One of the issues of concern and interest in our community is the improvement of taxation in the field of entrepreneurship. For this reason, in a session prior to the ordinary General Assembly of members of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, a Taxation Forum was held to debate the impact that tax measures could have on investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and R&D generated in the sector. This is the second edition of this forum focused on a current and interesting topic that, last year, focused on the new law on startups, and which is an added value for the members on the morning of the Assembly. It was held on 14 February in the Sala Oriol Bohigas at the Ateneu Barcelonès; the event was open to the public and was part of the Barcelona Health Innovation Week.

The forum consisted of two parts: a first keynote to learn about the details through a presentation; a second part to learn about examples and applications from the experience of the different actors involved, represented in a round table. The view of the expert was provided by Mónica Sevilla González and Nuria Cabré Plana, both partners at Garrigues, the international legal and tax services firm that advises, locally and globally, on all areas of business law. They delved into personal income taxation, the remuneration schemes for founders and employees, linked to the value of the company, and what implications there are in the taxation of their assets.

After a review of the most important aspects and questions from the attendees, the debate was opened in a round table. In order to offer different points of view, CataloniaBio & HealthTech invited Jordi Rovira, CFO Vytrus Biotech (moderator of the session); David Alonso, CFO Hipra; Esther Riambau, CEO and co-founder of Oniria Therapeutics; and Lluís Juncà, General Director of Innovation, Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Generalitat de Catalunya. First they approached the subject from the perspective of the company, reviewing aspects such as tax deductions for R&D in corporate tax, what are the circuits for generating deductions, and what is the legal certainty in their application. Afterwards, changed to the point of view of investors and, finally, what are the new features of the Startups Law that are most interesting, in this area, for the biotech and health sector, and what is missing: tax debt deferrals, tax rate reductions, fractioned payments, improved personal income taxation...

The round table was an opportunity to see real cases and applications of the various aspects to be taken into account in taxation. It was a very well attended session by the attendees, who were very positive about being able to share a dialogue and experiences on the subject, in a format that makes it more accessible to all those who are not experts. The tax forum ended with a space for networking among the attendees.