2024-2025 / GCER0065-1

International Business and Tax Law

Durée

24h Th, 60h AUTR

Nombre de crédits

 Open Borders MBA5 crédits  

Enseignant

Jürgen Vogt

Langue(s) de l'unité d'enseignement

Langue anglaise

Organisation et évaluation

Enseignement au deuxième quadrimestre

Horaire

Horaire en ligne

Unités d'enseignement prérequises et corequises

Les unités prérequises ou corequises sont présentées au sein de chaque programme

Contenus de l'unité d'enseignement

Cross-border economic activity and international trade are inconceivable without taking law  into account  in various - very distinct, however equivocally important - respects. By crossing borders, each legal implication of doing business is lifted to another level, due to the fact that every country provides and is ruled by its own legal order, its own legal system and its unique tax regime. In terms of law, European integration is an evolving project - and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Harmonization is a matter of degree.
Building on the dichotomy of legal orders between public law, civil law and tax law, this course addresses:
1. Civil and Private Law
Cross-Border Commercial Activities and Taxation - Euregio and beyond


  • Historical background and today's legal basis
Civil Law in Belgium, Germany and the Netherland


  • Fundamental Principles and Comparative Law: "Rules of the Game":
  • Contract Law (incl. GTCB-Law), Commercial Practices, Trade Usages/Customs, CISG
  • Product Liability
  • Property Law
  • Company & Corporate Law
Private International Law (Conflict of Laws)


  • Rom I, Conflict Rules for Contractual Relations (Choice of Law, Applicable Law in the Absence of Choice, Consumer Contracts)
  • Rom II, Conflict Rules for non-contractual Obligations (Product Liability, Unfair Competition, Intellectual Property Rights)
  • Legal Action, Prosecution, Enforcement (Brussels Ia, European Insolvency Regulation, Arbitration
 
2. Tax Law
Principles of direct and indirect domestic taxation of commercial activities in the Euregio and other EU countries:
International Tax Aspects of commercial cross-border activities
  • Direct Taxes - Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Trade Tax (Unlimited and limited tax liability of individuals and companies. Taxation of various sources of taxable income)
  • Indirect Taxes - VAT (including harmonization of VAT regimes of the EU member states)
Issues of international double taxation and their impact on various forms of doing business abroad (e.g. cross-border direct sales, creation of permanent establishments, forming foreign partnerships or subsidiaries)
Double Tax Treaties as mitigants of international double taxation (interpreting and benefitting from double tax treaties, OECD model convention, impact of EU legislation on double tax treaties)
EU legislation impacting commercial cross border activities
  • EU parent-subsidiary directive (EUPSD)
  • EU interest and royalties directive (EU I&RD)
  • EU savings directive (EUSD)
  • EU anti tax avoidance directive I and II (ATAD I and II)
Legal Action with respect to taxes: domestic legal action, referral to ECJ/CJEU, Mutual Agreement Procedures and the EU Arbitration Convention

Acquis d'apprentissage (objectifs d'apprentissage) de l'unité d'enseignement

The students will
be able to demonstrate which fields of law are pertinent for international trade and for doing business abroad - and how they work on the cross-border level.
familiarize themselves with the very basics of the legislative process on national, European and international level and understand how the different levels of legal sources interact and cooperate, as to finally acquire a general idea regarding the present state of European and cross-national legal and tax harmonization.
focus on the most momentous issues for doing business, e. conflict of laws (focussing on contract and corporate law) on the one hand and conflicting tax regimes (focussing on international taxation including impact of EU tax legislation) on the other.
work on real life'

  • cases create awareness of legal and tax risks arising from commercial cross-border activities
  • get acquainted with (and train in) legal working techniques
  • train in employing legal argumentation to your benefit
  • train in employing legal and tax considerations in the course of strategic decisions and contract drafting
learn to employ the appropriate means to take legal action in international business and tax law cases.

Savoirs et compétences prérequis

Activités d'apprentissage prévues et méthodes d'enseignement

Mode d'enseignement (présentiel, à distance, hybride)

face-to-face

Supports de cours, lectures obligatoires ou recommandées

Modalités d'évaluation et critères

Assessment will be a mix of three components:

  • Individual Presentations on selected topics on the basis of preparatory homework: Pre-Readings of Legal Sources, selected relevant literature and the professor's and expert's teaching material
  • Group Work on assigned topics (e. g. teamwork, case studies, moot courts) and Participation in and Contribution to open/group Discussions
  • Written Exam

Stage(s)

Remarques organisationnelles et modifications principales apportées au cours

The seminar will take place at the Kloster Heidberg in Eupen. It will be organized over a weekend from Friday 5pm till Sunday 1pm.

Contacts

juergen.vogt@fh-aachen.de

Association d'un ou plusieurs MOOCs