Tax Group | Annual Report
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Tax Group
Melbourne Law School
Annual Report
2017
Tax Group | Annual Report
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Contents
About the Tax Group ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Centre Directors and Faculty ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Adjunct Faculty ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
Advisory Board Members ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Visitors …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
The Tax Program ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) in Taxation ………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
JD Elective Subjects ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
Breadth Subjects ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Events …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
Publications ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 13
Media …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
Tax Discussion Group ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
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About the Tax Group
The Tax Group aims for excellence in tax education and research. We teach a wide range of subjects
in postgraduate and undergraduate tax programs, carry out tax research with a technical, public
policy and reform focus and contribute to public debate on taxation issues. Our education program
is designed and taught by, and in conjunction with, experienced taxation practitioners including
members of leading law and accounting firms and leading members of the Bar.
Research interests in the tax faculty are diverse and include Australian individual and corporate
income tax, comparative and international taxation and critical perspectives on taxation. Much of
the research work carried out by the Tax Group is interdisciplinary and comparative in nature.
The Tax Group at Melbourne Law School is pleased to host the Annual Tax Lecture and Australian
branch meetings of the International Fiscal Association. The Tax Group has strong international tax
connections including with New York University; the University of Virginia in the USA; Oxford
University Centre for Business Taxation at the Said Business School; and the Cambridge University
Law School Centre for Tax Law. We welcome international students in the postgraduate tax
program.
Centre Directors and Faculty
Director
Associate Professor Sunita Jogarajan
Dr Sunita Jogarajan is Co
-Director of the Tax Group at
Melbourne Law
School, where she teaches and researches in taxation law. Sunita's primary
research interest is in the influence of the League of Nations on
international taxation, particularly the development of model tax treaties.
Sunita also researches in
Australian corporate tax and tax administration.
She has previously written on the role of the IMF on tax reform and the
integration of tax regimes in ASEAN member countries.
Sunita previously worked at a 'Big 4' tax practice in corporate tax and tax
poli
cy. She has been involved in a multi-
billion dollar international due
diligence, engagements for regional governments and policy advice.
Sunita is a previous recipient of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council
citation for 'outstanding contribution t
o student learning'.
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Director
Associate Professor Mike Kobetsky
Dr Michael Kobetsky is an Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School.
He is an Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University College of
Law.
Dr Kobetsky researches in transfer pricing, tax treaties, international anti
-
avoidance measures and domestic taxation, and he is the principal author
of one of Australia’s leading taxation texts, which is now in its ninth edition
(2016). His book, titled 'International Taxation of Permanent
Establishments: Principles and Policy' was published by Cambridge
University Press in 2011. Dr Kobetsky has published extensively on
international taxation in journals in Australia, Canada and Europe.
Dr Kobetsky is a m
ember of the United Nations Sub-
Committee on
Transfer Pricing and the United Nations Sub
-
Committee on Extractive
Industries Taxation Issues for Developing Countries. He has worked as a
consultant for the OECD, USAID in Nepal, the World Bank in Indonesia, a
nd
GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit or German
Society for International Cooperation which is the German government’s
foreign
-aid organization) in Laos and Malawi.
Dr Kobetsky has 10 years’ experience as a senior executive office
r with the
Australian Taxation Office in their policy and legislation group designing
and implementing tax law and policies.
Member
Associate Professor Mark Burton
Dr Mark Burton has worked in the field of taxation law for more than 20
years: in private practice and also as an academic. Mark has taught
extensively in the taxation law field at undergraduate, graduate and
postgraduate levels. Mark has undertaken consultancies with the
Australian Taxation Office and also with the Australian National Audit
Office.
Mark’s research and scholarship on tax matters have been published both
within Australia and internationally. This research spans technical tax
issues, the the
ory and practice of tax administration, the ethical aspect of
taxation law, tax policy and the tax legislative process. Mark is co
-author of
Understanding Taxation Law
, LexisNexis, 2017 and
Tax Expenditure
Management
– A Critical Assessment, Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Mark completed his PhD (Law) at the Australian National University, and
his doctoral dissertation examined the theory, history and practice of
interpreting tax legislation.
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Member
Professor Miranda Stewart, Faculty
Miranda Stewart is currently part
-
time at the Faculty, while being
Director of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of
Public Policy, Australian National University. Miranda teaches and
researches across a broad range of tax law and poli
cy topics including
business taxation, tax and development, not
-for-profits, and tax reform
in the context of globalisation. She is an author or editor of several
books, including
Not for Profit Law (Cambridge Uni Press, 2014, with
Harding and O’Connell),
Sham Transactions
(Oxford University Press,
2013 with Simpson),
Tax, Law and Development (Edward Elgar, 2013,
with Brauner),
Death and Taxes(Thomson Reuters, 6th ed., 2014 with
Flynn),
Income Taxation Commentary and Materials (Thomson Reuters,
8
th
ed., 2017 with Cooper, Dirkis and Vann) and
Housing and Tax
Policy
(Australian Tax Research Foundation, 2010). Miranda has been a
visiting fellow at NYU School of Law, NY
USA and at Christ Church, Oxford
on the Melbourne
-Oxford Faculty Exchange and is an International
Research Fellow with the Centre for Business Taxation at Oxford
University. Miranda was a Consultant to the Henry Tax Review into
Australia's Future Tax System. Before joining the Faculty in 2000,
Miranda taught at NYU in the leading International
Tax program in the
US and previously worked in the Australian Tax Office on tax policy and
legislation and as a solicitor in a large law firm. She has taught in the
graduate tax programs at Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of
Toronto, Canada; an
d the University of Florida Levin College of Law,
United States.
Centre Administrator
Ms Cindy Halliwell
Cindy Halliwell joined the University of Melbourne in 2010, as
Communications co-ordinator for the Centre for Aquatic Pollution
Identification and Management (CAPIM) in the Faculty of Science. In
2015 she joined the Melbourne Law School as Research Centre
Administrator for several research centres, including the Tax Group.
Cindy brings administrative and project management experience from
the airline and finance industries. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public
Relations/ Tourism, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and
currently undertaking a Bachelor of Laws.
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Adjunct Faculty
Mr Daniel Butler, DBA Lawyers
Professor Lee Burns, University of Sydney
Mr Michael Charles, Deloitte
The Hon. Justice Jennifer Davies, Federal Court of Australia
Mr Andrew de Wijn, Victorian Bar
Mr Aldrin De Zilva, Greenwoods and Herbert Smith Freehills
Mr Michael Evans, Taxsifu
Mr Bryce Figot, DBA Lawyers
Mr Michael Flynn, Victorian Bar
Mr Martin Fry, Allens
Mr Peter Gillies, Pitcher Partners
Mr Stewart Grieve, Johnson Winter & Slattery Lawyers
Professor Peter Harris, University of Cambridge
Ms Michelle Herring, JGL Investments Pty Ltd
Mr Paul Hockridge, Mutual Trust
Mr Ron Jorgensen, Rigby Cooke Lawyers
Mr Nasos Kaskani, Victorian Bar
Mr Terry Murphy QC, Victorian Bar
Mr Tim Neilson, Greenwoods and Herbert Smith Freehills
Mr Frank O’Loughlin, Victorian Bar
Mr Adrian O’Shannessy, Greenwoods and Herbert Smith Freehills
The Hon. Justice Tony Pagone, Federal Court of Australia
Mr Gareth Redenbach, Victorian Bar
Professor David Rosenbloom, New York University
Ms Shannon Smit, Transfer Pricing Solutions
Mr Greg Smith, Australian Grants Commission
Mr Philip Solomon QC, Victorian Bar
Mr Eugene Wheelahan, Victorian Bar
Mr David Wood, King & Wood Mallesons
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Advisory Board Members
Member Name
Organisation
Andrew Clements
King & Wood Mallesons
Angela Wood
KPMG
Daniel Butler
DBA Lawyers
Fiona Dillon
Australian Delegate to the OECD
Frank O'Loughlin
Victorian Bar
Helen Symon QC
Victorian Bar
James Fabijancic
Deloitte
Jennifer Batrouney QC
Victorian Bar
Justice Jennifer Davies
Federal Court of Australia
Mark Burton
Melbourne Law School
Michael Jenkins
Australian Tax Office
Mike Kobetsky
Melbourne Law School
Niv Tadmore
Clayton Utz
Peter Gillies
Pitcher Partners
Sunita Jogarajan
Melbourne Law School
Terry Murphy QC (Chair)
Victorian Bar
Tim Neilson
Greenwoods + Herbert Smith Freehills
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Visitors
Dr Jonathan Barrett
Senior Lecturer
Victoria
University of Wellington
Jonathan Barrett’s research interests include taxation theory and role
of human dignity in everyday situations. His PhD
applied fundamental
human rights to a taxation system. Jonathan is also interested in the
theory and practice of teaching law to non
-vocational students.
Professor Michael Littlewood
Professor
University of Auckland
M
ichael is a New Zealander but has spent many years in Hong Kong. He
has degrees in law and politics from the University of Auckland and a
doctorate in tax law from the University of Hong Kong. He is admitted
as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand, as a solicitor in England and
Wales a
nd as a solicitor in Hong Kong. He is an authority on New
Zealand tax law, Hong Kong tax law, tax policy and tax history. Much of
his work has been in the fields of tax planning, tax avoidance and
international tax. His work has been published and cited in
leading
journals in New Zealand, the US, the UK, Australia and Hong Kong. He
is a fulltime academic but has also from time to time provided advice
to business interests and to the governments of several countries.
Professor Lisa Marriott
Professor
– School of Accounting and Commercial Law
Victoria
University of Wellington
Lisa Marriott
is Professor of Taxation at Victoria University’s School of
Accounting and Commercial Law. Her research interests include social
justice and inequality, and the behavioural impacts of taxation.
Lisa has
worked in the private sector in the UK and the publ
ic sector in New
Zealand. Since 2008 she has worked in academia.
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The Tax Program
Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) in Taxation
Subject Name
Lecturer/s
Capital Gains Tax: Problems in Practice
Mark Burton, Michael Flynn
Capital Gains Tax: Problems in Practice
Mark Burton, Michael Flynn
Comparative Corporate Tax
Peter Harris
Comparative International Tax
Lee Burns
Comparative Tax Avoidance
Tony Pagone, Eugene Wheelahan
Corporate Tax A (Shareholders, Debt and
Equity)
Frank O’Loughlin, Stewart Grieve, Nasos Kaskani
Corporate Tax A (Shareholders, Debt and
Equity)
Frank O’Loughlin, Stewart Grieve, Nasos Kaskani
Corporate Tax B (Consolidation and Losses)
Aldrin De Zilva, Michael Charles
Foundations of Tax Law
Mark Burton, Miranda Stewart
Foundations of Tax Law
Mark Burton, Miranda Stewart
Goods and Services Tax Principles
Michael Evans
International Tax: Anti-avoidance
Lee Burns
International Tax: Principles and Structure
Michael Kobetsky, Peter Gillies
International Taxation in the US
David Rosenbloom
Tax Policy
Greg Smith
Tax Practice: Writing Effectively
Jennifer Davies, Ron Jorgensen, Philip Solomon QC
Tax Treaties
Michael Kobetsky
Taxation of Business and Investment Income
Michelle Herring, Tim Neilson
Taxation of Business and Investment Income
Lee Burns
Taxation of Major Projects
Gareth Redenbach, Martin Fry, Tim Neilson, David Wood
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Subject Name
Lecturer/s
Taxation of Small and Medium Enterprises
Peter Gillies, Paul Hockridge
Taxation of Superannuation
Bryce Figot, Daniel Butler
Taxation of Trusts
Terry Murphy QC, Andrew de Wijn, Adrian O’Shannessy,
Gareth Redenbach
Transfer Pricing: Practice and Problems
Michael Kobetsky, Shannon Smit
JD Elective Subjects
• Taxation Law and Policy (JD)
• Legal Research
Taxation: Theory and Practice (Semester 2)
Breadth Subjects
These subjects are taught to non-law undergraduate students and exchange students undertaking
undergraduate law degrees
• Taxation Law I
• Taxation Law II
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Events
SEMINAR: 5 April 2017
Held jointly with the International Fiscal Association
(IFA) at the Federal Court of Australia
Panel discussion on Taxpayer Rights with special guest Ali Noroozi, Inspector-General of Taxation,
following the release of the IGT report on this topic. Helen Symons QC prepared IFA national report
on the topic for the IFA Congress and other panellist were leading experts from the legal profession
and Australian Tax office, including Andrew Mills, Second Commissioner; Hugh Paynter, Partner in
the Sydney Disputes practice of Herbert Smith Freehills, and; Niv Tadmore, Partner, Clayton Utz.
SEMINAR: 1 May 2017
International Organisations: implementing Tax
Reforms in Developing Countries
Professor Lee Burns
Professor Lee Burns discussed the role that international organisations play in developing and
implementing tax reforms in developing countries. Lee talked particularly about BEPS
implementation in developing countries.
Lee has worked on tax reforms in developing countries for over 25 years as part of the technical
assistance programs of international organisations, particularly the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank (WB).
Annual Tax Directors Lunch: 6 September 2017
Tax Lunch with Mentors, International Students and Special Guest, Professor Michael
Littlewood
Tax mentors and international students were invited to attend lunch with the Tax Group Directors
and special guest Professor Michael Littlewood. This is an annual event by invitation only and
provides an opportunity for students to meet academics and industry professionals.
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SEMINAR: 7 September 2017
Using New Zealand Trusts to Escape Other Countries’
Taxes
Professor Michael Littlewood
Abstract: In recent years numerous foreigners (including some Australians, a Malaysian playboy
billionaire, a Maltese politician, and the manager of an English premier league football club) have set
up trusts in New Zealand. This would appear to have enabled them to escape tax in their home
country and perhaps also to conceal the proceeds of crime. In 2017 the government amended the
law with a view to preventing such abuses, but what happened to the trusts already established and
the hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of assets they held remains unclear.
Speaker: Michael Littlewood is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland. He is a
New Zealander but has spent many years in Hong Kong. He has degrees in law and politics from the
University of Auckland and a doctorate in tax law from the University of Hong Kong. He is admitted
as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand, as a solicitor in England and Wales and as a solicitor in
Hong Kong. He is an authority on New Zealand tax law, Hong Kong tax law, tax policy and tax history.
Much of his work has been in the fields of tax planning, tax avoidance and international tax. His work
has been published and cited in leading journals in New Zealand, the US, the UK, Australia and Hong
Kong. He is a fulltime academic but has also from time to time provided advice to business interests
and to the governments of several countries.
SEMINAR: 2 November 2017
Are We All Equal in New Zealand?
Professor Lisa Marriott
Lisa’s presentation examined situations in New Zealand where individuals who are least advantaged
will be treated more punitively than those who are most advantaged. Examples of investigations,
prosecutions and sentencing from cases of tax evasion and welfare fraud will be used for illustration,
together with approaches to tax and welfare debt management. The presentation also highlighted
the different definitions used for tax and welfare purposes that lead to different outcomes.
Lisa Marriott is Professor of Taxation at Victoria University’s School of Accounting and Commercial
Law. Her research interests include social justice and inequality, and the behavioural impacts of
taxation. Lisa has worked in the private sector in the UK and the public sector in New Zealand. Since
2008 she has worked in academia.
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Publications
Books (authored and edited)
Stewart, Miranda (ed) Tax, Social Policy and Gender: Rethinking Equality and Efficiency (2017) ANU
Press: Canberra.
Research Book Chapters
Edwards, Meredith and Stewart, Miranda, ‘Pathways and Processes towards a Gender Equality
Policy’ in Stewart, Miranda (ed) Tax, Social Policy and Gender: Rethinking equality and
efficiency (2017) ANU Press: Canberra, 325-348
Jogarajan, Sunita, ‘The "Great Powers" and the Development of the 1928 Model Tax Treaties’ in
Harris, Peter (ed) Studies in the History of Tax Law (2017) Cambridge University Press:
Cambridge Vol. 8, 341-362
Kobetsky, Michael, ‘Intra-Group Services’, United Nations, Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for
Developing Countries (2017) United Nations: New York, B.4. 229-271
Kobetsky, Michael, ‘Cost Contribution Arrangements’ United Nations, Practical Manual on Transfer
Pricing for Developing Countries (2017) United Nations: New York, B.6. pp 319-338
Stewart, Miranda, ‘Gender Inequality in Australia's tax-transfer system’ in Stewart, Miranda
(ed) Tax, Social Policy and Gender: Rethinking equality and efficiency (2017) ANU Press:
Canberra, 1-34
Stewart, Miranda, Voitchovsky, Sarah and Wilkins, Roger ‘Women and top incomes in Australia in
Stewart, Miranda (ed) Tax, Social Policy and Gender: Rethinking equality and efficiency (2017)
ANU Press: Canberra, 257-292
Stewart, Miranda ‘The Doctrine of Sham and Tax Avoidance’ in Hashimzade N and Epifantseva Y
(eds) The Routledge Companion to Tax Avoidance Research (2017) Routledge: UK
Stewart, Miranda ‘Two Ideas for Renewal of Australia’s Fiscal Federal Democracy’ in Brown et al
(ed) A People’s Federation for the 21
st
Century (2017) Federation Press: Sydney, 164-182
Stewart, Miranda (2017) ‘Australia’s Hybrid International Tax System: A Limited Focus on Tax and
Development’ in Brown, Karen B (ed) Taxation and Development – A Comparative Study (2017)
Springer: New York, 17-42
Revised Books
Cooper, Graeme, Dirkis, Michael, Stewart, Miranda, Vann, Richard Income Taxation: Commentary
and Materials (2017, 8
th
ed) Thomson Reuters: Sydney
Sadiq, Kerrie, Cynthia Coleman, R Hanegbi, Jogarajan, Sunita, Krever, Rick, W Obst, J Teoh, Ting,
Antony, Principles of Taxation Law (2017) Thomson Reuters: Sydney
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Taylor, John, Walpole, Michael, Burton, Mark, Ciro, T and Murray, Ian, Understanding Taxation Law
2017 (2017) LexisNexis: Sydney
Refereed Journal Articles
Burton, Mark, A Review of Judicial References to the Dictum of Jordan CJ, Expressed in Scott v
Commissioner of Taxation, in Elaborating the Meaning of 'Income' for the Purposes of the
Australian Income Tax. Journal of Australian Taxation. 19. 2017
Emery, Joel and Stewart, Miranda, The Taxing Challenge of Digital Currency. Journal of Banking and
Finance - Law and Practice. 28. 2017
Ingles, David and Stewart, Miranda, Reforming Australia's Superannuation Tax System and the Age
Pension to Improve Work and Savings Incentives. Asia & The Pacific Policy Studies. 4. 2017
doi:
10.1002/app5.184
Other Journal Articles, Reports and Working Papers
Godber, P and Stewart, Miranda ‘Speed dating in the new tax era: the BEPS Convention kicks off’
(2017) The Tax Specialist 16-27
International Monetary Fund, Selected Issues Country Report: Indonesia (27 December 2016) IMF
Country Report No. 17/48 (70 pages), published February 2017. Prepared by Jongsoon Shin, Hui
Jin, Thornton Matheson, Narine Nersesyan, Michael Kobetsky, Yinqiu Lu, Juul Pinxten, Pablo
Ariel Acosta, and Changqing Sun
Media, Blogs and Commentary
• Ingles, David, Murphy, Chris and Stewart, Miranda How Australia can afford to cut company tax, 17
November 2017, Asia Pacific Policy Forum.
• Stewart, Miranda New Tax Treaty Will Close Loopholes That Allow Multinationals to Avoid Tax, 16
June 2017.
• Stewart, Miranda Budget Forum 2017/Women in Economics: Tax, Transfers and Budget Fairness, 30
May 2017.
• Interview on Q&A (ABC) – Miranda Stewart
https://taxpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/10069/miranda-stewart-qa
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Tax Discussion Group
The Tax Group assists with the coordination of the Tax Discussion Group led by Terry Murphy QC.
The discussion group meets monthly to discuss current and topical taxation issues. Members include
practitioners and academics associated with the Melbourne Law Masters Program.
TAX DISCUSSION GROUP TOPICS 2017
February
Gareth Redenbach - Source of Income.
March
Patrick Broughan - Division 974.
April
Dan Butler - Superannuation Reform: key strategies and traps to be addressed before
and after 30 June 2017.
June
Peter Gillies - Division 7A, UPEs and Sub-Trusts.
July
Gareth Redenbach - The OECD's Multilateral Instrument, with special guest Greg
Wood and Wingchun Yung (Treasury) commenting on Australia's approach.
August
Terry Murphy - Section 295-550 of the Income Tax Assessment Act-Non-arms Length
Income of a Complying Superannuation Fund
September
Gareth Redenbach - Topic: 1. An overview of investment vehicles, deductibility and
offset incentives applying to Division 360 and Division 61 investments; Topic 2. Real
world ratio and points based compliance issues; and Topic 3. Flow through of offset
entitlements to partners and beneficiaries of trusts under Divisions 360 and 61.
October
Yina Tang presenting on Foreign Residents and Capital Gains.
November
Round table tax topics
