Legon School of Law, Vienna University work to deepen tax treaties
The University Of Ghana School of Law (UGSoL), in partnership with the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law (Vienna University of Economics and Business), is working to deepen the appreciation and application of tax treaties among Ghanaian legal and non-legal professionals alike.
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A 26-member delegation from UGSoL is currently on a two-week study visit to Vienna as part of the partnership during which they will participate in a specialised training programme.
The visit is designed to enhance the skills, broaden the knowledge, and expose participants to cutting-edge research and developments in international tax law.
Members of the delegation are predominantly post-graduate tax law students who are part of the Master’s Programmes in Law introduced recently by UGSoL.
Their focus is on the tax treaty, which is a bilateral agreement between the two countries to address issues related to double taxation of both passive and active income earned by their respective citizens.
When individuals or businesses gain work or establish businesses in other countries, the issue of which country earns tax income comes to the fore.
Tax treaties resolve this by providing guidelines for the two countries on how income should be taxed.
They ensure fair and consistent taxation across borders, which benefits both foreign nationals and residents and promotes economic cooperation between the two countries.
In the current push for increased intra-Africa trade and integration, tax treaties will become increasingly crucial.
Significance
Speaking about the visit, the Dean of UGSoL, Professor Raymond Atuguba, said the School was expanding to become the preferred destination for, in particular, Master’s programmes in legal education.
The trip, he explained, was a step in that direction to offer critical exposure to the post-graduate students of the Tax Law, Policy and Practice programme.
He said since the introduction of the Master’s programmes, the student population had increased from about 600 to over 2,000, faculty strength had increased from 20 to 150 lecturers from home and abroad, and academic programmes had expanded from six to 41.
“The School now has over 100 staff working in 13 administrative units and has graduated over 1,000 Master’s students.
“Besides, over 50 international partnerships with top institutions for teaching and research have been built on the crest of which more than 1,000 students and faculty members will attend summer seminars at international partner universities over the next two years,” he added.
Prof. Atuguba said to support the expansion, UGSoL was now located at five sites – No. 4 Annie Jiagge Road, Legon Campus Annex 1; No. 22 East Legon, Legon Campus Annex 2; Accra City Campus; the Original Site, Annex 3; and the new main site, the $25 million multi-purpose, state-of-the-art UGSoL Building Complex currently under construction.
The delegation is led by a lecturer and Coordinator of the Tax Law, Policy and Practice programme, William Demitia.
He was optimistic that the study visit would offer the participants invaluable insights into various developments in the international tax arena, facilitate cross-fertilisation of ideas and improve their knowledge and understanding of international tax law.
