Business Taxation

The aim of the course"Business Taxation"is to give an introduction to the topic of taxation of corporations, shareholders, and businesses and to deepen the understanding of how taxes affect business decisions. The course, for example, deals with the tax influence on investment decisions, financing decisions, the choice of organizational form, and mergers and acquisitions. The lecture focuses on concepts that can be applied to different tax systems around the world. After successfully participating in the course"Business Taxation", participants understand the role of taxes in key business decisions and are able to apply the concepts to practical problems. The course content comprises, for example:

1. Fundamentals of income and corporate taxation

• US tax law
• German tax law
• Taxation of partnerships and corporations

2. Taxation and business decisions

• Partnerships: The after-tax ‘Standard Model’
• Corporations: Corporate tax systems
• Investment and payout decisions of corporations
• Influence of loss offset rules

3. Neutral income tax systems

• Cash-flow tax
• Allowance for corporate equity tax
• Taxation of economic profits

4. Corporate tax avoidance

• Double tax relief mechanism
• Measuring corporate tax avoidance
• Cross-border profit shifting

The grading of the lecture"Business Taxation"is based on the final exam (90 min).

Additional information for WHU Students:

This course is part of the module"Business Taxation"that comprises two parts. First, the lecture"Business Taxation"by Assistant Professor Dr. Lisa Hillmann gives an introduction to tax planning. To deepen the understanding of these concepts, the second part of the module is based on case studies. The course"Cases in Business Taxation”is taught by Sven Westphälinger, Partner at KPMG.

The overall grade for the module"Business Taxation" is based on the exam for the lecture "Business Taxation" (50%) and the course "Cases in Business Taxation" (50%).

Scholes, Myron S. / Wolfson, Mark A. et al.: Taxes and Business Strategy. A Planning Approach, 5th ed., 2015 (online available). Schanz, Deborah / Schanz, Sebastian: Business Taxation and Financial Decisions, 2011 (online available).

Lectures, exercises, presentations, cases

Klausur. The grading is based on the lecture "Business Taxation" (50%) and the course "Cases in Business Taxation" (50%).

There are no prerequisites for this course

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