Postgraduate taught 

International Accounting & Financial Management MAcc

Issues in International Corporate Taxation ACCFIN5208

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: Adam Smith Business School
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course encourages students to investigate the tensions within the field of international taxation. This course, which has an empirical emphasis, develops students' understanding of some key issues surrounding international taxation like tax avoidance and profit shifting.

Timetable

10 x 2 hour lectures and 4x 1 hour tutorial

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

ILO

Assessment

Weighting

Word Length/Duration

1-6

Degree examination

75%

2 hours

1-3

Group essay (2 students per group)

25%

2,500 words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Assessment In: April/May

Course Aims

The aim of this course is to enable students to develop their understanding of the field of international taxation and a selection of the main research traditions, approaches, methods and techniques of international tax research, with an emphasis on empirical tax avoidance schemes. Emphasis will also be given on the influence that tax planning activities have on a modern company's decisions (investments, CSR etc).

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Identify and critically evaluate current themes and issues in the literature of International Corporate Taxation;

2. Explain the fundamental concepts of taxation in domestic and international contexts (including the concept of double taxation and the role of double tax treaties) and analysis the implications of these for national tax policy and corporate tax planning;

3. Critically evaluate the appropriateness of research designs, methods of data collection and data analysis for particular research questions and contexts in international Tax Avoidance practises;

4. Critically evaluate approaches of research from an empirical, a theoretical and a methodological point of view;

5. Construct, analyse and critically appraise arguments on the relationships between tax avoidance, competition among both firms and nations, and the fairness of national and international taxation policies;

6. Construct arguments that evaluate the interconnection between corporate taxation and other strategical corporate decisions like investments, M&As, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR);

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.