Mees Vergouwen wins thesis prize
Mees Vergouwen was awarded the ‘Vereniging voor Belastingwetenschap’ thesis prize on 18 June 2024. He obtained his doctorate in 2023 for his thesis on ‘conflicting tax rules’. The tax specialist was awarded the prize for the best thesis written in the past two years.
Required to tax, but unable to do so
Dr Vergouwen, currently a part-time lecturer in tax law, examined how European tax legislation and international tax treaties interact. This is technical subject matter and highly relevant to the political and economic arena.
A decade ago, European policymakers agreed that they would tackle tax avoidance within the European Union. European tax laws were adapted to prevent companies paying no or too little tax. However, those European rules can conflict with yet other rules from international tax treaties (to which more states can be parties besides European Union Member States). As a result, EU Member States (including the Netherlands) think they are not allowed to tax and therefore do not do so as the tax treaties stipulate that they cannot tax. European agreements, however, oblige them to do so. As a result, companies still pay no or too little tax.
According to Vergouwen, European tax laws do not automatically take precedence over tax treaties. In his thesis, he offers solutions to problems that arise from conflicting tax rules.
‘A valuable practical tool’
The jury assessed the thesis as ‘well-written and extensively documented’, and ‘not just interesting for theorists, but (…) also a valuable practical tool’. According to the jury members, Vergouwen did an excellent job at working out the challenging subject matter in a consistent manner. ‘Using a systematic structure, he manages to draw the reader into his argument and hold their attention,’ said the jury, which presented Vergouwen with a prize of €1,000 on 18 June 2024.
Vergouwen received his doctorate from Leiden University in April 2023.
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