The Vienna LL.M. Program in International Tax Law brings together a distinguished faculty of 75 leading experts from academia and professional practice worldwide. Our lecturers include renowned university professors, experienced tax practitioners, legal experts, advisors and specialists with a deep understanding of the challenges shaping international taxation today. This unique combination of academic excellence and practical expertise is one of the defining strengths of the program. Students benefit from rigorous scholarly perspectives as well as first-hand insights into the application of international tax law in complex real-world situations.
Simon Whitehead
Dr Simon Whitehead is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, WU. He was in private practice for 37 years in the UK and Australia. For over 25 years his work mostly involved EU law challenges to national direct taxes. He represented taxpayers many times before several Supreme Courts and the CJEU including the Marks & Spencer, Thin Cap, FII 1-3 and Fidelity cases. He helped found Joseph Hage Aaronson and until he retired in January 2025 had been top ranked as a tax litigator by both main directories for over 20 years. He is also a Visiting Expert Fellow at the Copenhagen Business School. He has written extensively on areas of EU law and is contributing to the new edition of Farmer & Lyal, EU Tax Law. Simon has a LLB, BA and PhD from the University of Sydney.Courses:
Tax Litigation
In this lecture two very experienced tax litigators will give their thoughts and experiences on the practicalities of litigating high value tax cases at all court levels. The lecture will consider the dos and don'ts of the various aspects of a litigation case from the perspective of the taxpayer in general direct and indirect tax disputes as well as specialised areas such as transfer pricing and EU rights. It will cover finding and initiating tax appeals and claims, taking procedural points, the process of taking evidence and discovering documents, compiling, presenting and responding to written and oral arguments, negotiating settlements and further appeals. It will consider the process before national courts and tribunals up to and including supreme courts, arbitral panels and the European Court of Justice.
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