Earlier Releases

© 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. 

© Institut für Steuerrecht

PhD Retreat in Rothenberge

From 26 to 28 November 2025, the first Institute for Tax Law's PhD Retreat took place at the Rothenberge House near Wettringen. The Research Assistants at the Chairs of Professor Englisch and Professor Krumm spent three days at the UNiversity of Muenster's country house to work on the dissertations. On Thursday and Friday, the gave presentations on selected issues of the research projects and disscussed academic as well as methodological questions. Professor Englisch visited the seminar on Thursday and Friday to acoompany the discussions. The evenings were used for team-building activities. 

In the photograph: Lukas Dallaff, Leonard Pump, Tillmann Düwel, Niklas Hodel, Maximilian Deden, Professor Dr Joachim Englisch, Anna Benesch, Helena Egloff.

Lectures at the PhD School in Bergamo

On 17 November 2025, Joachim Englisch gave presentations on two of his current VAT research projects upon invitation by Professor Dr Sabbi from the University Bergamo's Faculty of Law. The event lasted four hours and gave opportunities to discussions. Following the event, the exchange on professional issues continued in a smaller group with three colleagues from the University of Bergamo. 

© Institut für Steuerrecht

Tabea Neuhaus and Maximilian Deden take part in the Federal Ministry for Finance's PhD Seminar


On 6 and 7 November 2025, Tabea Neuhaus and Maximilian, both Research Assistants and PhD Candidates at the Institute for Tax Law, took part in the PhD Seminar organized by the Tax Department of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin. The attending PhD Candidates gained valuable insights into the department's work as well as into career opportunities in the Federal Administration. In three workshops, the attendees discussed current issues of tax law and policy concerning international minimum taxation, the option to be taxed as a corporation (sec. 1a Corporate Law Act) as well as the reform of charity law. The seminar ended with a guided tour through the Detlev Rohwedder Building, the Ministry's official seat, that provided a vivid impression the house's chageable history.