Advanced Master Programme
Educational Concept and Structure of the Programme
| The educational concept is based on our experience that the best way for students with a basic theoretical background to learn is through debating practical problems with peers and professors, and trying to elaborate solutions in short papers. Therefore, the learning process takes place in discussion and writing in small groups of not more than ten students under the direction of a course leader.
The courses focus on specific subjects rather than attempting to cover all aspects of a particular field of tax law such as Income Tax or Value Added Tax. The curriculum consists of six Foundation Courses, followed by three blocks of Special Subject Courses. Each Special Subject Course lasts two weeks.
Special subjects are prepared in the intensive Foundation Courses. Within each of the Special Subject Courses, each student is expected to write an internal opinion letter on a specific problem for a client, a brief in court, or a position paper on an issue within the tax administration.
Writing and then discussing these documents with other students and professors, using argument and counter argument, is at the core of the learning process.
At the end of each two-week block, students present their draft papers, followed by a debate involving the course leader, professors and fellow students. They finalise their draft papers at home and submit them for grading. Each student tackles a subject with a European and international dimension, taking as a starting point his own national tax system. Tax planning techniques and counter actions (general and specific anti-avoidance regulations) are an integral part of the Special Subject Courses.
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The students are coached by:
1 visiting professors from five important tax jurisdictions, who explain the specific rules of their national tax system which are relevant to solving the specific issues that arise in each of the Special Subject Courses;
2 course leaders (professors with outstanding knowledge and experience in the field concerned), who help students to identify and list the issues and guide them in discussing and writing their papers;
3 visiting professors, who lecture in the Foundation Courses.
The courses are scheduled two semesters comprising one academic year. Students are expected to do preparatory work in between. Working students are advised to spread their study over a two year period. Students can also enrol for one single Foundation or Special Subject Course as continuing education if their professional duties prevent them from undertaking the full course load.
Subsequentely, a moot court excersise is included, which consists of the preparation of court briefs and an oral defence before a jury of a case on international and/or European Tax problems.
Finally, each Master student is expected to write and defend a paper of between 30 to 35 pages on one of the special subjects.
Curriculum
The programme consists of two parts each covering one semester. The first semester contains Foundation Courses in European, international and comparative taxation, plus a general introduction to the five major tax systems in Europe and the U.S. with traditional exams. The second part consists of special subject courses graded on the basis of a paper, a Moot court exercise and an LL M paper, without traditional exams. The Special Subject Courses deal with a specific subject on a comparative basis in five different national tax jurisdictions. There is one separate teacher for every single jurisdiction.
