TEI held its third International Tax Student Case Competition at the Montréal offices of Gowling WLG, the competition’s host sponsor, from August 14 to 16.
Bringing together students, mentors, and practitioners from around the world for three days of immersive learning, collaboration, and hands-on experience in international tax, the case competition highlights TEI’s commitment to supporting and building a strong and diverse tax student community, including yearly scholarships offered through the Montréal Chapter network, student membership offering, and Student Committee.
The official case competition took place on Saturday, August 16, and featured sixteen student teams, each made up of four students, from universities across North and South America, Europe, and Asia—all competing to develop the best solution to this year’s case, which focused on tax treaty aspects of corporate international tax structuring.
TEI offers a special thank-you to Brigitte Wudernitz Muehlmann for her assistance in reviewing this year’s case. To support their preparation, each team was paired with two TEI member mentors and given access to IBFD’s comprehensive research platform, along with six course modules on tax treaties. The Institute extends its heartfelt thanks to the thirty-three mentors, whose dedication, time, and guidance were instrumental in shaping the student teams’ experiences and successes. The teams were given three hours to prepare, after which they presented to a panel of six judges, with the winners announced following a gala dinner and awards ceremony at the Club St. James.
We are proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of the winning teams in this year’s International Tax Student Case Competition:
- First-place team: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, winning a prize of $2,000 CAD furnished by IFA Canada for their clear analysis, innovative approach, and strong teamwork. The team was represented by Xian Aini, Meei Yunn Low, Chua Wenfei Jonas, and Brian Lee, and mentored by Walter Kolligs, vice president of international tax at Visa, and Eugene Gay, head of tax, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, at Marsh McLennan;
- Second-place team: University of Waterloo, Canada. The team was represented by Brandon Kim, Macey Warren, Michael Sasmito, and William Tung, and mentored by Joy Wang, global head of tax at Knight Therapeutics Inc., and Philip Parkinson, head of global tax at Klick.
- Third-place team: Liège University, Belgium, represented by Cyrille Gilliard, Lena Hayen, Zeinab Cherry, and Ibrahim Diallo, and mentored by Juan Carlos Rubio, senior director of international tax reporting and compliance at Newell Brands, and Ana Mata Zapico, international tax manager at Impala Terminals.
- Fourth-place team (honorable mention): Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada, represented by Kyle Smyth, Alireza Mirshafiei Langari, Shruti Khurana, and Peeranat Wongbandit, and mentored by Rashpal Brar-Grewal, chief tax officer at The Woodbridge Company Limited, and Brittany Forgues, director of tax at Laborie.
In addition to the four winning teams, twelve other schools participated in this year’s competition: the National University of Singapore, the University of British Columbia, HEC Montréal, the University of Sherbrooke (Canada), Maastricht University (Netherlands), Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Argentina), Baruch College – Zicklin School of Business (New York), Georgia State University, Golden Gate University (California), the University of Akron (Ohio), the University of Florida, and the Washington and Lee University School of Law (Virginia).
Over the three days of learning and collaboration, participants were treated to social activities to connect more deeply, enjoy the city of Montréal, and take in the experience more fully, including a foosball tournament hosted by Andersen Canada, a walking/running tour that included a stop at a local ice cream shop, and a welcome cocktail reception at the Gowling offices on Friday evening. Additionally, attendees participated in the AI & Technology in Tax seminar at HEC Montréal, hosted by the International Fiscal Association Canada in collaboration with TEI. TEI thanks the twelve speakers from Canada, the United States, Europe, and Singapore who shared their expertise across three panels, where attendees learned strategies for managing big data, integrating AI into tax workflows, understanding tax authorities’ use of AI, and balancing innovation with effective people management.
A special thank-you to the six judges for the International Tax Student Case Competition: Patrick Boyle, former Justice of the Tax Court of Canada and of counsel at KPMG Law; Sophie Chatel, member of Parliament for Pontiac, Québec, and former head of the tax treaty unit at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Bob Stack, former deputy assistant secretary at the US Treasury and former managing director at Deloitte Tax; Melinda Phelan, partner at Baker McKenzie and member of the firm’s global executive committee; Robert Raizenne, partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; and Michael O’Connor, consultant at KPMG.
TEI also thanks the following firms that offered financial support to help support the event: our gala sponsors, Baker McKenzie and KPMG; our breakfast sponsor, EY; our coffee break sponsor, Norton Rose Fulbright; our nightlife sponsor, BDO; our foosball sponsor, Andersen; our host sponsor, Gowling WLG; our prize money and travel sponsor, IFA; our contributing sponsors, DST Advisory Group Inc., McCarthy Tétrault, PwC, and Thomson Reuters; and our training and research tools contributor, IBFD.
Last, the Institute extends its deepest gratitude to this year’s International Tax Student Case Competition steering committee members—Laura Gheorghiu, Erin Fuchs, and Lionel Nobre—for their incredible contributions and hard work. A special thank-you goes to the chair of the steering committee, Josephine Scalia, whose leadership, creativity, and passion for this initiative have guided the competition to new heights. Additionally, a big thanks goes to TEI Executive Director Pilar Mata and Events Coordinator Jentry Whitehurst for their added valuable guidance and support to round out the dream team!
