Course Description
The course on fiscal sovereignty and the fundamental freedoms will consider how the key objectives of the European Union have impacted the field of direct and indirect taxation.
Course Objectives
The objective of this course is to familiarise students with the sub-field of fiscal harmonisation in the field of direct taxation. This will be achieved through an analysis of a number of key EU Directive (the Parent Subsidiary Directive, the Merger Directive, the Interest and Royalties Directive and the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base Directive). In addition to this, attention is paid to the field of harmful tax competition and the work of the Code of Conduct Group.
The issue at the heart of this course, is how Member States have – within the context of the EU -sought to reduce differences in their direct tax systems. How have they sought to achieve harmonisation? Why did they do so? Are there limits to the possible harmonisation? And what will be
the status of European fiscal harmonisation in the (near) future?
Alongside the aforementioned examples of harmonisation, this course deals with the issue of harmful tax competition. Over the past decade or so, the Code of Conduct Group has played a pivotal role in abolishing instances of harmful tax competition through the mechanism of inter-governmental peerpressure.The effect of this has been a convergence of the European (direct) tax systems on the point of harmful tax competition. The work of the Code of Conduct Group offers a different ‘model’ for attaining harmonisation. By addressing this in the same course as the various Directives, the similarities and differences in these approaches will become clear.
Examination
Written exam.
More Information
For more information, please consult the ITC Leiden website .