LL4CH      Half Unit
Current Issues in Taxation

This information is for the 2018/19 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Ian Roxan

Availability

This course is available on the LLM (extended part-time), LLM (full-time), MSc in Law and Accounting and University of Pennsylvania Law School LLM Visiting Students. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is required for the following LLM specialism: Taxation - see the course co-ordinator for further information. NB: The monthly Taxation Seminars are available to all with an interest in taxation including LLM and MSc students. Students wishing to attend the Taxation Seminars are very welcome. For more information, see the Law Department or LSE Financial Markets Group web pages.

This course is capped at 30 students. Students must apply through Graduate Course Choice on LSEforYou.

Pre-requisites

Students will be expected to be taking one or more other tax courses (LL4AY, LL4CJ, LL4CO, LL4Z1 or LL4Z3) or to have some background in taxation.

For more information please contact the course convenor Dr Ian Roxan: Telephone:020-7955-7469 Email: i.roxan@lse.ac.uk 

Course content

This course provides an opportunity to look in depth at some of the most important current issues in taxation and tax policy, both from a legal perspective and with a wider interdisciplinary approach. The issues to be looked will be chosen according to what is topical at the time. Often a single theme is chosen for the term. Recent themes have included, for example, the G20/OECD BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Project.

Seminars discussing these issues will be integrated with the monthly LSE Taxation Seminars during the Lent Term, which will provide students with direct exposure to leading speakers from a wide range of backgrounds on current debates in taxation.

The LSE Taxation Seminars series, established since the 1960s, brings together a wide variety of participants, including lawyers, economists, accountants and government officials. The Seminars provide an important forum for topical discussion on taxation. This course will give students the opportunity to participate actively in the Taxation Seminars and to link insights from them to the other issues studied in the course.

Teaching

20 hours of seminars in the LT. 2 hours of seminars in the ST.

10 weekly two-hour seminars in the Lent Term in a variable format, including seminar-discussions and monthly Taxation Seminars attended by a range of tax professionals. 2 hours of seminars in the ST.

There will be a reading week in Week 6 of the LT.

Formative coursework

Students are expected to submit one 2,000-word formative essay or an equivalent assignment.

Indicative reading

There is no fixed list, selections being made from year to year on the basis of topicality. Detailed reading lists will be provided during the course via Moodle.

Recommended preliminary reading

James & Nobes, Economics of Taxation, Avi-Yonah, et al., Global Perspectives on Income Taxation Law, or another introductory tax policy book.

Assessment

Essay (100%, 8000 words).

Key facts

Department: Law

Total students 2017/18: 13

Average class size 2017/18: 12

Controlled access 2017/18: Yes

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Application of information skills
  • Communication
  • Specialist skills