Center for Taxation and Public Governance

· VAT/GST: tax rates, threshold, difficult-to-tax goods and service;

· Excise taxation: traditional and new forms;

· Customs: basic elements and procedures

· Regional integration

Topics:

Price: € 4,000

Taxes on consumption and trade are increasingly important as a source of national revenue for most countries worldwide. In addition, they often have an important impact on international trade in goods and services. The course focuses on today’s three main groups of taxes on consumption and trade: turnover taxes of the VAT/GST type, excise and other consumption and environmental taxes, and customs duties.

 

The course’s First focus is on the most important form of turnover taxes, i.e. VAT/GST. The course discusses the history and general characteristics of VAT/GST. It subsequently deals with specific difficulties encountered while designing or operating a VAT/GST system, such as setting tax rates and threshold, the treatment of difficult-to-tax goods and services (including e-commerce transactions and international services in general), the role and definition of tax exemptions and the operation of VA/GST in federal states.

 

The course then discusses excise taxation, both in its traditional forms (alcohol and alcoholic  beverages, tobacco, mineral oils) and its newer forms (energy and other environmental levies, road or congestion taxes, gambling taxes). The course deals with the objectives pursued by excise taxes in general, and focuses on particular issues encountered when designing excise tax systems (how to design tax rates in function of the objectives pursued, the integration of excise taxes with VAT/GST and harmonization issues in regional markets, viz. EC).

 

Finally, the course deals with customs law and its role in international trade. It outlines the international law framework in which customs law operates, discusses the basic elements (tariff , classification and value) of customs duties, and the principal customs procedures (transit, warehousing, processing). New developments such as regional integration (free trade areas, customs unions), new customs management concepts and techniques (trade facilitation, risk management, approved trader programs) and the changing role of customs (moving from a tax to a security agency) are also discussed.

Mr. Christophe Waerzeggers

Our address:

T: +31 (0)20 638 0136

F: +31 (0)20 421-8730

M: +31 (0)6 3018 3025

E: geerten@michielse.com

Taxation on Consumption and Trade