2002-2003

Report for 2002-03

1) Business Profits Workshops 2002-03

The Centre arranged a series of seminars in 2002-03 on issues in determining profits of businesses. We are very happy to acknowledge the support of the IFA Congress Trust in arranging these meetings. The Centre also receives invaluable unearmarked support form the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

This topic was been chosen because of the ideas floated in the Inland Revenue's recent Consultation Document on Reform of Corporation Tax (August 2002). The document refers from time to time to the experience of other countries. The purpose of these seminars was to look more closely at the experience of other countries both in this regard and more generally and we were delighted that some of the most eminent academic tax lawyers agreed to come and help us. Their names and dates are listed below. Each talked about his own system and how that system deal with the issues covered or not covered in the consultative documents - and gave us some general insights too.

While we could have made these sessions large, our previous experience in Cambridge told us that the greatest intellectual advantage is gained by limiting numbers so as to create a workshop atmosphere. The sessions lasted approximately from 10:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. with suitable breaks for lunch tea coffee etc.  Numbers were limited to about 40 to allow discussion. Chatham House rules applied to the proceedings and members of the Inland Revenue were among those participating.

The meetings were held at three different locations during the year: Madingley Hall, Queens' College and the Law Faculty. The daily charge, which also covered coffees, teas and lunch, was £45 but with a £35 rate for members of IFA, Chartered Institute of Taxation and academics.

Our administrative arrangements were handled by Valentina Steel of the Board of Continuing Education based at Madingley Hall just outside Cambridge - vems2@cam.ac.uk. Requests for application forms for places at the workshops, were sent to Valerie Reed at vjr23@cam.ac.uk

2) Tax Workshops 2002-03

Programme

  • Tuesday 22nd October - (Madingley Hall) Richard J. Vann, Challis Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, Australia
  • Tuesday 12th November - (Queens' College) Prof Dr Manfred Moessner, Professor of Tax Law University of Osnabruck and founder of the European Association of Tax Law Professors
  • Monday 9th December -(Law Faculty) Prof Dr Peter Essers, Professor of Tax Law and Director of the Tax Institute University of Tilburg.
  • Wednesday 15th January -(Queens' College) Dr Daniel Gutmann, University of Paris I;
  • Friday 21st February - (Queens' College) Mr Hugh Ault, Professor, Boston College Law School , USA and adviser to the OECD;
  • Friday 14th March - (Law Faculty) Prof Peter Melz, Professor of Tax Law, Law Faculty, University of Stockholm.
  • Thursday 1st May - Prof Dr Wolfgang Schoen, professor ofTax aand Accounting Law, Max Planck Institute, Munich.

3) Inaugural Meeting for the Centre for Tax Law: History of Tax Law Conference 4-5 September 2002

The Centre for Tax Law held an Inaugural Conference on the History of Tax Law, on 4 – 5 September 2002.

The programme was as follows:

  • Dr John Avery Jones, CBE, Special Commissioner, Visiting Professor, London School of Economics: "The remittance basis (origins and subsequent history)"
  • Dr Peter Casson, School of Management, University of Southampton: "Changing rationales for tax incentives to encourage employee share ownership"
  • Associate Professor Cynthia Coleman and Ms Margaret McKerchar, University of Sydney: "The chicken or the egg? A historical review of the influence of tax administration on the development of income tax law in Australia"
  • Mr Rodney Fisher, ATAX, University of New South Wales: "The long and winding road: A century of centralisation in Australian Tax"
  • Ms Jane Frecknall Hughes, Leeds University Business School: "John Lackland: A fiscal re-evaluation"
  • Dr Neil Jones, Magdalene College, Cambridge: "Early-modern tax evasion in England: "having" in the Statute of Wills 1540"
  • Dr Assaf Likhovski, Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University: "Formalism and Israeli anti-avoidance doctrines in the 1950's and 1960's"
  • Dr Michael Littlewood, City University of Hong Kong: "Tax reform in Hong Kong in the 1970's: sincere failure or successful charade?"
  • Dr Lynne Oats, Warwick Business School and Dr Pauline Sadler, Curtin University of Technology: "Stamp duty, propaganda and the Napoleonic wars"
  • Mr David Oliver, Editor, British Tax Review: "What's in a Name?"
  • Mr Kevin Outterson, Law School University of West Virginia: "Slave taxes"
  • Dr Chantal Stebbings, University of Exeter: "Income Tax Tribunals: their influence and place in the Victorian legal system"
  • Dr Ian Roxan, London School of Economics: "The origins and history of VAT and its principles"
  • Mr Philip Ridd, Solicitor of Inland Revenue: "Taxation during the first world war: excess profits duty"
  • Professor David Stopforth, University of Stirling: "Government deliberations over taxing capital gains prior to 1962"
  • Professor John Tiley, Queens' College, Cambridge: "Aspects of Schedule A"

As stated above book publishing the papers presented at the conference will be published by Hart Publishing in the course of 2003.

The conference took place in Lucy Cavendish College. We shall be using the same venue in 2004. If you would like to be put on the mailing list or register, please contact the Centre for Tax Law for details.