions.

Attendees to this conference will have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue on one of the most debated topics in international taxation.

Structure and topics

Day 1 of the conference opens with a keynote on the evolution of the internet and the data economy. Following the keynote, 2 panels will take place:

• Panel 1 (The Value of Users’ Data in Digital Business Models)
  will examine the role of users’ data and its economic implications. It will explore whether users’ data hold measurable economic value and examine existing methodologies to do that.
• Panel 2 (Comparative Analysis of DSTs Worldwide)
  will analyse existing DSTs across different jurisdictions, highlighting their similarities and differences. Key aspects covered include the rationale, scope,  tax base, rates, and sourcing rules.

Day 2 of the conference begins with a brief recap of Day 1 discussions, followed by 3 additional panels:

• Panel 3 (Policy and Operational Challenges of DSTs)
  will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of DSTs, addressing their policy implications and practical implementation challenges.
• Panel 4 (Compatibility of DSTs with International Standards) will evaluate DSTs in the context of international trade law, double tax treaties, and the EU legal framework.
• Panel 5 (Policy options going forward) explores policy options to the tax challenges posed by the digital economy, considering the feasibility of a coordinated DST versus alternative measures such as Pillar 1 Amount A, Article 12B/12AA of the UN Model, and other emerging frameworks.

Speakers & Moderators

• Prof. dr Stef van Weeghel (UvA).
• Prof. dr Dennis Weber (UvA – Loyens & Loeff)
• Raffaele Russo (UvA - Chiomenti)
• Dr Juan Manuel Vazquez (UvA – Loyens & Loeff)
• Dr Claudio Cipollini (UvA - RCLex)
• Dr Svitlana Buriak (UvA – Loyens & Loeff)
• Enrico Pedemonte (Journalist and Writer)
• Dr David Nguyen (Stanford Digital Economy Lab)
• Sevda Kartal (Exeter University) 
• Claire Ankri-Avy (CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats) 
• Umberto Lorenzi (Chiomenti)
• Diana Almadi (Kenya Revenue Authority)
• Eric Hendry (Gowling WLG)
• Pasquale Tridico (European Parliament - Subcommittee on Tax Matters)
• Prof. Itai Grinberg (Georgetown University)
• Prof. dr Georg Kofler (WU)
• Dr Alice Pirlot (Geneva Graduate Institute)
• Prof. dr. Daniel Smit (UvA - EY)
• Dr Balazs Karolyi (Hungarian Ministry for National Economy)
• Dr Martin Hearson (ICTD)
• Dr Eric Robert (OECD)
• Dr Katerina Pantazatou (University of Luxembourg)
• Dr Betty Andrade (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Registration

The entrance fee is € 350,- for non-students. For UvA students it is free (registration mandatory); but paying participants have priority when there are not enough seats due to capacity limitations. Lunch is not included.

More information

See the CPT project website.

Contacts