2024-2025 / DROI1248-1

International Business and Tax Law

Duration

24h Th, 60h AUTR

Number of credits

 Master in management, professional focus in MBA (MBA)5 crédits  

Lecturer

Jürgen Vogt

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

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 Netherlands
  • 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

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

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 to

  • 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.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

face-to-face

Course materials and recommended or required readings

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

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

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 of one or more MOOCs