Fascinating topics and lots of discussion at the 4th VAT Summit

On 25 and 26 February 2026 the 4th VAT Summit took place at Grant Thornton Germany in Düsseldorf. The renowned VAT conference again brought together many tax practitioners, international guests and experts from the Grant Thornton network to discuss current developments, challenges and innovative solutions on the subject of international VAT.

High-quality participants and international viewpoints

Over two days, the Summit offered a diverse programme of presentations, panels and workshops. The speakers included Karl-Heinz Haydl (Global VAT/GST Practitioner, V@T Policy GmbH), Piet Battiau (Head of Consumption Taxes Unit, OECD), Christoph Beutler (Partner, Grant Thornton Germany), Lorien Van den Bempt (Partner Tax & Legal, Grant Thornton Belgium), Romain Dayan (Partner, Grant Thornton France), Maciej Hadas (Partner, Grant Thornton Poland) and many other experts from the international Grant Thornton network. 

Key topics and trends

On the first day, the focus was on the following topics: 

  • E-invoicing & reporting update: Current developments on the introduction of e-invoicing in Germany, Belgium, France and Poland as well as the impact of the ViDA Initiative on the European VAT landscape.
  • Sustainability meets regulation: New regulatory requirements in global trade, particularly the EU Deforestation Regulation and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
  • Platform economy update: Challenges and opportunities in the platform economy, current court decisions (incl. ECJ Fenix International and Xyrality cases), the impact of digitalisation and the use of AI in tax. 
  • VUCA: Dealing with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the tax function and transforming towards agile ways of working.

Workshops to expand knowledge

The second day offered practical workshops on the following topics:

  • Customs – ESG deep dive: A deep dive into sustainability and regulatory requirements in international trade.
  • Implementation of European E-invoicing rules: Practical implementation of the European e-invoicing rules, technical and organisational challenges. 
  • TCFs – deep dive: Setting up and implementing tax control frameworks, best practices and lessons learned. 

Conclusion

The 4th VAT Summit once more offered an excellent platform for sharing knowledge, networking and discussion on the most crucial trends in international VAT law. Participants received valuable insights into news on regulations, digitalisation, sustainability and compliance. Guests particularly valued the practical workshops and international dialogue.

Our thanks go to all the speakers, participants and partners who contributed to the success of the event. The VAT Summit has already made a name for itself among the tax events for tax practitioners from international companies.

If you have any questions on particular topics we’ll be happy to assist you with our international tax expertise at any time. Feel free to contact us!