Victor Thuronyi (Senior Tax Counsel, International Monetary Fund; Adjunct Professor at Georgetown) reports on last month’s meeting of the European Association of Tax Law Professors near Naples:

The European Association of Tax Law Professors met in Caserta, Italy (near Naples) for a two-day conference which has become an annual event (next year: Budapest, and the year thereafter Helsinki). This group, which is only a few years old, seems to be quite a successful way for tax law teachers all over Europe (a few members with an interest in comparative tax law, such as yours truly, are from outside Europe) to get together to network and discuss issues of common concern.

The main topic considered was the concept of tax. This is relevant for many European countries as a constitutional matter (for example, provisions in the constitution that require taxes to be imposed by law) or a matter of European law (various provisions in the EU treaty) or as a matter of treaty law (what does "tax" in the OECD Model mean?). Not surprisingly, the answer seemed to be "it depends" and that the meaning of "tax" might differ depending on the context and the country concerned.

A separate topic was the status of tax professor. The European situation differs substantially from that of the U.S. To become a tax law professor one must often write as many as two dissertations or pass comprehensive exams covering a number of areas of law besides tax. There are many fewer professors in Europe than in the U.S. Correspondingly, tax as a subject in law school enjoys a lower importance than in the U.S. There are also substantial differences within Europe on how one becomes a professor. Making it easier for those trained in one country to become a professor in another — part of freedom of movement in Europe — was also discussed. Such cross border movement has been achieved by very few so far.

I was asked whether there is a comparable association in the U.S. While tax law academics might get together for various smaller conferences, or for larger meetings like AALS or ABA, there is not a universal venue for tax law professors. Maybe an enterprising group could think about starting an association of U.S. (or North American) tax law professors.