Master of Science in Complementary Studies in Business Economics (Taxation )
The Master in Business Economics has two main subjects, i.e. Business Economics and Taxation. In the field of Business Economics you will become acquainted with the internal structures and processes that enable companies to achieve their objectives. The field of Taxation is gaining importance every day, as more and more individuals, companies and associations are confronted with an increasingly complex taxation legislation.
This program is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is a global nonprofit association whose accreditation processes are ISO 9001:2015 certified.
What
Taxation is a complex matter, which the eponymous main subject aims to unravel and analyse. To this end, the main subject Taxation integrates a legal mindset with an understanding of business economics, places it in a dynamic perspective and against a topical background. After this specialist training you will be able to analyse complex tax issues - both at a national and an international level - in a correct academic and critical manner in order to arrive at creative solutions or answers. The evolutions in the field are monitored systematically so that you are able to formulate correct and well-founded tax advice. The professional field is therefore increasingly demanding; a demand this programme meets. A successful completion of the Master of Complementary Studies in Business Economics (Taxation) exempts graduates from the tax consultant entrance examination.
For whom
The admission requirements vary. Depending on your prior education, you are either able to enrol directly, or there are additional requirements.
Structure
The study programme consists of a preparatory programme and a Master’s programme. Depending on your prior education, you will follow a preparatory programme of 27, 31 or 49 ECTS-credits, in which you will receive a thorough basic knowledge of (business) economics and law. Students with a background in legal studies mainly take up accounting, financial and business course units. Students with a background in economics will be confronted with legal course units (including company law, social law and contract law). Any other prior education will result in an curriculum containing a combination of these course units.
The Master’s programme contains 45 ECTS-credits worth of compulsory course units. You gain insight into the structure and system of Belgian, European, and international fiscal law. You will be able to analyse various tax-related issues critically, ranging from personal income tax and corporate income tax to VAT. You will learn to unravel fiscal procedure, including the tax declaration, tax disputes and collection of assessment. In addition, you become acquainted with the legal and professional standards for tax consultants, the fiscal powers of local and regional authorities, registration and inheritance taxes, the challenges of international and European fiscal law and the interpretation of Belgian and international accounting law. Topical themes are discussed in the course unit Tax Planning and Strategy, by means of which you learn to integrate the various tax branches and hold up your decisions against the tax strategy
The Master’s dissertation takes up the remaining 15 ECTS-credits, and consists of two parts: a seminar work on a current fiscal theme in which a research question is analysed in an academically correct and critical manner in order to arrive at a sustainable solution, and a practical tax game developed by Deloitte Tax Consultants. The tax game stimulates a creative and critical thinking pattern and immediately immerses you in tax consultancy practice, both at national (Belgian) and international level.
Labour Market
Future employers increasingly expect employees to be familiar with business economics concepts and relationships. They must be able to think and communicate economically within a complex, corporate social context. Your background in business economics is an important asset on the labour market, and often even a requirement. Whether you are a lawyer, psychologist or engineer, you function better in an organization if you understand how it works and understand its economic context. A solid knowledge of a company’s operation or organization is therefore necessary for every interested and ambitious young person. Choosing the main subject Taxation, offers career opportunities as a tax consultant, tax lawyer, tax lawyer, accountant, auditor, or management positions in the private or government sectors.
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
The main subject Taxation studies how tax law interacts with business economic insights. In addition, the study programme aims to strengthen the ties between tax law and business economics for both lawyers and non-lawyers.
- We provide in-depth subject-oriented knowledge of taxation, based on the foundations provided in the preparatory programme. Due focus is given to related fields such as accountancy, business economics and company law.
- We focus on an integration of theory and practice, with an emphasis on applying in-depth knowledge of taxation to specific problems, and acquiring the necessary competencies as a preparation for the taxation profession.
- We hone our students’ communication skills by paying attention to the correct use of both legal and business economic terminology.
- We hone our students’ research skills by offering the opportunity to conduct independent tax research, both in a legal and in a business economic context.
Strengths
- In-depth knowledge of and insight into taxation: our students acquire an in-depth knowledge of the fundamental principles of tax law, and thorough insight into the functional domains of taxation and its adjoining disciplines. Among other things, this means keeping abreast of recent evolutions in tax legislation.
- Multidisciplinary approach: our programme pays special attention to the interaction between business economics and tax law, allowing students to solve tax issues from a multidisciplinary approach.
- Contributions by professionals: guest professors with an academic track record (i.e. publications) have been recruited from reputable tax consultancy and law firms to provide course units in their own area of expertise.
- Teamwork: in the context of the Master’s dissertation (consisting of seminar work and a tax game), students work together in multidisciplinary teams (based on previous education) to develop tax advice. With a critical approach, they work on and elaborate a topical research question into a research report.
- Interaction with lecturers: we continue to focus on low-threshold contact between lecturers and students.
Challenges
- More education innovation: we want to keep focusing on the development of active teaching methods (team work, seminars, discussions, presentations, etc.). The Master’s dissertation, in the context of which students work together in multidisciplinary teams, is a fine example of active teaching that has already been implemented.
- Expansion of alumni activities: we would like to strengthen the alumni activities by keeping closer track of our alumni (e.g. via social media), making sure fellow students keep in touch, and establishing new contacts with colleagues from the taxation profession. One step towards that goal is the organization an annual alumni event.
- Stimulating foreign contacts and study-abroad experiences: we aim to bring students into contact with foreign guest speakers and/or foreign students. Among other things, these experiences are made possible by focusing more on Internationalization@Home initiatives (e.g. international case studies, international guest lectures, international class room, etc.).
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This program is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is a global nonprofit association whose accreditation processes are ISO 9001:2015 certified.
This information was last updated on 01/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.