Bob Davies receives the VATRat of the Year 2007 award from Steve Hodgetts and Alison Lovejoy

The Institute of Indirect Taxation was delighted when its Chairman, Bob Davies, was chosen to be VATRat of the Year 2007. Here is what Alison Lovejoy, Editor of The Tax Journal, said in her citation:

'Well, this brings us to the 2007 Awards which are once again hosted by Baker Tilly – and a very fine spread we have too. Many thanks to Steve Hodgetts, VAT Partner in Baker Tilly, for agreeing to host it once more, and for sitting on the judging panel along with Mike Arnold, Roderick Cordara, Penny Hamilton, Greg Sinfield, Chris Tailby and myself. Sian Beauch from Baker Tilly has worked hard to make this a success and also had terrible trouble arranging for the Rat to be fixed to its base so, winner, please could you handle it carefully! From my end, as usual, there is no way The Tax Journal can run anything like this without Janet Muffett’s administrative skills and support – so thanks Janet. As I said, we were oversubscribed, had to cancel quite a few people, then we had people who backed out at the last minute so we asked some of the “rejections” back and the list got more and more complicated. It’s a wonder anyone is here at all! However, for those who made it, welcome.

'Now, down to the actual Award. This year we had 15 nominations, which I think is a record! Under the very arduous circumstances of a lunch at Lovells, the judging panel considered a wide variety of nominations which included lawyers, and accountants from very varied institutions, the judiciary and a nomination for someone in a local authority and for a sole trader. However, ultimately a very deserving winner was chosen who I personally feel was an excellent choice.

'Initially, the VATRat was someone who had made a particular splash during the year of the Awards. However, this year’s winner, who was put forward by Robert Maas, has been working tirelessly on a very worthwhile project for the last 13 years. He has been Chairman of his organisation almost since its inception and, with the invaluable help of his wife’s administration skills, has built it into a respected professional body which is unrecognisable from its small beginnings. Under our winner’s guidance, his organisation has been established as one of the recognised professional bodies that cater for VAT practitioners and the only one to concentrate exclusively on indirect tax.

'It took a giant leap forward with the introduction of examination only entry to membership, which has led to the recognition of its examinations by the Customs side of HMRC who have put a large number of their staff through the examinations. Lately, amongst other achievements, there has been a complete revamp of the examination syllabus and the introduction of a modular system. There has also been the introduction of a VAT Diploma for non-members who work in VAT and the extension of the VAT Diploma to Malta and the start of the generation of interest in the Diploma to other EU countries. A Customs Diploma is hopefully on its way soon too.

'The time has come for the VAT profession to recognise the work our winner has done in building up his organisation to what it has become. I hope that receiving the VATRat Award 2007 goes a small way towards doing this.

'May I now hand you over to Steve to announce the winner (who I am sure you have all guessed already) and present him with the RAT.'