International Tax Law and EU Tax Law

The general objective is to provide a deep understanding of major issues of international and EU tax law. International tax law refers to both domestic law that has international aspects and tax treaty law. Domestic tax law that is of interest concerns for example

• how to determine unlimited and limited tax liability,
• withholding taxes on cross-­border income, and
• national law on the avoidance of double taxation.

These types of legislation will be discussed from a comparative perspective including special consideration of the legislation of the United States. Tax treaties are treaties of public international law concluded by states. The aim of the treaties is to mitigate the effects of internationalisation. Mostly the treaties are modelled according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Model Tax Convention and the United Nations Model Tax Convention. The application and interpretation of tax treaties concluded according to these models are dealt with thoroughly. Transfer pricing is covered extensively.

European law has an increasing impact on the tax legislation of the Member States and it affects both in­vestors within in the EU and investors from other states. The fundamental freedoms of the EU, for example the freedom to provide goods and services, the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital, will be discussed in relation to direct taxation. The EU has also decided several directives concerning taxation, and they will also be subjects of study, for example the merger directive, the parent-subsidiary directive, the interest-royalties directive, the savings directive and the directive on the exchange of information.

The issue of cross-border reorganisations will be dealt with in a separate course, as well as value added taxation (VAT). The European system of VAT has recently been introduced, with certain variations, in a number of other countries as general sales tax (GST). GST has been advanced as a possible way of increasing tax revenue in developing countries, which will be discussed.

Career

The Master Programme in International Tax Law and EU Tax Law provides students with in-depth knowledge of both of these areas of law. A particular emphasis lies on train­ing of legal reasoning and the use of different sources of law in these areas. This knowledge is much required by employers in the private sector as well as the public sector, including tax law­yers, tax officials, government officials and judges.

Degree

The programme leads to a Master of Legal Science (60 credits) with Legal Science as the main field of study.

First semester

• Introduction to fundamentals of international taxation and corporate taxation, 15 credits
• International taxation: tax treaty law and transfer pricing, 15 credits

Second semester

• EU direct taxation and value added taxation, 15 credits
• Individual thesis, 15 credits

or

• Individual thesis, 30 credits

Lecturers

Professor Mattias Dahlberg is programme director and professor Bertil Wiman is chairman of the science board.

Students must have an undergraduate degree in law corresponding to three years full-time studies or 180 credits. 15 credits in tax law, or equivalent knowledge, is also required. Proof of skills in English to a level corresponding to English B in the Swedish secondary school. This is normally attested by means of an internationally recognised test with the following minimum scores:IELTS: an overall mark of 6.5 and no section below 5.5TOEFL: Paper-based: Score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test and a total score of 575. Internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test and a total score of 90Cambridge: CAE, CPESelectionThe selection is based on academic merit. The application must be accompanied by two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose and a curriculum vitae. The final selection will be made on an overall assessment of each applicant's potential for a successful completion of the program. The selection procedure may include interviews with the applicants. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL paper-based test score : 575 TOEFL iBT® test: 90

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Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course

Uppsala University provides several different scholarships for students. The scholarships cover exclusively the tuition fees for courses within the programme, i e 30 credits per semester.
Read more about scholarships on www.uu.se/scholarships.