Institute for Tax Law

Welcome to the Chairs of Professor Dr Joachim Englisch and Professor Dr Marcel Krumm!

The Institute for Tax Law at the University of Münster was officially founded in 1934. On 12 April 1934, the Ministry for Science, Art and Education authorized Ottmar Bühler, who was the first holder of the chair, to use the term "Institut für Steuerrecht" (Institute for Tax Law) as the official name of what had formerly been known as "Seminar for Steuerrecht" (Seminar for Tax Law). Thus, the Institute for Tax Law is the oldest of its kind in Germany.

After Bühler retired, Friedrich Klein acted as Director from 1950 to 1974, before Paul Kirchhof, later Judge at the German Federal Constitutional Court, chaired the Institute from 1975 to 1981. In 1982, Dieter Birk was appointed Director and held the chair for almost 30 years. 

Since 2011, Joachim Englisch has been Director of the Institute; since 2018, he has shared the co-directorship with Marcel Krumm. 

Substantive rule of law calls for an equal distribution of the tax burden upon individual taxpayers. [...] The issues of tax justice are not transcendental; they need to be solved here, here and now.
Klaus Tipke
Reforming the tax system may not be easy or popular in the short term, but it holds out the prospect of significant economic gains and hence the promise of higher living standards in the long term.
Tax by Design – The Mirrlees Review
© Joachim Englisch

Forum de Lisboa

From June 1 to 3, 2026, Prof. Dr. Englisch attended the XIV Forum de Lisboa. This conference is organized by two Brazilian universities (IDP and FGV) and the University of Lisbon, and is primarily aimed at a Brazilian audience. The approximately 500 participants focused primarily on constitutional law issues spanning a very wide range of topics. Prof. Dr. Englisch gave a presentation on the Federal Constitutional Court’s limitations on the effects of its rulings and also participated in numerous other sessions. A panel discussion on the use of AI in the Brazilian judicial system proved particularly relevant to an ongoing research project, as Brazil is already well advanced in this area compared to Germany, where such developments are still in their infancy. Prof. Dr. Englisch also used the event to maintain and expand his professional network with Brazilian colleagues.

Seminar Announcement

Professor Joachim Englisch will be offering an seminar on the topic 

Influencing Behaviour through Taxation

during winter semester 2026/27 as part of the major in tax law. Detailed information may be found on the German website. 

Conference in Rimini

On 29th May 2026, Professor Joachim Englisch delivered a short presentation at a conference held in Rimini on “70 Years of Constitutional Protection in Tax Law.” In his presentation, he critically analyzed the evolving role of the ability-to-pay principle in the German Federal Constitutional Court’s case law over the past 15 years. The approximately 100 participants included primarily Italian tax judges as well as the Vice President of the Italian Constitutional Court responsible for tax cases.

© Joachim Englisch

On May 28, 2026, Prof. Dr. Englisch delivered the keynote speech at a seminar on the “Global Minimum Tax” held at the University of Bologna. He outlined the theoretical foundations of the international effective minimum tax and compared them with the current status of its design and implementation in practice. Following the seminar organized by Prof. D’Angelo (University of Bologna), four colleagues from Italy also gave presentations; the other participants included primarily postdoctoral researchers and doctoral candidates. Prof. Dr. Englisch also used his several-day stay at the University of Bologna to conduct research on Italian case law and legal doctrine regarding the "ability-to-pay" principle.

© Lukas Dallaff

Lukas Dallaff attends IBFD Academic Conference in Amsterdam

On 21 and 22 May, Lukas Dallaff, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate at the Institute for Tax Law, attended this year’s IBFD Academic Conference in Amsterdam. The conference focused on the ‘ability to pay’ principle – a central tenet of tax justice – and examined it from various perspectives. Despite its fundamental role in various tax systems, it has become clear that this principle has many caveats and therefore requires further academic assessment.

© Joachim Englisch

Colloquium in Zagreb

On 21st to 22nd May, 2026, Professor Joachim Englisch participated in a colloquium in Zagreb organized by the University of New South Wales. The interdisciplinary event focused on the topic “Managing Tax System Complexity in the Digital Age: Domestic and International Perspectives.” Together with approximately 30 other scholars from Asia, Europe, and Africa, Prof. Englisch discussed nearly 20 papers and chaired one of the sessions. The interdisciplinary exchange proved to be very inspiring for all participants.

© IMF

IMF Mission to the People’s Republic of China

IMF Mission to the People’s Republic of China

From 18 April to 1 May, 2026, Professor Joachim Englisch participated in an IMF mission to Yangzhou and Beijing. Upon invitation of the Chinese tax authorities, he and four other international experts delivered lectures to Chinese tax officials and facilitated workshops that provided impetus for upcoming tax reforms in the People’s Republic of China. Professor Englisch also used his stay to cultivate academic contacts. At Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, upon invitation of Prof. Yang, he gave a lecture on recent developments in the European VAT system and engaged in discussions with master’s students, who in turn presented Chinese reform proposals. At Renmin University in Beijing, Professor Englisch spoke at a small seminar on platform taxation measures. In addition to host Professor Zhang, the event was attended by professors from other universities as well as various PhD candidates.
 

© International Fiscal Organization

IFA Europe Madrid

On March 12, 2026, Joachim Englisch participated as a panelist in the IFA Europe congress in Madrid. On the panel on “VAT and Tariffs,” his presentation focused on the “follow-the-money” strategy of tax enforcement in e-commerce and the inclusion of platform providers of virtual business models in VAT collection. Another topic discussed by the panel was the impact of transfer pricing adjustments on customs duties and VAT.

F.A.Z. Tax Conference

From 25 to 27 February 2026, Professor Englisch participated in the F.A.Z. Tax Conference of the Economy in Berlin. On the first day of the conference, he participated in two panels: First, he introduced the topic of minimum taxation in the panel on “Tax Developments in Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America.” Second, in another panel on “Tax Developments in the United States of America,” he commented on the views of the representative of the US Treasury Department on the international coordination of taxation of digital business models. Prof. Englisch was particularly critical of the idea of fundamentally re-discussing the benchmark principles for this at the multinational level; instead, he advocated a pragmatic approach to dealing with the emerging fragmentation of taxation standards in this area. On the third day of the conference, Professor Englisch spoke on another panel about state aid law aspects of VAT concessions.

Key Note in Conference Proceedings

In January 2026, the Proceedings of the Conference "CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax" organized by the WU Wien were published. The contain a key note by Professor Joachim Englisch concerning „Extensive interpretation of the law in CJEU case law in VAT“. On almost 50 pages, the contribution analyzes developments, fractions and case groups of the extensive interpretation doctrine on the basis of the about 1000 CJEU judgments on VAT issues.