Comparative Tax Policy and Administration

On Campus

Session Date

August 12, 2024 - August 23, 2024

Application Deadline

June 17, 2024

Program Fee

$13,700

Faculty Chair

Jay Rosengard

Program Director

Laura Bussa

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Program Fee: The program fee includes tuition, housing, curricular materials and most meals.
Executive Certificate: This program is a core program in the Economic Development and Public Policy concentrations. This program can also be used as a third program for any concentration in the Executive Certificate series.
Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs): This program aligns with one or more Executive Core Qualifications.

Program Overview

While tax theory can be straightforward, the challenge is to adapt basic principles to the complex and ever-changing variety of domestic and international economic, political, social, and historical constraints. Oftentimes, that's easier said than done.

The Comparative Tax Policy and Administration executive program provides you with the insights and tools to deal with this complex dynamic. Together with tax professionals from a range of sectors, you will deepen your knowledge of the latest approaches and tackle the most difficult topics in the design and implementation of tax systems from a strategic and tactical perspective.

Led by Faculty Chair Jay Rosengard, this on-campus program explores which elements of taxation work best in addressing particular challenges. The curriculum stresses the importance of context and capacity in tax policy and administration rather than a unitary “best practice” model of taxation.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Developed by Harvard Kennedy School faculty, this executive program will help you reconcile the universal unpopularity of taxation with your need to generate significant tax revenue in an economically efficient and social equitable manner.

Comparative Tax Policy and Administration consists of live lectures with Harvard faculty, class discussions, and group exercises. To take advantage of participants’ considerable expertise and experience, the program also relies heavily on participant interaction.

The program also makes extensive use of the case study method pioneered at Harvard. Together with your peers, you will study real-world situations that place you in the role of the decision maker. Through analysis of the experience and interactive discussions about the critical choices made by key players along the way, you will gain valuable insights, training, and practice in making challenging leadership decisions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The Comparative Tax Policy and Administration curriculum will address:

Taxation and national development strategies, sub-national fiscal challenges, and intergovernmental fiscal relations
Taxation and globalization
Comparative tax policy and administration, as well as the design and assessment of tax systems
Tax reform and alternative strategies for improving tax systems
The political economy of taxation
Taxation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Application Information

Recommended Applicants

Comparative Tax Policy and Administration is designed for tax policy professionals from a range of sectors, bringing different perspectives and insights into the practical aspects of tax policy issues.

Recommended applicants include:

Senior government tax officials
External tax advisors and attorneys
In-house private-sector tax specialists
Leaders of taxpayer institutions, organizations and advocacy groups
Providers of tax policy implementation assistance
Prominent scholars and researchers in the field of tax policy and administration

Comparative Tax Policy and Administration is not a program on the fundamentals of taxation. All participants are expected to be familiar with the basics. Nor does this program provide training in the implementation of a particular tax system.

Program Schedule

View a sample program schedule.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

“This program taught me new strategic concepts and how to implement them. I now have the skills necessary to make better analyses, fully grasp everything happening around me and build stronger fiscal policies that are more proactive and less reactive.”

STEFAN VERSTRAETEN, BELGIUM

Hear From the Faculty Chair

Faculty Chair Jay Rosengard Discusses Relief and Recovery: Fiscal Policy Responses to COVID-19

Faculty & Research

Faculty Chair

Jay Rosengard

Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Harvard Faculty and Guest Speakers

Matthew Andrews

Edward S. Mason Senior Lecturer in International Development

Brian Arnold

Senior Adviser, Canadian Tax Foundation

Richard M. Bird

Guest Lecturer

Muhamad Chatib Basri

Guest Lecturer

Jason Furman

Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy

Glenn Jenkins

Professor of Economics, Queen's University

Anders Jensen

Associate Professor of Public Policy

Robert Lawrence

Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment

617-495-1118

Malcolm McPherson

Senior Research Associate with the Vietnam Program, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation

Nina E. Olson

Executive Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights

Victoria Perry

Professor in the Graduate Tax Program at Georgetown University Law Center and former Deputy Director in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund