Instructional goals
The course aims primarily to provide students with an overview of the non-judicial activities required of a tax lawyer. With a practical and theoretical approach, the course aims to provide students with the minimum tools to approach the most common professional activity, including assisting during tax audits, drafting legal opinions, drafting tax ruling requests, analyzing tax assessment notices and their illegitimacy profiles, drafting settlement requests, and resolving international tax disputes.
Prerequisites
A thorough prior knowledge of institutional issues in tax law is required, as well as at least a basic knowledge of the main taxes in our system
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge and comprehension: to achieve knowledge of the main technical tools that a tax lawyer is required to master, considering the specificities of the implementation schemes of tax relationships.
Applied knowledge and comprehension: ability to apply acquired institutional knowledge in technical and practical terms to straightforward cases not characterized by particular complexity, in view of future work activities.
Making autonomous judgements: collecting and interpreting relevant information and data.
Communication skills: communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions.
Ability to learn: having developed the necessary skills to undertake subsequent studies with a high degree of autonomy
Course Contents
The course consists of two distinct parts. The "general" part, lasting a total of 4 lessons, will provide students with an overview of the judicial and non-judicial activities of a business lawyer, both from a commercial law and tax law perspective. At the end of the "general" part, students will be asked to express their preference for either the tax law or corporate law profile for the remaining lessons.
For those who choose the tax law profile, a "specialist" part will follow the general part, focusing solely on tax aspects and exploring topics such as: i. analysis of tax assessment notices; ii. deflationary institutions of tax litigation; iii. tax ruling requests; iv. legal opinions; v. mutual agreement procedures
Reference Books
The course materials will be provided during the course via Luiss Learn platform. It is necessary to integrate the material provided with the notes taken during the lessons.
Teaching Methods
Acquisition: lectures
Practice: guest speakers
Discussion: seminars, group based class discussion, online forums and synchronous and asynchronous discussion
Production: draft of legal opinion and ruling.
Assessment Method
The final exam consists of two parts.
In the first part, 10 multiple-choice questions will be administered.
There are four possible answers for each question.
The correct answer earns full marks (100%), while the other three possible answers earn a score of 50% or 0% depending on the conceptual deviation from the correct answer, as in the following example:
What is a so called “imposta reale”?
A tax paid to the sovereign 0%
A tax in which the ability to pay is subjectively evaluated 50%
A tax in which the ability to pay is objectively evaluated 100%
A sum paid as consideration for a public service 0%
Only students who achieve a minimum score of 50% will be allowed to take the second part of the exam. The second part of the exam consists of an open-ended question. The answer should be about ten lines long and should provide the solution to the question and the relevant reasoning. If the student has actively participated in the lessons and has submitted suitable drafts of a rulings and a legal opinion within the specified time frame, there will be no second part of the exam, and the exam will be graded directly
Thesis assignment criteria
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Week 1
Non-judicial activities of the tax lawyer. The non-judicial activities of the tax lawyer in general terms; the private contract for the assignment of the mandate; assistance during tax audits; defensive deductions ex Article 6 bis, paragraph 3, Law no. 212/2000.
Week 2
The activity of the corporate consultant in general terms.
- Legal assistance in actions of responsibility towards administrative and supervisory bodies.
- Related activities of the lawyer
The lesson will be held by a professional expert in the field of activity indicated, who will propose to students activities of discussion and comparison
Week 3
Judicial activities of the tax lawyer.
The judicial activities of the tax lawyer in general terms. The current critical issues in tax litigation. The strengths and weaknesses of the tax litigation reform.
Week 4
Assisting a company in crisis or insolvency in the winding-up and reorganisation proceedings governed by the Corporate Crisis and Insolvency Code
The lesson will be held by a professional expert in the field of activity indicated, who will propose to students activities of discussion and comparison
Week 5
The analysis of the illegitimacy profiles of the tax assessment notice. During the lesson, anonymous tax assessment notices notified by the tax administration in real cases will be made available to students, highlighting the main profiles of illegitimacy and/or invalidity.
Week 6
The analysis of the illegitimacy profiles of the tax assessment notice. During the lesson, anonymous tax assessment notices notified by the tax administration in real cases will be made available to students, highlighting the main profiles of illegitimacy and/or invalidity
Week 7
The voluntary disclosure procedure and the extrajudicial settlement. During the lesson, the practical aspects of the voluntary disclosure procedure and the extrajudicial settlement will be examined in depth. To this end, practical examples of the adhesion agreement and the conciliation agreement will be provided to students, highlighting their formal and substantive elements, as well as the rights granted to the taxpayer.
Week 8
The voluntary disclosure procedure and the extrajudicial settlement. During the lesson, the practical aspects of the voluntary disclosure procedure and the extrajudicial settlement will be examined in depth. To this end, practical examples of the adhesion agreement and the conciliation agreement will be provided to students, highlighting their formal and substantive elements, as well as the rights granted to the taxpayer.
Week 9
The Rulings under Art. 11 Law no. 212/2000. In the lesson, the rulings under article 11 L. n. 212/2000 will be explored in both theoretical and practical perspectives: i. ordinary; ii. probatory, iii. anti-abuse; iv. new investments; etc.
During the lesson, practical examples of rulings will be provided to help students understand its structure, essential elements, argumentative technique, and effects. At the end of the lesson, a topic will be dictated, based on which students will have to draft a brief interpello to be returned the following week.
Week 10
In the lesson we will continue the analysis of the rulings and we will start the analysis of the legal opinion.
During the lesson, a draft of a legal opinion will be provided to the students to highlight, in practical terms, its structure, argumentative technique, and the errors to avoid in its drafting. At the end of the lesson, a prompt will be given, based on which the students will have to write a brief draft of a legal opinion to be handed in the following week.
Week 11
The techniques for drafting a legal opinion and the Mutual Agreement Procedures. During the lesson, the techniques for drafting a legal opinion will be discussed in depth, and an examination of mutual agreement procedures will be initiated. Under the latter profile, the tools provided by the legal system to anticipate or resolve international disputes will be analyzed, highlighting the reference legislation and the main European and international trends
Week 12
The mutual agreement procedures. During the lecture, the examination of the tools provided by the legal system to anticipate or resolve international disputes will be completed, providing students with a practical case and analyzing, finally, the unilateral tools under Article 31-quater of Presidential Decree no. 600/1973