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:

• Fundamentals of business taxation

o US Tax Law

o German Tax Law

o Taxation of Partnerships and Corporations

• Integrating income taxes into finance

o Partnerships: The after-tax ‘Standard Model’

o Corporations: Corporate tax systems

o Investment and payout decisions of corporations

o Influence of loss offset rules

• Neutral income tax systems

o Cash-Flow Tax

o Allowance for Corporate Equity Tax

o Taxation of Economic Profits

• Corporate Tax Avoidance and International Profit Shifting of Multinationals

o Debt vs. equity financing

o Transfer pricing

o Use of royalties and licenses

The course is taught by Prof. Dr. Martin Jacob.

Additional information for WHU Students:

This course is part of the module Business Taxation that comprises two parts. First, the lecture “Business Taxation” by Prof. Dr. Martin Jacob 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 grading of the course is based on the final exam (90 min).

As this course is part of the module "Business Taxation", the overall grade for the module 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 4th ed. 2009 Schanz, Deborah / Schanz, Sebastian: Business Taxation and Financial Decisions, 2011. (downloadable at Springerlink)

Lectures, excercises, presentations, cases

Exam. 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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