The goal of this course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of business taxation and tax planning, which will be relevant and valuable even as tax laws change – over time, across borders, and by taxpayer type. The role that taxes may play in business decisions are presented within an "all taxes, all parties, all costs" framework, from the tax issues at start-up (e.g., the choice of organizational form for a new venture), multistate and multinational operations, financial accounting implications, and mergers and acquisitions. We will use cases to gain hands-on experience analyzing business tax strategies and refer to financial statement disclosures as appropriate so that students can learn how taxes affect the financial reporting for transactions. A recurring theme will be linking the tax strategies that we learn with concepts from corporate finance, financial accounting, business law, and economics to achieve a more complete understanding of the role of taxes in business strategy.
The following groups will profit from this course: financial executives (e.g., CFOs), entrepreneurs, private equity professionals, investment bankers, financial analysts, and consultants who want to have a competitive advantage by understanding how taxes impact the structure and value of various types of transactions.
Topics include the following: taxation of structures for new businesses (e.g., C Corps, and LLCs); multijurisdictional taxation (e.g., across states and across countries); tax planning for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; tax planning for financing transactions; taxation of executive compensation (e.g., incentive stock options); and others.
