IBFD Academic Tax Conference 2026 - Ability to Pay in Tax Law
We're pleased to invite you to our annual IBFD Academic Tax Conference 2026, where we explore the theme of 'Ability to Pay in Tax Law'.
The conference will explore the multifaceted dimensions of the ability to pay principle, examining the theoretical and practical challenges of application in an increasingly complex global economy.
Description
The IBFD Academic Tax Conference (ATC) is an annual event that takes place in May in Amsterdam. This year, the conference will offer a platform for thorough discussion on 'Ability to Pay in Tax Law'.
The conference will centre around critical research in the following areas:
- Historical and Philosophical Foundations of ATP
- Constitutional and legal foundations of ATP
- Positive and negative dimensions of ATP
- Income Tax and ATP
- ATP beyond personal income taxation
- VAT
- ATP and the tax mix
- International aspects
The conference will conclude on Friday, 22 May with some closing remarks from members of our IBFD Academic department.
Event Programme
Event Programme
08:45 – 09:05 Opening Words
Welcome words: Pasquale Pistone (Academic Chairman of IBFD) (5 min)
Introduction by the Conference Convenors: João Nogueira and Pedro Schoueri (editors of the conference proceedings) (15 min)
Chair: Miranda Stewart (IBFD Visiting Global Scholar & NYU School of Law, USA)
09:05 – 11:05 Session 1: Historical and Philosophical Foundations of ATP
- Duván Felipe Ordóñez Gloria (Independent, Colombia)
On Distributive Justice as the Philosophical Foundation of the Ability to Pay - Ira K. Lindsay (University of Surrey, UK)
The Illusory Consensus of “Ability to Pay’’ - Karl Pauwels (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Philosophical foundations of the ability-to-pay principle
11:05 – 11:20 Coffee Break and dialogue with the poster program participants
Chair: João Félix Pinto Nogueira (IBFD Deputy Academic Chairman)
11:20 – 12:40 Session 2: Constitutional and legal foundations of ATP
- Larisa - Cătălina Ionescu (University of Bucharest, Romania)
Ability to Pay as a Constitutional Safeguard: Beyond Equality and Property towards Human Dignity - Ricardo André Galendi Júnior (Instituto Brasileiro de Direito Tributário (IBDT), Brazil)
Ability-To-Pay and the role of real incidence in the Doctrine of Fundamental Rights
12:40 – 13:30 Lunch break and dialogue with the poster program participants
Chair: Fabiola Annacondia (Senior Principal VAT Specialist, IBFD)
13:30 – 14:50 Session 3: Positive and negative dimensions of ATP
- Raphael Lavez (Brazilian Institute of Tax Law – IBDT, Superior School of Engineering and Management - ESEG, Brazil)
The Positive and Negative Dimensions of Ability to Pay: A Comparative Constitutional Framework for Progressive Income Taxation - Gianluigi Bizioli (University of Bergamo, Italy)
The multifaceted role of the Constitutional Courts applying the ability to pay principle. A comparative analysis of DACH, Italy and Spain jurisdictions
14:50 – 15:05 Coffee break and dialogue with the poster program participants
Chair: Miranda Stewart (IBFD Visiting Global Scholar & NYU School of Law, USA)
15:05 – 17:05 Session 4: Income Tax and ATP
- Petros Pantazopoulos (School of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)
Delineating ATP for income tax purposes – Interplay and challenges for ATP by the use of methods for assessment of imputed income - Raphael Lavez (Brazilian Institute of Tax Law – IBDT, Superior School of Engineering and Management - ESEG, Brazil)
From Principle to Design: An Ability-to-Pay Decision Framework for Income Tax Base, Realization, and Imputation - Christina Dimitropoulou (Maastricht University, the Netherlands)
Ability to pay and the income tax: A normative reconstruction of the realization rule in a global economy
17:05 – 18:00 Distinguished Lecture by the Visiting Global Scholar
- Presentation of the 2025 Visiting Global Scholar by Pasquale Pistone (Academic Chairman)
- Miranda Stewart (IBFD Visiting Global Scholar & NYU School of Law, USA)
Chair: Pedro Schoueri (Senior Associate, IBFD)
09:00 – 10:20 Session 5: ATP beyond personal income taxation
- Jean-Philippe Van West (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium), Katia Cejie (Uppsala University, Sweden), Charlotte Bruynseraede (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Mind the Gap: Linking Ability to Pay in EU Tax and Social Security Law - Alison Futter (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Incorporation of the “Ability to Pay” principle in Tax Law applicable to Corporate Taxpayers
10:20 – 10:35 Coffee Break and dialogue with the poster program participants
Chair: Fabiola Annacondia (Senior Principal VAT Specialist, IBFD)
10:35 – 11:55 Session 6: VAT
- Nora Schreier (University of Graz, Austria)
The applicability of the principle of ability to pay to VAT law from an EU perspective and its implications for VAT design - Yige Zu, (City University of Hong Kong School of Law, Hong Kong), Rick Krever (University of Western Australia Law School, Australia)
Is a VAT that Reflects Ability-to-Pay Possible?
11:55 – 12:05 Group pictures
12:05 – 12:55 Lunch break and dialogue with the poster program participants
Chair: João Félix Pinto Nogueira (IBFD Deputy Academic Chairman)
12:55 – 14:15 Session 7: ATP and the tax mix
- Marco Greggi (University of Ferrara, Italy)
Ability to Pay: The Erosion of a Constitutional Principle - Miranda Stewart (IBFD Visiting Global Scholar & NYU School of Law, USA)
Ability to Pay, the Tax Base, and Wealth in Contemporary Conditions
14:15 – 14:30 Coffee Break and dialogue with the poster program participants
Chair: Pedro Schoueri (Senior Associate, IBFD)
14:30 – 16:30 Session 8: International aspects
- Almut Breuer (Maastricht University, the Netherlands)
A general EU principle of ability to pay: does it already exist and what is there to gain from it? - Thomas Sendke (University of Cologne, Germany)
Ability to pay in EU tax law - Florian Haase (IU International University, RÖDL, Germany)
ATP and double tax treaties, and taxation on a gross basis in particular: What is implicitly present in the OECD-MC and what should explicitly be included?
16:30 – 17:00 Concluding remarks by the editors