Intensive Course on Tax Law, Gadjah Mada University and Leiden University
In the last week of January, Prof. Rex Arendsen and PhD candidate Maarten Manse of the Department of Tax Law at Leiden Law School, taught an ‘Intensive Course on Tax Law' at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta. This week of lectures illustrates the fruitful cooperation between both universities.
The course focused on the evolution of fiscal systems and aimed to locate these in overarching socio-economic processes to understand both historical and contemporary state-building processes, exemplifying both Europe and Indonesia. Topics for discussion included the historical and societal context of tax law in relation to state formation; the organisation and implementation of tax administration, the origins and functioning of international tax systems and international developments in tax law and technology.
Guest speakers from the Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) and the International Fiscal Association elaborated on the role of tax practitioners and tax legislation.
The course had an interactive hybrid format, including both lectures and group assignments, and a high level of participation was expected from the participants. The hybrid mix of practitioners, academics and government officials involved in the programme provoked a high level of engagement and debate between the lecturers and students who can all look back on a fruitful and enjoyable week of studying taxation in the past and future.