Postgraduate Course: Principles of International Taxation (LAWS11531)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course would provide an introductory coverage of international tax law, including the international tax landscape (and the conflicts it can create bilaterally and multilaterally), as well as international efforts to tackle tax avoidance. This course covers most of the topics prescribed for the Principles of International Taxation paper in the Advanced Diploma of International Taxation (paper 1 of the ADIT qualification). |
| Course description |
This course is designed for students who wish to gain an understanding of the key concepts of international tax law and of how multinational enterprises are structured, operate and are taxed on their profits. The course covers the basic principles of jurisdiction to tax, the factors used by countries in imposing taxes and the issues governing major types of income. It looks at how conflicts lead to international double taxation, the problems this creates for international trade and solutions provided for in double taxation treaties. The taxation of multinational enterprises has become a political issue, with the G20 and the OECD undertaking substantial work to address Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). This course will also cover the international attempt to tackle tax avoidance such as through transfer pricing and the global minimum tax under pillars one and two of BEPS.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessed Group Presentation (30%) to be undertaken in week 10. Groups will be allocated in weeks 1-2 and will contain 4 students (although this may increase to 5 with higher student numbers). Students can choose the subject of their presentation, although prompts and example subjects will be provided. Groups will need to submit their presentation theme and plan for formative feedback (feed forward feedback) and approval with the course organizer by week 5. «br /»
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3000 Word Essay (70%) - choice of questions to be released by the course organizer following approval by the external examiner. |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback within the prescribed time limits set by the university.
Formative: Students will have to submit their group presentation topic and plan (no more than 1 A4 page) by the end of week 5. They will receive group formative feedback on this within 2 weeks to provide time to implement any feedback.
Students will receive a formative that seeks to evaluate their critical analysis skills. This will comprise a short task (1,000 words maximum) that will ask the students to analyse a specific element/ conflict of international taxation covered early in the course. This would be submitted in week 7 to provide a sufficient gap between the formative assessments. This will seek to support the written summative assessment.
Summative: Students will receive group feedback on their group presentation using the Law School¿s presentation feedback sheet.
Students will receive individual feedback on their coursework. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify the challenges and conflicts that arise from the operation of domestic tax systems in a global environment.
- Identify the international and domestic tax regimes that have been introduced to overcome the conflicts created by international taxation.
- Critically analyse the efficacy of domestic and international tax regimes.
- Work effectively as part of a group.
- Apply effective oral, written and visual communication skills to present a coherent and sustained argument
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Reading List
Lynne Oats, Principles of International Taxation (Bloomsbury Professional Online 2023)
Philip Baker KC, Double Taxation Conventions (Sweet and Maxwell 2024). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Skilled communicators
2. Critical and reflective thinkers
3. Passion to engage locally and globally
4. Creative problem solvers and researchers |
| Keywords | Tax Law,International Law |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amy Lawton
Tel:
Email: alawton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hannah Ackroyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: hackroyd@ed.ac.uk |
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