Global Tax Treaty Commentary Competition 2024 won by the Faculty of Law team from Cluj

On 4 June 2024, the Faculty of Law team of Babeș-Bolyai University won the prestigious Global Tax Treaty Commentary (GTTC) Competition 2024.

The team consisted of Tudor Pilcă, Irina Ceușan, Isabel Bușa, and Radu Ionescu, coordinated by Associate Professor Cosmin Flavius Costaș.

The Global Tax Treaty Commentary project requires participants to deliver substantive commentaries on model or multilateral conventions on double taxation avoidance. National experiences are particularly valuable, as the teams’ submissions contribute to enhancing the official Global Tax Treaty Commentary materials.

The competition is organized annually by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), Amsterdam, with the participation of universities worldwide. The 2024 theme was “Passive Income”, and each team was required to submit a written memorial of up to 40 pages in English between November 2023 and March 2024.

After evaluation, the Babeș-Bolyai University team achieved the highest score and qualified for the final round in Amsterdam, alongside teams from Xiamen University (China) and O.P. Jindal Global University (India) – both former winners.

During the final round on 4 June 2024, held at the IBFD headquartern, the Romanian team presented its arguments before a jury composed of Dr. Joanna Wheeler (IBFD, Netherlands), Prof. Jennifer Roeleveld (University of Cape Town, South Africa), and Luis Nouel (IBFD, Netherlands).

The jury awarded the first place to the Romanian team, commending its original vision on Romania’s tax policy, grounded in thorough research and strengthened during the oral presentations by well-reasoned responses to the evaluators’ questions.

This achievement validates not only the team’s individual effort but also the Faculty of Law’s strategy to offer tax law courses in English and encourage students to pursue them.

Babeș-Bolyai University now joins the list of laureates of a competition previously won by institutions from China, Brazil, India, South Africa, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada.

Financial support for the team’s participation in the final round was provided jointly by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation and the law firm Costaș, Negru & Asociații.