MASARYK UNIVERSITY

                                        Comparative Tax Law

                                       First term, 2016-2017

                                       Prof. Nicola Sartori


                                      Topics and Reading List


Basic Reference


R. Avi-Yonah, N. Sartori, O. Mariam, Global perspectives on income taxation law, Oxford University
Press, 2011 (below denoted ASM).

J. Slemrod and J. Bakija, Taxing Ourselves:  A Citizen’s Guide to the Debate over Tax Reform, MIT
Press, 2008 (below denoted SB).



1.            The reasons and importance of tax law: an introduction and a definition of direct and
indirect taxes.



2.      Economic principles of taxation: criteria for evaluating and comparing tax systems.

·   ASM, Chapter 1, pages 12-16 (5 pages – required reading)


2.1    Efficiency

·   SB, Chapter 4 (59 pages – back up reading)


2.2    Equity

·   SB, Chapter 3 (43 pages – back up reading)


2.3    Simplicity

·   SB, Chapter 5 (30 pages – back up reading)



3.      Comparative tax law: theory


3.1.   Methods

·   ASM, Chapter 1 (16 pages – required reading)


3.2.   Progressive versus proportional system and the use of tax law for delivering social policies



4.            Income taxes


4.1. Definition of income and capital gain

·   ASM, Chapter 2 (30 pages – required reading);


4.2. Family vs. Individual taxation

·   ASM, Chapter 4 (10 pages – back up reading)



5.            The Role of Business in Tax Systems


5.1    Why Tax Corporations?

·   R. M. Bird, “Why Tax Corporations?” Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation, 52 (2002):

194-203. (18 pages – back up reading)


5.2    Who Bears the Corporate Tax?

·   A. Auerbach, “Who Bears the Corporate Income Tax: A Review of What We Know.”  In J. Poterba,

ed., Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 20 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006). (41 pages – back up
reading)


5.3.   Corporate and shareholder taxation: the concept of integration.

·   ASM, Chapter 8, pages 143-148  (6 pages – required reading)


6.      International tax regime

·   ASM, Chapter 9 (19 pages – back up reading)


6.1    The worldwide taxation: residence versus source taxation


6.2    The benefit principle and the single tax principle: international tax as international law


6.3    Taxing Multinational Corporations


6.4     Taxing cross border flows of investments


6.5     Tax treaties


6.6.   International tax planning




Total pages of required readings: 52