Corporate Tax Law by Prof. Hiroshi Sasaki
Corporate Tax Law, a training course for Certified Public Tax Accountants by Prof. Hiroshi Sasaki, has started. Corporate tax is a tax levied on corporate income and occupies an important position in the Japanese economy and taxation system. In this course, we will deepen our understanding of the basic concepts of corporate taxation through discussion, taking into account the recent amendments.
However, in this class, students were not only required to deepen their knowledge of corporate tax law, but they were also required to think creatively about how the current legal system came to be. The class took up a case of a lawsuit regarding corporate tax, and the students debated the case from the standpoint of the judge, the taxation agency, and the taxpayer. The judges were required to narrow down the issues and draw out the arguments of both sides in order to reach a verdict in a limited time, while the taxpayers and the taxation agency were required to figure out how to make their arguments understood and how to reject the arguments of the other side in light of the law. Therefore, how to ask questions and what to say can be mastered by repeatedly handling cases. Although the content of the class was corporate tax, it was a class full of the essence of debate. Professor Sasaki, who is in charge of the class, has experience in preparing laws and regulations at the Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, so it was very beneficial for the students to learn how to read and understand the content directly from someone who was actually involved in the laws and regulations. This is one of the strengths of the Business School, which has a wide variety of professors.
When Professor Sasaki was involved in the design stage of laws and regulations, he wondered what kind of legal system would improve the business mindset of managers and contribute to the improvement and development of corporate performance. Therefore, his comment to the students, "I want you to understand tax law with a strong business sense," seemed to have left a deep impression on the students.