Introductory description

The first principle aim is to provide students with an understanding of the theory of corporate tax law- placing emphasis on its conceptual links with the policies underlying corporate law. The second principle aim is to promote an understanding of how corporate tax lawyers perform a valuable societal role in promoting the operation of corporate taxation law in practice, with emphasis placed on reviewing the drafting of certain common types of transactional documentation.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The topics to be covered on the module will be the following:

1. Contexts of Corporate Taxation.

2. History and Theories of Corporate Taxation.

3. Company Law and Accounting Practice; Reserves and Distributable Profits.

4. Corporation Tax (1): Liability to Tax and the Role of Accounting Practice.

5. Corporation Tax (2): Taxable Receipts and Deductible Expenses.

6. Groups of Companies: Company Law and Tax.

7. Dividends in Kind and maintenance of Capital.

8. Company Acquisitions and Disposals.

9. Demergers.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand how global economic factors, political and economic theory and national, European and global legal orders contribute to the shaping of UK corporate tax law. Gain thereby an in-depth knowledge of specific areas of UK corporate tax law.
• Appreciate how politics and political judgement, working in conjunction with economic theory, shape both the corporate tax code as a whole and its constituent parts.
• Understand the pressures on, and skills required of, a practitioner working within the UK corporate tax system.
• Reflect on the interaction between contractual documentation and statutory provisions in the application of corporate tax law to hypothetical factual situations.
• Identify and use, not only primary and secondary legal source materials, but also source materials from adjacent relevant disciplines.
• Assess current corporate tax debates in the light of national, European and global legal and ideological factors.
• Use internet and library sources with discrimination, discretion and circumspection, allowing for the effect of the passage of time on the law and on the relevance and currency of policy issues.
• Identify and use a range of legal scholarly skills, especially detailed statutory and case-law analysis and critical theoretical discussion.
• Evaluate the significance of neoliberal values in shaping corporate tax policy and the senses in which those values are embodied in the corporate tax code as a whole.
• Work independently on directed reading and seminar preparation so as to gain some of the knowledge, skills and analytical ability of a specialist in corporate tax law.

Indicative reading list

French, D, Mayson SW, Ryan, CL, Mayson, French and Ryan on Company Law 2014-2015 Edition, 31st edn (Oxford, OUP, 2014).
Holgate, P, Accounting Principles for Lawyers (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006). Horspool, M, European Union Law, 8th edn (Oxford, OUP, 2014).
Lee, N (ed), Revenue Law — Principles and Practice, 33rd edn (Haywards Heath, Bloomsbury Professional, 2015).
Miller, A, and Oats, L, Principles of International Taxation, 4th edn (Haywards Heath, Bloomsbury Professional, 2014).
Morse, G, and Williams, D, Davies: Principles of Tax Law, 7th edn (London, Sweet and Maxwell,
Oats, L, and Tuck, P, Accounting Principles for Tax Purposes, 4th edn (Haywards Heath, Bloomsbury Professional, 2010).
Picciotto, S, Regulating Global Corporate Capitalism (Cambridge, CUP, 2011).
Snape, J, The Political Economy of Corporation Tax: Theory, Values and Law Reform (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2011).
Tiley, J, and Loutzenhiser, G, Revenue Law: Introduction to UK Tax Law; Income Tax; Capital Gains Tax; Inheritance Tax, 7th edn (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2012).
Tiley, J, and Loutzenhiser, G, Advanced Topics in Revenue Law: Corporation Tax; International and European Tax; Savings; Charities (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2013).
Wainman, D, Company Structures, 2nd edn (London, Sweet and Maxwell, 1999).

Subject specific skills

No subject specific skills defined for this module.

Transferable skills

No transferable skills defined for this module.