ADVANCED PUBLIC FINANCE

The course is among those characterizing the Master's Degree Programme in MANAGEMENT - ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE. The course aims at deepening the understanding of the economics of taxation, with a particular focus on tax systems' design and on the effects on economic agents' behaviour. Topics include axation of labour earnings, corporate income, goods and services.

1. Knowledge and comprehension skills:
1.1. understanding problems and challenges in the design of tax systems in modern market economies;
1.2. understanding the combined effects of taxes and subsidies on the choices of taxpayers and enterprises;
1.3. understanding the techniques and the economic effects of taxes on corporations' production and investment choices;

2. Applied knowledge and comprehension skills:
2.1. using statistical indicators at national and international level to evaluate the characteristics of tax systems;
2.2. calculating the convenience of taxpayers to participate in the labor market, also with a gender perspective, in the presence of a variety of taxes and subsidies;
2.3. determining the corporations' convenience to finance themselves with various instruments in the presence of corporate taxes, with particular reference to the integration with taxes on personal income of shareholders;

3. Use of independent judgment:
3.1. to critically interpret the choices of the tax legislator;
3.2. to understand the impact of tax systems and individual taxes on the economic choices of companies;
3.3. to consider economic issues through analytical methods.

The course requires the knowledge of the topics covered in a course of Public economics at a three-year degree programme level.

1. The design of tax systems
1.1 Theoretical principles for the design of tax systems
1.2 Tax systems in practice
2. Taxation and economic agents' choices
2.1 Effects of tax reforms
2.2 Effects of taxes on labour market participation
3. Taxation of companies
3.1 Theoretical principles: ability to pay, benefit principle
3.2 The choice of the tax base
3.3 Tax treatment of profits
3.4 Taxation and economic choices
3.5 The Italian system
4. Taxation of consumption

Tax by Design, the final report from the Mirrlees Review, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Readings and handouts will be available online in the Moodle website.

As long as the exam will be held online due to the COVID-19 emergency, it will be a written ONLINE exam involving theoretical questions, exercises, and comments to graphs and fiscal indicators tables.

Otherwise, the exam consists of a written test, composed of 3 to 6 questions, which aims to verify the learning of the concepts and the ability to apply them to concrete cases. There is no oral exam.
- Duration of the written exam: 1h-1: 30h
- Each answer is worth a variable number of points depending on the question.
- The final grade of the task is given by the sum of the points obtained in the answers.
- The exam is passed if the sum is at least 18.
- If the sum of the points exceeds 30 the "lode" will be awarded.

Questions can be:
- theoretical
- analytical exercises
- numerical exercises
- multiple choice questions
- charts, tables and fiscal indicators to be commented.

The Moodle website will include exercises and examples of exam questions.

The course is organized in:
a) lectures,
b) classroom exercises, with Active learning sessions guided by the teacher during the course.
c) individual study.
Students are encouraged to attend classes in an active way, reading the chapters of the book before coming to class and doing the exercises (available on the Moodle platform).

English

Further information will be available on the Moodle website.

written