This lecture aims to familiarise students with the basic conceptual design of the Austrian tax system and its practical importance for business. It focuses on income taxation of individuals and companies as well as on value added tax. It addresses the most important taxes on specific contractual transactions, such as land transfer tax and contract duties. In addition to substantive tax law, it also discusses procedural tax law, including the appeal system and the fiscal penal code. Special attention is laid on the international tax implications. The lecture is divided into 10 sessions this semester, following the order of the chapters in Ubelhoer/Pfeiffer/Huisman/Schaffer, Introduction to Austrian Tax Law, 3rd Edition.

No attendance required, but attendance is highly recommended. Separate sign-up required for the exam. Sign-up for the English language exam not possible without sign-up for the course.

The class is divided into 5 sessions of 5 hours, or 10 sessions of 2.5 hours. Generally, each 5-hour session will cover 2 modules in the book; each 2.5 hour session will cover 1. However, some longer modules require more time than others. 

Each module will begin with a review of the basic theory covered in that chapter. This will be followed by one practical case study solved by the instructor and then case studies distributed to student teams to be solved and discussed in class.  

The theory review at the beginning is NOT comprehensive but covers only the most important aspects of the chapter. Both the in-class case studies AND the final exam cover ALL the material from the entire course book, not just that which is covered in class. Therefore, it is imperative that all students read and prepare every chapter BEFORE class and bring their questions to the sessions.

The number of students that can attend each course is limited due to seating restrictions and the nature of the course. Registration via LPIS will follow the usual first-come, first-served principle.

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.

Lecturers can be contacted via email. Not all lecturers keep office hours.

AI:

• 1. When writing a seminar paper, the introduction must contain a declaration of the use of AI. If no form of AI was used, a note to this effect is sufficient. If AI was used, the introduction must explain accordingly where and in what form.
  2. For seminar papers, increased attention will be paid to:
• Whether the processed legal status is up-to-date
• Correct/existent citations
• Correct use of abbreviations
• Comprehension
• Errors in the outline