General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6096 / JDOC6096 |
| Course name: | International Tax and Tax Planning |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | A working knowledge of corporate law and commercial law is mandatory, and will be assumed. |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course:
- is aimed at candidates interested in careers in corporate and commercial law, international trade and commerce, and / or wealth management.
- analyses and explains major concepts of taxation and tax planning by focusing on the tax implications of cross-border business transactions and employment, and provides a firm grounding in strategies and methodologies utilized by multinational enterprises and high net worth individuals to implement such transactions in a tax efficient manner.
- provides a solid introduction to Hong Kong and international taxation through an introduction both to domestic tax law and public international law in the context of taxation.
- examines and contrasts the ways in which selected jurisdictions address the problems of taxing cross-border activities, with a particular focus upon important concepts such as jurisdiction to tax, controlled foreign companies legislation, foreign tax credit (and exemption) regimes, transfer pricing, withholding taxes, taxation compliance and anti-avoidance rules, and particular attention to the role, application, and the interpretation and application of double taxation agreements (DTAs).
- assesses the effect of specific and general anti-avoidance rules in (a) domestic legislation and (b) DTAs and, generally, the role of the courts in this area, anti-avoidance doctrine and tax ethics in relation to tax planning.
- compares in detail the taxation systems of several jurisdictions (specifically, Singapore, Hong Kong and the PRC (Mainland) and, for comparative purposes, Japan and the United Kingdom) by considering the taxation implications of outbound and inbound investments and appropriate structuring for (a) residents of those jurisdictions and (b) non-residents who carry out business operations (or who perform employment-related services) in those jurisdictions.
- studies contemporary developments in international tax policy such as the issue of jurisdiction to tax, taxation of internet transactions, transfer pricing, tax administration, recent changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention and the implications for tax policy and practice arising from the OECD EPS (base erosion and profit shifting) project.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Stefano Mariani | stefanodmariani@gmail.com | N/A | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Demonstrate understanding of Hong Kong and international tax law, including the application of DTAs, and the interaction between issues of domestic tax law and public international law, with reference both to Hong Kong and certain comparator jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, China, and Singapore.
CLO 2 Apply concepts and principles of domestic and international taxation and tax planning to a wide range of simulated but realistic cross-border scenarios involving foreign investment, cross-border structures and employment, and the affairs of high net worth individuals.
CLO 3 Advise in writing, on the options and the appropriate commercial course of action to be taken by a hypothetical investor or high net worth individual in such cross-border investment and business transactions.
CLO 4 Identify controversies and problems of taxing cross-border activities and recommend policy and/or law reform changes from both domestic and comparative perspectives.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Take home exam | 15 May 2023 | 100% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | Students should refer to Hong Kong Tax Law: Cases & Materials, 6th – 7th Edition |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Link
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/