Congratulations on winning this year's Mitchell B. Carroll prize. It's quite an achievement to win IFA's prestigious award - I'm sure you're pleased.
Thank you. This is indeed a great honor for me to receive this award. A lot of the credit should also go to my wife Tanya. Without her sacrifice and support I would have never been able to come to Harvard or complete my research. She is simply amazing leaving her family and friends to come with me to the U.S. I was really blessed with a wonderful family and could not have asked for anything better.

It is also gratifying to know that by granting this award, IFA has indicated the importance it places on the resolution of international tax disputes. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to the Jury of the Mitchell B. Carroll Prize competition for their confidence in me and my work. I am sure that other papers where just as deserving and that the choice was a difficult one.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Academic Council of IBFD for selecting my dissertation for publication.

As we enter into the 21st Century, with global markets becoming more accessible by the day and capital transferred across the glob with the push of a button, I expect the number and scope of cross border tax disputes to increase not only in number but also in value and contentiousness. Procedures that were used to resolve international tax disputes during the first three quarters of the 20th century might not sufficient to address the challenges we are facing today. My study has shown that while the mutual agreement procedure in use today might be effective in resolving certain types of disputes, it is substantially less effective in resolving other types. The use of international tax arbitration is an important step forward, but it too has its limitations. It is important to understand that it is not only a question of finding the best mechanism to resolve such disputes, but also in finding pragmatic solutions given the sovereignty concerns of governments and the their need to preserve and protect their tax bases. Thus my study placed emphasis on designing new mechanisms, which on the one, secure the resolution of tax disputes in an equitable and timely manner and, on the other hand, do not impede on the sovereignty of nations.

You wrote your thesis on Dispute Resolution under Tax Treaties. What got you interested in this subject?

This is a very interesting question in light of the fact that before arriving at Harvard I was actually interested in writing about tax havens. A few weeks into my stay in Cambridge, however, I came across a paper written by Jacques Sasseville (Jacques Sasseville, OECD, Improving the Flexibility of Tax Treaties, Part 1 - General Issues, 56 Bulletin for International Taxation, 271-272 (2002)) which suggested that the tax administrations of many countries viewed the MAP as satisfactory. I immediately got hooked on this topic and begun looking for papers that might explain why such a voluntary and nonbinding dispute resolution mechanism was successful in resolving disputes. As I became more familiarized with the matter it became apparent that the tax administration consistently held this view but that there was disagreement between governments and private practitioners as to how effective this procedure really was. It also appeared that there was no comprehensive analysis of the statistical information provided by the tax administrations and of the institutional design of the competent authority system in light of the purposes of tax treaties. At this stage I really could not see myself writing on anything else. With the help of the tax faculty at Harvard University, and especially with the invaluable support and encouragement of my overall supervisor Professor Alvin Warren, and with the help of professors from other disciplines including political science, international relations, trade and ADR, I was able to complete my dissertation.

Writing a thesis is a pretty time-consuming activity. Now that you're finished, what will you do with all your free time?

(Smiling) It was indeed a great relief to finish my dissertation, but the work is far from finished. A lot still needs to be done in the field and I only hope that this award will encourage others to follow suit and advance this study.
Over the course of my studies and teachings I had to spend a considerable amount of time at the university and it was difficult for me and my family. However, after my defense I devoted as much time as I could to my family. We have two very energetic sons, Dan who is 4 years old and Jordan who is almost 2 and it is simply amazing seeing them grow. We also took the opportunity to go on a long awaited vacation back to Israel to see family and friends. It is difficult living so far away from your loved ones and this vacation really rejuvenated us. I also took the opportunity to pass the NY bar and we have all relocated to NY. Life is never dull….

You're not from the US originally. Did your studies bring you there?

Yes, deep in my heart I always knew that I would complete my doctorate at Harvard. In fact, even before my wife and I got married, I told her of my plans and she was always very supportive. It was actually the faculty and the library at Harvard Law School which brought me there. I was never disappointed in my choice. I was amazed time and again that no matter how old the source was and where it was written, each and every time I wanted something, it was either immediately available or made available within a few days - the library there is simply amazing. Yes, deep in my heart I always knew that I would complete my doctorate at Harvard. In fact, even before my wife and I got married, I told her of my plans and she was always very supportive. It was actually the faculty and the library at Harvard Law School which brought me there. I was never disappointed in my choice. I was amazed time and again that no matter how old the source was and where it was written, each and every time I wanted something, it was either immediately available or made available within a few days - the library there is simply amazing.

Did you move directly from Israel to the USA?

Yes, the move was not easy. I had very good position in my law firm before coming to Harvard and leaving everything and becoming a student again, especially when you have a family with you, was very difficult for us. My wife at the time had just finished her Masters and leaving her friends and family was also difficult. Dan, who is our eldest son, was at the time only 5 months old and the uncertainty as to what lay ahead was concerning. However, life at Harvard turned out to be very pleasant. You actually feel as though you live in a postcard over there. We had a place just by the Charles River and my wife and I were part of a very close nit community of families of tax administrators and tax professionals who were my colleagues at the International Tax Program there. I was also able to make friends with some of my students at Harvard all of which were instrumental in assisting me with my research and the conversations I had with many of them were simply invaluable. We now have friends from all over the world, including Peru, Brazil, Columbia, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and other countries. This was a great experience for us and our kids. Some of our best friends are still in the US and we meet from time to time. About a month ago we drove to Washington DC to meet a good friend of ours who works there at the IMF. A couple of weeks ago we arranged a meeting of all my former colleagues at the tax program who are in NY, however, due to scheduling conflicts we had to postpone it to September.

Hicksville, NY gives the impression of a rather rural existence. What's it like moving from Israel to small town USA? Are there things you miss about Israel? Do you ever get teased about the name of your town?

(Laughing) Yes - Hicksville is a bit of a strange name. When we relocated to NY we looked for a place close but not in the NY City. My wife and I could not see ourselves raising two children in Manhattan. We prefer the peace and quiet of a suburb over the traffic and noises of the city. Hicksville was the perfect place for us. The first time we came to see the house in Hicksville we immediately fell in love with the street and the area. It is mostly private houses with yards, trees and squirrels all around, children playing in the street and the sound of birds waking you up in the morning. The town itself is close to everything, supermarkets, shopping malls, extra curricular activities for the children, schools etc. everything is less than a 5 minute car ride away. The people here are very friendly and we have never regretted the move. Though we do have to pay a price for this lifestyle - the commute to Wall Street takes on average about an hour and a half in the morning and an hour at night. But again it is worth it. My wife and I constantly think about Israel especially in these hard times, we miss of course the atmosphere, the food, our families and our friends but we are in constant contact with them via internet and phone. My wife frequently travels to Israel with the kids but given my work I find it more difficult to travel.

You're currently working at the tax group of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York. What is your function? Do you specialize in any one area of taxation?

During my doctoral studies at Harvard I looked for a place where I could practice international and US tax law at its highest levels. When I received an offer from Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C) to join their tax group I could not therefore miss on the opportunity. S&C is one of the top and most prestigious law firms in the US, Europe and Asia and have a great tax practice. It was indeed a great opportunity for me. I do not specialize in one area of tax but rather on a wide variety of tax issues. S&C has a substantial domestic and cross border M&A practice, a very developed banking and financial products practice and many REIT clients, and naturally a large part of my time is devoted to those deals.

You have numerous publications to your name and have lectured extensively on various international and domestic tax issues. Do you have any plans to expand on this in future? Perhaps write another book?

Yes of course, I have been using my weekends to write papers and the work on the resolution of tax disputes is far from over. I am encouraged by the fact that lately there have been some very interesting recent developments by the OECD and the US in this area and I very much hope to continue to stay involved. I do have an idea for an additional book, but it will have to wait till I have some more time - I would like to get some papers out first. I also have some additional plans to teach while working but these are still preliminary - I still need to see how they develop.

Further information Dispute Resolution under Tax Treaties

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