Outline

Overview

Globalisation is driving corporate tax systems closer together and often into conflict. For many tax practitioners, it is now not enough to know their own corporate tax system - they must grapple with and question the operation of other corporate tax systems. This unit seeks to develop an ability to understand and analyze any corporate tax system and assess its impact on corporate decision making. With a dedicated textbook (written by the presenter), it does this by comparing a number of influential and archetypal corporate tax systems (both common law and civil law) and assessing their behaviour in the context of a number of practical problems. For tax professionals, the unit develops an ability to ask direct and informed questions about a foreign corporate tax system and discuss that system at a high level with foreign tax professionals. Topics include: corporate entities and hybrids, groups, interface with accounting, service companies, debt vs. equity, dividend relief, cross-border issues, incorporation, takeovers, trading in loss companies, share buy-backs, liquidation, bonus issues, convertible notes, mergers and demergers. This unit contrasts the corporate tax systems of Australia, China, Germany and the US and will consider recent reform proposals.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	LAWS6153
Academic unit	Law
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	It is assumed that students undertaking this unit have successfully completed an undergraduate/postgraduate unit of study in tax law
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Michael Dirkis, michael.dirkis@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Optional Self-selected Research Essay (40%) Optional Self-selected Research Essay (40%)	0%	- Due date: 20 Jun 2022 at 17:00	3200 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Optional Self-selected Research Essay (70%) Optional Self-selected Research Essay (70%)	0%	- Due date: 20 Jun 2022 at 17:00	5600 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Optional Prescribed Essay (60%) Optional Prescribed Essay (60%) – two prescribed topics	0%	- Due date: 30 Jun 2022 at 17:00	4800 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Optional Prescribed Essay (30%) Optional Prescribed Essay (30%) – one prescribed topic	0%	- Due date: 30 Jun 2022 at 17:00	2400 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Research Proposal on Self-selected Essay (non-graded) Research Proposal on Self-selected Essay (non-graded)	0%	Week 13 Due date: 29 May 2022 at 23:59	One page
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Students are required to complete one of the following assessment options:

Assessment Option 1

1. Research Proposal on Self-selected Essay (non-graded) – one page

2. Self-selected Research Essay (40%)

3. Prescribed Essay (60%) – two prescribed topics

Assessment Option 2

1. Research Proposal on Self-selected Essay (non-graded)

2. Self-selected Research Essay (70%)

3. Prescribed Essay (30%) – one prescribed topic

1. Self-selected Research Essay (40% or 70%)

All students must complete the self-selected essay. It will constitute of either 40% or 70%, at participant's choice. If 40% choice is selected, the word limit is a maximum of 3200 and if 70% essay is selected, word limit is a maximum of 5600 words.

A self-selected research essay must be submitted by 20 June 2022 at 5:00pm, Sydney Australia time and state whether it is submitted as a 40% or 70% essay.

The essay will be assessed according to the Self-Selected Essay Report Form incorporated in the reading guide. Subject to the following requirements, the essay topic is at the choice of the participant:

- The topic must be covered by the unit syllabus. A non-limiting list of sample topics will be distributed at the start of the seminars.

- The essay must compare the treatment of the selected topic under the corporate tax systems of at least 3 but not more than 5 countries. At least one of the countries must be Australia, China, Germany or the US.

- A one page proposal outlining the proposed scope and structure of the assignment must be emailed to the unit coordinator for approval by 29 May 2022. This requirement is designed to ensure that participants select a topic that is both workable and within the unit syllabus. Participants may (but are not required to) have their topics approved prior to the seminars in order to begin work on their essay.

2. Prescribed Essay/s (60% or 30%)

All students must complete a prescribed essay or essays, from a list of prescribed topics/problems. The topics will be released via Canvas on 29 May 2022 and the essays must be submitted by 30 June 2022 at 5:00pm, Sydney Australia time. The prescribed essays will constitute 30% of a participant's assessment if the participant has elected to submit a 70% self-selected essay or 60% if the participant has elected to submit a 40% self-selected essay.

There will a minimum of four prescribed topics/problems, at least two of which will be problems of a similar nature to those used in the reading guide. Participants will be required to illustrate their essays with examples from or address a problem with reference to at least two of the corporate tax systems of Australia, China, Germany and the US.

Participants submitting a 30% prescribed essay must write about one prescribed topic/problem (at the participant's choice) and stick to a word limit of 2400 words. Participants submitting a 60% prescribed essay must write about two prescribed topics/problems (at the participant's choice) and stick to a word limit of 4800 words.

Prescribed essays will be assessed according to the Prescribed Essay Report Form incorporated in the reading guide.

Special Consideration: The outcome of a special consideration application for both (self-selected and prescribed) essays is an extension of time.

Assessment requirement to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in Assessment Options 1 or Option 2 in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

These guidelines are designed to provide students with an understanding of the standards applied when grading assessments. Students should note that the type of assessment will affect the relevance of each factor. For example, the amount and type of research required will vary between a research essay, which will require independent research beyond the prescribed materials, and a problem question which may only require appropriate analysis of the prescribed materials. Conversely application of law to the facts is crucial in problem questions, where often less so in research essays.
These standards may be applied in conjunction with specific marking criteria.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Work receiving a high distinction grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics: • Completely answers the question. • Contains striking originality of approach or analysis. • Demonstrates exhaustive or innovative research (where independent research required). • Exceptionally well written, structured and expressed. • Is otherwise exceptional in some way.
Distinction	75 - 84	Work receiving a distinction grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics: • Completely answers the question. • Achieves a critical and evaluative approach to the issues. • Content and structure is well organised in support of the argument. • Demonstrates extensive research and analysis to support a well-documented argument. • Generally well expressed and free from errors. • Has a clear structure and is well articulated.
Credit	65 - 74	Work receiving a credit grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics: • Covers main issues fairly well in answering the question. • Contains no significant errors • Demonstrates an attempted critical approach to the issues. • Demonstrates reasonably sound research and analysis in addressing the key issues. • Has a clear structure and reasonably clear expression.
Pass	50 - 64	Work receiving a pass grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics: • Identifies the key issues but does not follow through with a reasoned argument. • Contains some significant errors. • Displays satisfactory engagement with the key issues. • Offers descriptive summary of material relevant to the question. • Superficial use of material and may display a tendency to paraphrase. • Demonstrates little evidence of in-depth research or analysis. • Adequate expression. • Overall, demonstrates the minimum level of competence in the assessment and satisfies the requirements to proceed to higher-level studies in the degree or subject area.
Fail	0 - 49	Work may fail for any or all of the following reasons: • Does not answer the question. • Contains significant or numerous errors. • Few or no identifiable arguments. • Content that is inappropriate or irrelevant. • Lack of research or analysis. • Difficult or impossible to understand through poor grammar, expression or structure. • Overall, does not demonstrate the minimum level of competence in the assessment.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

The late submission of a piece of assessment, which has not been granted an extension, will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment per calendar day or part thereof.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Ongoing	Taxation of Corporate Income on Derivation: Identifying Corporations; Special Tax Base Issues including relationship with accounting and corporate groups; Tax Treatment including tax shelters and personal service companies.	Seminar (6.5 hr)
	Taxation of Corporate Income on Distribution: Identification and Allocation of Distributions including debt versus equity and hidden profit distributions; Tax Treatment including relief from economic double taxation.	Seminar (6.5 hr)
	International Issues on Derivation and Distribution: Taxation of Resident Corporations; Taxation of Non-resident Corporations	Seminar (6.5 hr)
	Dealings in Share Interests: Creating Share Interests including incorporation; Transferring Share Interests including change of corporate control; Terminating Share Interests including share buy-backs and liquidations; Varying Share Interests including options, bonus shares, mergers and demergers.	Seminar (6.5 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: All students are required to attend 70% of classes (or as otherwise specified by the Unit Coordinator) to satisfy the pass requirements for each unit of study. Attendance requirements may be satisfied by online or face-to-face attendance as specified by the Unit Coordinator. Failure to meet this requirement may result in a student being precluded from sitting the final assessment.

For units offered in Intensive mode, participation in all scheduled sessions may be expected by a Unit Coordinator in order to satisfy the requirements of the unit.

Word count penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will include: bibliography; footnote numbers; footnote citation; cover page, body text; headings and sub-headings; quotations.

Referencing: The Sydney Law School expects you to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, although you should confirm this with your lecturer, and a link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476376

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Legislative Materials

Australia

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 ("ITAA 1997")

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 ("ITAA 1936")

The legislation is available on Lexis, Westlaw, the CheckPoint - Thomson Reuters database (available from the library website) and at-http://www.comlaw.gov.au/

China

Law of the People's Republic of China on Enterprise Income Tax ("EITL")

Law of the People's Republic of China on Individual Income Tax ("IITL")

Regulations on the Implementation of Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China ("EITR")

Regulations on Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Individual Income Tax ("IITR")

These laws are available (in Chinese and translated into English) from Westlaw China, the PKULaw database and on the RIA Worldwide Tax and Commercial Law database (available online from the library website through the IBFD database). These databases also contain the Circulars of the Ministry of Finance and State Tax Administration (Cai Shui) ("Circular of MOF & SAT") and Announcements of the State Tax Administration (Gong Gao) ("SAT Announcement") referred to in the Reading Guide. Relevant laws from these sources can be found on the Comparative Corporate Tax webpage.

Germany

Income Tax Law (Einkommensteuergesetz, "EStG")

Corporate Income Tax Law (Körperschaftsteuergesetz, "KStG")

Reorganization Tax Act (Umwandlungssteuergesetz, “UmwStG”)

Translations of the EStG and KStG are available on the RIA Worldwide Tax and Commercial Law database (available online from the library website through the IBFD database). Up-to-date versions of these laws are available (in German) at

https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/index.html

http://www.buzer.de

http://www.steuernetz.de/gesetze

Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”)

The legislation is available on Lexis and Westlaw and at-

http://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title26&edition=prelim

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26

Secondary Materials

Text

Harris, P. (forthcoming), Corporate tax law: structure, policy and practice (Cambridge University Press)

Participants will be provided access to the manuscript of this text from the Comparative Corporate Tax webpage. The earlier edition is Harris, P (2013), Corporate tax law: structure, policy and practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

Also of particular relevance are:

Ault, HJ, Arnold, BJ. Cooper, GS et al (2019), Comparative Income Taxation: A Structural Analysis, 4th Edition (The Netherlands:

Kluwer Law International) ("Ault")

Bittker, B and Eustice, J (2000-), Federal Income Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders (US: Thomson Reuters) (“B&E”) (available as a library electronic resource from the Westlaw Next database, search “WGL-CORP” as a database )

References

Participants are expected to consider the legislation of the selected countries, at least to the extent extracted in the slides used in the course. It is also useful to refer to secondary materials on the tax laws in question, particularly when preparing the research essay.

Australia – Corporate Taxation (Amsterdam: IBFD) ("IBFD") (available as a country tax guide from the IBFD Tax Research Platform database)

China – Corporate Taxation (Amsterdam: IBFD) ("IBFD") (available as a country tax guide from the IBFD Tax Research Platform database)

Germany – Corporate Taxation (Amsterdam: IBFD) ("IBFD") (available as a country tax guide from the IBFD Tax Research Platform database)

United States – Corporate Taxation (Amsterdam: IBFD) ("IBFD") (available as a country tax guide from the IBFD Tax Research

Platform database)

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. understand a number of influential and archetypal corporate tax systems (both common law and civil law)
LO2. understand the policies underlying variations between those systems and the impact of those differences on corporate decision making.
LO3. identify and apply the statutory approaches in those jurisdictions to factual situations involving a variety of commercial and private relationships

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Assessment has been changed to reflect new assessment framework requirements.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

LAWS6153: Comparative Corporate Taxation

Intensive May, 2022 [Block mode] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect