|
Please note the prerequisites for this course at the bottom of the course description.
This course studies how tax policy shapes society. Taxation is more than collecting revenues for the public sector. The concept of taxation is one of the fundaments beneath every society as democracy and representation is significantly correlated to taxation. Our societies have adopted the introduction of the income tax a hundred years ago and more recently by the value added tax and these taxes shaped as well the relationship between citizen and state. Another topic that is interesting for taxation is the size of the underground economy and the related tax gap what will influence the concept of fairness. Related to this topic are the phenomena as tax evasion, tax heavens, money laundering and the integrity of tax authorities. This course studies how tax administrations are organised as well as how these administrations can support taxpayers in their obligation to be compliant. As such students will become familiar with the importance of the legitimacy of taxation, the concept of the rule of law, the role and function of the state, and democracy and taxation. It is important to realise that how we organise taxation will have an impact on how efficiently we assess and collect taxes. The course enables the participants to understand the role of different international players as the EU, IMF, OECD, WTO, WCO etc. in the field of taxation. For a proper understanding we have also to analyse the main differences between tax policy processes, its political dimension, legislative processes and implementation and administrative processes.
The topics discussed in this course are: Historical aspects of taxation, Political implications, Tax reform process, Public finance, Revenue forecasting, Role of international organisations, Tax evasion and avoidance, Anti money laundering, International tax planning, Integrity of systems, Tax administration and processes, Cultural aspects and differences, Tax and development, Economic aspects of taxation, Risk assessment, Emancipation and participation by taxation, Good governance, Legal framework.
Learning objectives
At the end of the course the student is able to:
-
In general to have an understanding how taxation influenced the course of history and how taxation shaped our society and how it influenced the relation state and citizen;
-
Understand the main processes in a tax administration and the related programmes for voluntary compliance and risk assessment and how to organise the influence of tax authorities in the tax legislative process;
-
Understand the needs of taxpayers for fairness, equal treatment, reducing compliance costs and reliability in relationship with consumption, investments and savings;
-
Analyse the different methodologies and approaches for developing countries and economies in transition to design their tax programmes and to understand the limitations (political, financial, economic, social, technical, cultural, etc);
-
Understand the influence of the underground economy and the missing tax revenues, how the tax base can deteriorate by tax planning, the use of tax heavens, etc;
-
Understand the building blocks in the legal framework, that are also important to know for analysing tax revenues and tax avoidance and evasion;
-
Understand the recent financial and economic crisis and the role of taxation;
-
Understand the challenges for tax authorities in a globalising world with more tax treaties and changing attitudes towards representation.
Format
Lectures and tutorials.
Assessment method
Research project (50%, group) and a written exam (50%, individual).
The research project can be something different than the traditional paper. In the past students delivered valuable contributions in the form of:
-
An interactive game for understanding tax policy;
-
The art of writing an essay (the ability to learn to write for different audiences);
-
Contributing to the development of a diagnostic tool to monitor progress and maturity of tax systems;
-
Contributing to research project MNEs, big cities and taxation (project of current year);
-
Setting up an interactive (online application) for taxation and elections;
- Development of an app for better understanding to consumers how they contribute to the public sector (project of current year).
Prerequisites
Course is eligible to all students. It is assumed that the student has prior knowledge of macroeconomics.
In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN number. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.
|