Research Tax Governance Programme

The economic globalization increasingly affects the national tax systems around the world as well as
the interplay between those systems. As a result, the traditional international tax law concepts, like
transfer pricing, corporate residency, and source of income, gradually loose their effectiveness.
Completely new issues arise, like the role of tax avoidance in anti-money laundering issues. The
increased personal cross-border mobility shows a need to improve control methods and introduce
new approaches in dispute resolution.

The Center offers a challenging environment for research by hosting academic staff and visiting
fellows with a widespread experience in taxation and public governance. In this environment issues
can be approached in different and sometimes conflicting perspectives, concepts can be identified
and analyzed, and comparisons can be made. The Center’s staff and visiting fellows are not only
involved in research activities, but they also participate in the Tax Governance Programme as co-
instructor, moderator, or discussant on their research topic. This unique environment creates an
exceptional opportunity to encounter and discuss with leading academics and practitioners
in the field of taxation and public governance, and attracts also talented PhD-researchers. For more
information about a position as PhD-researcher, please contact us at: taxcenter@law.uu.nl.

It is also the Center’s goal to support and promote research activities carried out by the participants
of the Tax Governance Program. They are required to prepare for each course (except for the
management training course) an academic paper. The topic of this research paper is individually
initiated by each student and approved by the relevant Course coordinator. At the end of the
Programme, each student must prepare a portfolio which consists of 4 papers (out of 7 prepared)
including a comprehensive analysis. This analysis must indicate and illustrate the interconnection
between the topics of the separate papers. The portfolio must be defended in front of an
examination committee. The best academic papers and/or portfolios will be published to serve
a broader audience in obtaining and developing “good practices” based on sound academic concepts
in taxation and public governance.

Finally, the Center organizes on a regular basis conferences at which topics related to its main
research areas are discussed by (inter)national experts. These conferences are open to the general
public and contributions are published on this website in advance. The result of the academic
discussions during the conferences are published either as a brochure, on this website, or both.