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Professor Graeme Cooper

Profile

Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW and Victoria

Degrees

BA, LLB, LLM (Hons), Dip Jur Syd, LLM Illinois, LLM JSD Col

Courses Taught

  • Taxation of Business and Investment Income – A
  • Taxation of Business and Investment Income – B
  • Corporate Tax
  • Taxation of Corporate Groups
  • Tax Incentives

Brief Biographical Details

Graeme Cooper studied tax in Australia and the United States and holds a doctorate in law from Columbia University. He has taught tax in Law Schools in Australia, Europe and the United States. His principal research and teaching focus is domestic corporate taxation, comparative tax law and tax policy.

He is the author of many articles published in Australian and international tax journals and a co-author of Cooper, Krever, Rider and Vann, Income Taxation Commentary and Materials, now in its fifth edition, one of the leading student works on the Australian income tax system. He serves on the Editorial Boards of the Canadian Tax Journal, e-Journal of Tax Research and the New Zealand Journal of Taxation Law and Policy and is Australian correspondent for Tax Notes International. He is a frequent conference speaker and has presented papers at conferences in Australia, Europe and North America.

He is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Australian Tax Research Foundation and a former Chair of the NSW Division of the Taxation Institute of Australia. He is a member of the Taxation Committee of the Law Council of Australia, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the International Fiscal Association and a fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia.

He was admitted to legal practice in NSW (1980) and Victoria (1999) and practised in Sydney before entering teaching. He currently works part-time as a consultant to Greenwoods & Freehills, specialist tax advisers in Sydney.

Beginning in 1992, he has worked as a consultant on a variety of tax design and implementation projects in Asia, Europe and Africa for various international organisations including the OECD, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other NGOs. From 1995-98 he worked in Paris for the Fiscal Affairs Division of the OECD where he was involved in technical assistance and training projects for Governments and officials from developing countries. He has worked on tax reform projects in Albania, Bulgaria, China, the SAR of Hong Kong, India, Latvia, Lesotho, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Slovenia, and been involved in tax reform projects with officials from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Vietnam.

In Australia, he has been commissioned to undertake projects by the Australian Taxation Office, the Board of Taxation and the Australian National Audit Office. He is regularly involved in consultations with government on the development, design and implementation of tax reform measures.

Publications

Books | Book chapters | Journal articles | Conference papers

Books

  • Cooper, GS, Krever, R, Rider, C, & Vann, R, Income Taxation: Commentary and Materials, Australian Tax Practice: Sydney (5th ed, 2005); (4th ed, 2002)
  • Cooper, GS, Tax Avoidance and The Rule of Law (Amsterdam, IBFD, 1997) vi, 437

Book chapters

  • Cooper, GS, "The Discrete Charm of the VAT' in L Hinnekens & P Hinnekens (eds), Vision of Taxes Within and Outside the European Borders, Kluwer Law International: The Netherlands (2008), 179-201
  • Cooper, GS & Lanigan, S, “IFA Branch Reports – Australia” in International Fiscal Association (ed), Cahiers De Droit Fiscal International - Studies on International Fiscal Law, Volume LXXXVIIIa: "Trends in Company/Shareholder Taxation: Single or double taxation?", Kluwer: The Netherlands (2003), 131-160
  • Cooper, GS, How Well Does TVM Express the Income Tax Base, in YRF Grbich & N Warren eds., Tax Value Method: Consultative Conference (Sydney, ATRF, 2001) 107 - 146
  • Cooper, GS, The Future of the Income Tax, in World Tax Conference (Toronto, Canadian Tax Foundation, 2000) 46:1 – 46:14
  • Cooper, GS & R Gordon, Taxation of Legal Persons and Their Owners, in V Thuronyi ed, Tax Law Design and Drafting (Washington, International Monetary Fund, 1998) ch. 19; republished (Amsterdam: Kluwer, 2000)
  • Cooper, GS, The Effect of an Income Tax on Corporate Tax Evasion, in J Head & R Krever eds, Company Tax Systems (Sydney, Australian Tax Research Foundation, 1997) 341 - 378.

Journal articles

  • Cooper, GS, ‘Trying to make sense of TOFA’ (2007) 36 Australian Tax Review, 160-172
  • Cooper, GS, The Emerging High Court Jurisprudence on Part IVa (2006) 9 Tax Specialist 235 - 250
  • Cooper, GS, Australia Targets Tax Shelter Promoters (2006) 42 Tax Notes International 952 – 956
  • Cooper, GS, 2005 – Year in Review (2006) 41 Tax Notes International 11 - 12
  • Cooper, GS, Australia Amends Corporate Loss Rules (2005) 40 Tax Notes International 225 – 227
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australia's New Regime for Taxing Financial Arrangements’ (2005) 41 Tax Notes International 159-165
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australian Tax Office Finalises Interest Withholding Tax Guidance’ (2005) 38 Tax Notes International 105-106
  • Cooper, GS, Decision on Stapled Debt Shows Divided Federal Court (2005) 40 Tax Notes International 17 – 20
  • Cooper, GS, 'Budget Contains Unexpected Tax Measures' (2005) 38 Tax Notes International 637-639
  • Cooper, GS, 'Treasury Review Income Tax Self-Assessment System' (2005) 37 Tax Notes International 298-302.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Year in Review’ (2004) 37 Tax Notes International 8
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australia's Macquarie Ruling is Bad Sign for Banks Issuing Stapled Instruments’ (2004) 36 Tax Notes International 453
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australia Clarifies Interest Withholding Tax Under US, UK Tax Treaties’ (2004) 35 Tax Notes International 963-966
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Tax Office Ups Scrutiny of Tax Haven Transactions’ (2004) 33 Tax Notes International 1171-1172
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australian High Court Issues Judgment on Application of GAAR’ (2004) 34 Tax Notes International 994
  • Cooper, GS, ‘The debt-equity distinction in Australian tax law’ (2003) 57(8/9) Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation 338-345.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australia's Debt Equity Rules’ (2003) 57(8/9) Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation 338-345.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Year in Review – Australia’ (2003) 31 Tax Notes International.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘IFA Panel Discusses Anti-Avoidance Rules in International Tax’ (2003) 31 Tax Notes International 945-948.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australia to Amend Treatment of Foreign Exchange Gains and Losses’ (2003) 30 Tax Notes International 1068-1070.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australian Budget Includes Host of International Tax Measures’ (2003) 30 Tax Notes International 727-736.
  • Cooper, GS, ‘Australia's New Withholding Tax Rules’ (2003) 29 Tax Notes International 723-724.

Conference papers

  • Cooper, GS, The Unhappy Legacy of the Review of Business Taxation, Business Tax Reform Conference - Australian Tax Research Foundation, Sydney, 28-29 September 2006
  • Cooper, GS, The Tax Consequences of Restructuring of Indebtedness, International Fiscal Association Congress - The Netherlands, 17-22 September 2006
  • Cooper, GS, On the Sources of Complexity in the Income Tax - Culprits Real and Imagined, Australian Tax Research Foundation - Tax Simplification - Sydney, 19-20 October 2006
  • Cooper, GS, What Four Years of Consolidation has Taught Us, Corporate Tax Association Annual Convention, Melbourne, 1 May 2006
  • Cooper, GS, Coherent Principles Drafting, Taxation Institute of Australia, Fourth National Tax Symposium – Financial Arrangements, Past and Future, Katoomba, 21 July 2005
  • Cooper, GS, Part IVA – A Post-Hart Report, Taxation Institute of Australia, 2005 National Convention, Perth, 19 March, 2005
  • Cooper, GS, Why GST is Not a Consumption Tax... And Why it Matters, 2003 National GST Intensive Seminar – Taxation Institute of Australia, Sydney, Australia, 10 October 2003
  • Cooper, GS, Unwanted Company? Income tax and CGT issues on exiting private companies - 2003 Small Business Intensive Seminar, Taxation Institute of Australia, Western Australian Division – Perth, Australia, 12 September 2003
  • Cooper, GS, Comparing ABA Model VAT Law and the 6th Directive, American Bar Association Annual Conference – Washington DC, USA, May 2003
  • Cooper, GS, The Treatment of Tax Losses – How Did we Get Here?, Taxation Institute of Australia, NSW Intensive Seminar, Terrigal, 27 November, 2003