CdLM Business Administration

The course has the purpose of providing the students the main tools to understand the general aspects and problems on international tax law, including e.g. issues on double taxation and double non-taxation; the role of multinational enterprises within the international tax system; transfer pricing; the challenges raised by the digitalization of the economy; issues on international tax avoidance and tax evasion and the role of exchange of information; the impact of EU law on tax law; international aspects of value added taxation; among others important international tax law issues.

The course should prepare the students with the necessary tools to develop a critical approach on the current international tax law developments, using as starting point the study of the OECD Model Tax Convention as well as some basic notions of European Tax Law.

The course is a 100% face-to-face course, which requires the assistance of students and their participation with questions and opinions during the class.

Notes

The teaching activities modalities may vary according to the limitations imposed by the current health crisis. In any case, lectures will be online throughout the academic year.

Marking criteria

The final grade will be based on the following criteria:

First exam date (5th June 2023) and first re-take only:

Attending students

1. A final written exam will give 70% of the final The written exam will consist on
   1. Several questions in the form of a multiple-choice
   2. Questions requiring a short
2. Marking of There will be 3 workshops during the course, each of one is worth 10% of the final grade (i.e. 30% of the final grade). The student may obtain up to 10% of the final grade for each workshop by:
   1. Preparing (or being prepared for) an oral presentation of the
   2. Participation during the workshop
   3. Preparing a written report answering the questions given during the workshop. The report shall be written individually or in groups formed by up to 5 members. The reports shall be sent through the virtual system.
3. Additionally, active participation during lectures may give rise up to an additional 20% of the qualification to sum up to the final evaluation mark.

This is considered to be an on-campus course and not an online course. Therefore, it is expected that all students are able to attend the lectures live.

Non-attending students

For those who do not attend the workshops, the 30% of the final grade attributed to workshops is based on the written report mentioned above under lett. c), which has to be submitted prior to taking the final written exam.

All the workshop materials are available to both attending and non-attending students on Moodle.

Following exam dates (from the second re-take on):

The marking of workshops (30% of the final grade) is replaced by a question asking the student to solve a practical case.

Supporting activities might be arranged and will be informed to the students during the course.

Program

• Introduction: International Tax Law
• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the role of the OECD Model Tax Convention
• General aspects on the OECD Model Tax Convention:
• Persons and taxes covered
• Residents for tax treaty purposes
• Residence v. Source
• The interaction between tax treaty law and domestic tax law
• Specific provisions of the OECD Model Tax Convention:
• Interest
• Dividends
• Royalties
• Capital Gains
• Other income
• Business Profits and the concept of Permanent Establishment (PE)
• Double Taxation (and Double Non-Taxation)
• Credit method
• Exemption method 
• International Tax Evasion, Tax Avoidance and Exchange of Information
• Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance as a global issue
• The OECD Model Tax Convention and Exchange of Information
• Types of Exchange of Information
• Exchange of information within the European Union
• Taxation of Multinationals and other International Tax Law Issues:
• Transfer pricing
• International Tax Planning
• Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and other current international tax developments
• Basic notions on European Tax Law
• Fundamental Freedoms
• EU Directives concerning International Tax Law Issues
• Interest and Royalty Directive (I&R)
• Parent-Subsidiary Directive (PSD)
• Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) I and II
• Case Law of the CJEU
• Basic notions of State aid
• State aid and the taxation of multinational enterprises
• State aid and environmental issues
• International aspects of VAT