Anton Kabakov’s involvement in St. Petersburg State University State Examination Board

Forte Tax & Law has been closely teaming up with St. Petersburg State University to provide practical training to students and assess the quality of education and professional training offered to graduates.

Anton Kabakov, Partner at Forte Tax & Law, was recently involved as a member of the State Examination Board in the assessment of the defense of master theses by graduates specializing in tax law at the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg State University.

Most graduates addressed in their theses tax law matters that have been of current interest over the last few years. Many theses were on the concept of unjustified tax benefit and General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR). These rules are basically a general concept used by governments to combat tax evasion. Both tax authorities and taxpayers have been attempting for many years to draw a line between legitimate tax optimization and unlawful tax evasion. Drawing this line is not easy so it is a pleasure to see that many students have broached this topic and presented new ideas and thoughts on this complex and tricky subject.