Exit qualification: Postgraduate Certificate, or progress to Stage 2 for Postgraduate Diploma
The Postgraduate Certificate is Stage 1 of the programme and carries 60 credits in total.
This stage comprises two modules, Introduction to International Taxation and Overview of International Tax Concepts, with 30 credits each.
Teaching focuses on key issues to build a thorough understanding.
Students must complete and pass the coursework assessments and the end-of-stage exam to earn the award.
Each week features pre-recorded lectures with prescribed reading and, where relevant, additional sources. Directed reading covers case law, legislation, books, articles, and academic or professional journals.
Learning is reinforced with case studies, practical examples, and resources that test thinking in real contexts. Discussion forums, quizzes, polls, and other activities support the learning outcomes.
Each main topic concludes with a live online tutorial led by lecturers. Tutorials are interactive, offering time for questions and for examining issues from different perspectives.
This extensive module explores the concepts of International Taxation and its application in business. It encompasses a wide range of tax issues influenced by a single, or multiple countries’ income tax laws.
The module provides an understanding of how international tax impacts companies with multinational operations and highlights issues raised by present-day international tax practices.
Examples covered include cross-border trade in goods and services, cross-border manufacturing, production, and resource development by a multinational enterprise, cross-border investment by individuals or investment funds, and individuals working outside the country where they usually reside.
On successfully completing this module, the student will be able to:
This module gives a broad, practical overview of international taxation and the habits needed to analyse real cases. It starts with residence for individuals and legal entities, showing how it is determined, why dual residence occurs, and how treaty tie-breakers and competent authority resolve conflicts. From there, it maps the consequences once residence is fixed, including liability on worldwide income, foreign tax relief, and core reporting obligations.
The module then turns to source rules for employment and services income, business profits, and investment income, explaining how domestic law and treaties allocate taxing rights, prevent double taxation, and manage timing and character mismatches.
You will work through how residents and non-residents are taxed on local and worldwide income, and where permanent establishment, place of effective management, and withholding regimes change outcomes. Alongside doctrine, you will develop practical tax-planning principles focused on lawful structuring, substance, documentation, and dispute readiness.
Case studies highlight risk points such as hybrid arrangements, treaty shopping, and remuneration of cross-border functions. The module also builds a working foundation in the core concepts that underpin the field, namely jurisdiction of tax, transfer pricing, anti-avoidance, and treaties.
You will learn to identify the relevant provision, interpret it using accepted methods, and apply it to facts with clear reasoning. These areas are introduced here to give you a coherent model of how the system fits together, then explored in depth in Stage 2.
On successfully completing this module, the student will be able to:
The assessment scheme consists of the following, (per module):
Coursework Assessment 1 (20 Marks)
Coursework Assessment 2 (20 marks)
Final Assignment (60 Marks)
Total – 100 Marks
To qualify for the Postgraduate Certificate (or progress to Stage 2) the candidate must complete both modules.