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Unit of study_

LAWS6965: Tax Avoidance and Anti-Avoidance

2024 unit information

This is an advanced unit suitable for experienced tax practitioners who wish to extend their Australian tax law knowledge. The unit examines the pervasive phenomenon of tax avoidance and the design and effectiveness of common judicial and legislative responses to it. The unit starts by deconstructing typical examples of avoidance to elicit the common design features of avoidance practices. We will also examine the interrelationship between the process of statutory interpretation and the opportunities for avoidance. A particular focus of the unit will be on the scope and operation of Australia’s general anti-avoidance rule, Part IVA, but the unit will also consider the various judicial anti-avoidance doctrines and some of the specific anti-avoidance rules found in Australia’s tax legislation. The unit will also consider the kinds of approaches to tax avoidance and the anti-avoidance regimes employed in other countries. Finally, the unit will examine some of the procedural regimes used to curb the offering of tax avoidance products to taxpayers. Further information about this unit is available in the Sydney Law School timetable https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-lecture-timetable, unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units and academic staff profile https://www.sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people/academic-staff.html

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Law

Code LAWS6965
Academic unit Law
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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None
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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None
Assumed knowledge:
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It is assumed that students undertaking this unit have an understanding of Australian income taxation law commensurate with that which would be obtained from completing undergraduate study in Australian taxation law or five years working with Australian tax law in a law or accounting practice in an industry role or in the Australian Taxation Office. For students who do not have such knowledge or work experience they first should undertake LAWS6825 Introduction to Australian Business Tax before enrolling in this unit.

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

  • LO1. understand the policy underlying the legal rules on taxation covered in this unit of study
  • LO2. have a knowledge of the current legal rules on taxation covered in this unit of study
  • LO3. have the ability to interpret other legal rules on taxation applicable to the area covered by the unit of study, whether current or future
  • LO4. apply the legal rules on taxation covered by this unit of study to practical problems

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Intensive November 2024
Block mode Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Intensive May 2021
Block mode Remote
Intensive May 2022
Block mode Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Intensive September 2023
Block mode Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.