European and International Tax Law

Course information

Learning outcomes

After the course students will have basic knowledge of international and European tax law. The course gives readiness to cope with typical cross-border tax issues of multinational companies. Students will become familiar with tax treaties, EU corporate tax directives and landmark tax case law of the European Court of Justice and their practical implications for companies. In addition, basics of value added taxation (VAT) in international trade will be covered.

This course advances students entrepreneurial mindset.

Content

During the lectures the key principles, definitions and sources of European and international tax law are introduced. The lectures focus on corporate taxation and covers Finnish international tax law, tax treaties and EU tax law. In addition, the basics of the EU value added tax (VAT) rules on goods and services are covered. Students can participate in two workshops. A workshop on case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gives practical insights into landmark case law of the ECJ. A workshop on transfer pricing provides practical views on transfer pricing disputes and their resolution.

Teacher

Moritz Scherleitner

Study material

Helminen, Marjaana. Finnish International Taxation. ISBN 978-952-14-2351-2 (electronic). Chapters 3-12 and 19.

Helminen, Marjaana (2019 or newer). EU Tax Law Direct Taxation. ISBN 978-90-8722-562-9 . Chapters 1-3 and 5.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Committee on Fiscal Affairs. Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital: Condensed Version 2017.

Workload

- Lectures 24 h
- Preparing for lectures 26 h
- Preparing for exam or home assignment and court case presentation 79 h
- Preparing for lecture exam 28 h
- Exam 3 h

Prerequisites

No prerequisites.

Evaluation

(Different options to pass the course available - also mix possible):

1. Lectures 24 h. Lectures are followed by a lecture exam 3h. The lecture exam corresponds to 50 % of the final grade.

2. Attending and delivering a case presentation in the workshop corresponds to 25 % of the final grade.

3. Attending the transfer pricing workshop and delivering home assignment correspond to 25 % of the final grade.

4. Final book exam (100 %) 3h. 

Teaching time and location

The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system

1. The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
2. From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2026-2027 is selected  
3. From the blue bar, choose the right teaching and open the Groups and study events tab to see the teaching time and location of the course. To see exam times, click Exam.Exam instructions at the Open University

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Further information

Equivalences to other courses:
32E22000 European Tax Law (6op), 32C23000 International Taxation (6op).

Online learning environment for the course  

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses 

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration

Registration for this course starts on 10.8.2026 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 27.8.2026 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The number of participants is limited to 25.

This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Business.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules