In order to achieve excellence in the field of tax law and public finance, the current developments in International Taxation should be included in the curriculum as soon as possible. Aspects of international tax law play an important role, as these are gaining in importance due to the increasing internationalization and European integration. Thus, profound and up-to-date knowledge of national and international tax law is central to the employability of graduates. The project analyses the impact of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Initiative and the Anti-Tax Avoidance Package (ATAP) against the background of the partner countries’ respective national tax systems. These initiatives aim to ensure that profits are taxed where economic activities generating the profits are performed and where value is created. As three of the four partner countries represent EU member states, while the other one (LI) is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), the questions of the transposition of BEPS and/or Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) into the domestic tax laws are emerging in each partner country and give rise to a comparative legal approach with regard to the national tax provisions which are influenced by BEPS and ATAD. A thorough analysis shall determine whether and which changes are required to domestic legislation. Furthermore, international case studies will be generated in the course of the project which deal with cross-border activities and focus on the effects of BEPS and ATAD on the taxation of these activities. In these case studies the interaction between national tax laws, tax treaties and the new supranational tax regulations can be demonstrated. Additionally to the legal aspects, the project will analyse the economic impact of the BEPS Initiative and the ATAP. As policy makers are concerned with how tax policies can foster innovation and growth, which is also a new tax policy pillar with the G20, the project team will analyse the impact of taxes on entrepreneurial risk taking. Three (BEL, ITA, LIE) of the four partner countries have implemented an Allowance for Corporate Equity (ACE), which provides a deductible allowance for corporate equity. Germany, on the other hand has introduced an interest ceiling rule, which limits the deductibility of interest expenses for debt financing. As it is assumed that the two policies have a different impact on entrepreneurial risk taking, this country group offers an interesting setting to study the impact of taxation on risk taking. This is particularly interesting as the interest ceiling rule is an element of ATAD, and should thus be an obligatory standard within the EU. Thus, the analysis serves as an interesting starting point to discuss the economic implications of the ATAD. To transfer the scientific findings into the curriculum, international case studies will be generated which deal with cross-border activities and focus on the effects of BEPS and ATAD on entrepreneurial decisions and demonstrate the interplay between taxation, financial decisions and entrepreneurial activities. The implementation of unfolding scenario-based case studies in the didactic classroom is associated with learner-centered education. The utilization of learner-centered pedagogies, such as case studies, removes the focus from the instructor and instead places it on the student. Teachers create a learning environment inspiring students to think deeply about how they might apply what they are learning to their future practice. Hence, learner-centered pedagogies are believed to improve students' levels of cognition. The project is carried out by a transnational team as the team members can bring in their national tax expertise. The project members complement each other at different levels. They have a different specialization, ranging from legal science, business taxation, corporate finance and economics. The experts represent EU member states, as well as EEA and EFTA member states. Furthermore, the national tax systems of the partner countries introduced the ACE or an interest ceiling rule. Hence, the scientific analysis and the didactical implementation will follow a holistic approach. In order to increase the practical relevance of the curriculum and to flank the quality assurance of the project, a wide network of associated partners are involved in the project. The associated partners will participate in working meetings, advise on quality assurance, support the organisation of the multiplier events, and disseminate the intellectual outputs of the project within their networks. International Taxation has high policy relevance on a national, international and European level. The project establishes an international cooperative framework, transfers knowledge into curricula (master, PhD and continuing education level) and enhances international mobility and exchange of best practice. Overall we expect a significant enhancement in teaching taxation in HEI.
Context of the project The aim of the project was to transfer current developments in International Taxation into the curriculum at the partnering univiersities. Since profound and up-to-date knowledge of national and international tax law is of central importance for the employability of graduates, this project can improve the employability of graduates. However, a key challenge here is that the teaching materials in the field of taxation must be constantly updated and adapted to national legislation. This means that international standard textbooks cannot be used as in other disciplines (e.g. finance). Especially in smaller countries, the supply of up-to-date teaching materials and scientific articles is limited. Through international cooperation, on the one hand, joint teaching materials on current developments in international tax law can be developed and, on the other hand, students and lecturers can gain a deeper and more up-to-date insight into the tax policy developments in neighbouring countries. Thus, for example, a comparative analysis of how the BEPS regulations have been implemented in the respective national tax laws was carried out and served as a base for the collection of case studies. Objectives and undertaken activities The project had two objectives: First, the creation of teaching materials that promote a learner-centred approach in the field of taxation. Second, to ensure that research and education are mutually enforcing. In order to achieve this objective, on the one hand scientific articles that analyse national tax law and the most recent trends in international taxation have been written, on the other hand, a scientific foundation of a learner-centered teaching concept in the field of taxation has been elaborated. To make the outputs accessible to the public, the case studies were implemented in the curricula of the partner HEI and disseminated through events and online platforms, and most of the scientific articles have been already published in peer-reviewed journals. Results and impacts Various artefacts were developed in accordance with the objective of promoting scientifically based, learner-centred teaching. The scientific foundation is provided by six peer-reviewed scientific articles, one article under review, and three working papers. The papers have been presented at multiplier events and scientific conferences and were subject to a review process. On the basis of the scientific work, case studies on current topics of national and international tax policy as well as on corporate finance with a focus on taxation were developed. The case studies have already been implemented at various levels of higher education (Bachelor, Master and PhD studies) and the level of continuing education at the partner HEI. In doing so, the project reaches 250 students at Bachelor level, 250 students at Master level, and 15 PhD students per year. At the level of continuing education the project will reach about 50 students per year at the partner HEIs (the figures are based on the subscriptions for the respective exams in the field of taxation at the partner universities). In total we will reach about 550 students/per year with our teaching lessons in the field of taxation and with our didactical concept. In order to share the materials beyond the scope of the partner HEIs, we have published the case studies on our project website. At the level of the local community the practitioner, policymaker and public governance benefited from the knowledge spill-over through the multiplier events, which took place in three partner countries (DE, IT, FL). Furthermore, the scientific articles have been presented at international scientific conferences and published in subject-specific scientific journals.It is estimated, that various presentations at national and international level reached about 300 participants in the course of the project. Longer-term benefits By implementing the teaching materials in the second project phase, a direct transfer of knowledge could be realized, which will continue beyond the project duration. Since the newly developed teaching materials could already be evaluated in the course of the project, this feedback was used to improve the teaching materials. During the short-term-staff training event, an exchange of experience on best practice between lecturers and students took place. In particular, we were able to benefit from the exchange of experiences already made in the field of distance-teaching, as we had to implement this quickly due to the COVID-19 protection regulations. Beyond the intellectual outputs, the international cooperation between the project partners has solidified and consolidated. Thus, all project partners have used the opportunities offered by Erasmus+ Staff Training Mobility to complete a research or teaching stay at another partner HEI. But also beyond the network, new contacts and collaborations have been established.