International Trade and Tax Law
This course examines the relations between international trade and tax law. Specifically, the class has three objectives:
1 — Revisiting the discussion related to the GATT during the 1970’s concerning the definition of direct and indirect taxes, included in the Report on taxation from the Working Group, which have been transposed to the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures in its footnote No. 59, evidencing how the discussion is still a trending topic (e.g., in relation to US tax reform).
2 — Examining the main panels of the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism, focusing on the decisions of the Appelate Body which concerned the topic trade and tax.
3 — Analyzing the issue of fiscal evasion by multinational enterprises and how such practice affects the international trade. The analysis will consider the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project.
The class is open to students who have taken or are taking Law 691 or Law 695. It will be taught together with a group of students from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil via videoconference. Profs. Luis Eduardo Schoueri and Gustavo Vettori of the University of Sao Paulo, Vera Thorstensen of FGV (Sao Paulo), and Gregory Shaffer of UC-Irvine will participate. Grading will be based on class participation and a short paper.