Prof. Dr. Stef van Weeghel is Global Tax Policy leader at PwC. He is also professor of international tax law at the University of Amsterdam and chair of the Board of Trustees at the International Bureau for Fiscal Documentation (IBFD).
Stef's primary focus is on tax policy, strategic tax advice and tax controversy. His experience covers cross-border transactions, structuring and tax controversy/litigation. He advises and renders second opinions to clients and their advisers on corporate income tax and tax treaty matters, is consulted by the Dutch government on a regular basis and participates in the work of the OECD. He acts as counsel and as expert witness on tax treaty interpretation (for taxpayers and for governments) before Dutch and foreign courts and in arbitration pursuant to bilateral investment treaties and in commercial arbitration.
Stef graduated from the University of Leiden in business law (1983) and tax law (1987) and obtained an LLM in Taxation from New York University (1990). In 1997, he received a doctorate in law from the University of Amsterdam (PhD thesis: Improper Use of Tax Treaties); in 2000 he was appointed a tenured professor of international tax law at that same university. He has authored and co-authored several books and many articles on Dutch and international taxation. He has lectured extensively in the Netherlands and internationally.
Before joining PwC, Stef was a partner at Linklaters and at Stibbe where his roles included membership of the executive committee, head of tax and resident partner in the New York office. He has acted as secretary and chair of the Dutch branch of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) and is immediate past chair of IFA's Permanent Scientific Committee. In 2010 he was the general reporter for Subject 1 (Tax treaties and tax avoidance: application of anti-avoidance provisions) at the IFA Congress in Rome.
In 2009/2010 Stef chaired the Study Group Tax System, a committee that advised the Dutch government on comprehensive tax reform. In 2000 he was a member of the Van Rooy-Committee that advised the Dutch government on corporate income tax reform. Prior thereto he was member of a working group at the Dutch Ministry of Finance that worked on revision of the Dutch ruling practice. He also worked on the review of administrative practices in taxation commissioned by the European Commission. On various occasions he appeared as expert before the Finance Committees of the Second and First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament and he also appeared before the TAXE-Committee and the PANA-Committee of the European Parliament.
