My major areas of research expertise are GST/VAT law, international taxation, environmental taxation, and studies of the history of tax law. I have research experience in the fields of inter-governmental fiscal relations, constitutional development and tax reform, and income inequality. I also have expertise in taxation and climate change and green energy transformation and would be able to share my expertise in these areas.
Yan Xu is Scientia Associate Professor of Tax Law at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Business School. Prior to joining UNSW in September 2019, she was a tenured Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. She has been a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at Columbia Law School and has received prestigious international academic fellowships from institutions including the University of Cambridge, New York...view more
Yan Xu is Scientia Associate Professor of Tax Law at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Business School. Prior to joining UNSW in September 2019, she was a tenured Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. She has been a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at Columbia Law School and has received prestigious international academic fellowships from institutions including the University of Cambridge, New York University, and the University of Melbourne. She has published extensively in leading international journals, including British Tax Review, Canadian Tax Journal, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, and the Journal of Environmental Law. The book, VAT in the Digital Era (Oxford University Press, 2023), which she served as sole editor, is among the first studies to analyse critical issues in international GST/VAT law in the digital age. Yan has presented papers at high-level international conferences and delivered invited presentations for prominent organisations, including the Australian Commonwealth Treasury, the International Fiscal Association, and the United Nations ESCAP. She has successfully secured several highly competitive government grants, including the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund (equivalent to the ARC Discovery Projects). Her research interests include comparative tax law and policy, international taxation, and environmental taxation.
My Grants
Competitive Government Grants:
- Lead CI, “Sustainable Fiscal Federalism and Reform of the GST Distribution System”, Australian Research Council (ARC), Discovery Projects 2023, DP230100702 (A$194,807, 2023-2025);
- Principal Investigator, “Indirect Taxation and the Digital Economy: Challenges and Responses in China”, Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), General Research Fund 2019 (No. 14613619, HK$491,000, withdrawal due to moving to UNSW);
- Principle Investigator, “Tax Reform, the Rule of Law and Representative Government”, Fulbright-Hong Kong RGC, Senior Research Scholar Award 2014-15 (HK$496,504);
- Principle Investigator, “Taxation and Development: Case Study of China”, Hong Kong RGC, Early Career Scheme 2015 (No. 24607815, HK$598,016));
- Co-investigator, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading in China: Insights from the EU’s Experience”, Hong Kong RGC, General Research Fund 2017 (No. 14634116, HK$427,992);
- Participating Investigator, “Mitigating Tax Barriers to Trade and Investment between Australia and the People’s Republic of China”, Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (2012-15, A$198,550);
- Co-investigator, “Managing the Globalisation of Water Services in a World Affected by Climate Change”, WUN Research Development Fund (2013-15, HK$546,000);
- Co-investigator, “Europe-Hong Kong Tax Treaties”, Eurasia Pacific Uninet Multilateral Project (2013-14, HK$114,000).
Internal Grants:
- Lead CI, “A Multilateral Response to Global GST/VAT Challenges of the Digitalised Economy”, UNSW Business School CLMR Spring Research Grant (2021, A$10,000);
- Lead CI, “Taxing Road Transport Fuel: Making Taxation an Effective Tool for Climate Action”, UNSW Digital Grid Futures Institute, Interdisciplinary Seed Funding Award 2020 (A$30,000);
- Principle Investigator, “The Impact of the Global Campaign against Tax Avoidance on Hong Kong”, CUHK United College Lee Hysan Foundation Research Grant (2018-19, HK$30,000);
- Principle Investigator, “Achieving a More Equitable Development: the Role of Taxation”, CUHK Faculty of Law Direct Research Grant (2013-2014, HK$30,500);
- Principle Investigator, “Enduring Echoes in a Changing Landscape: Lessons from China’s Tax History”, CUHK Faculty of Law Direct Research Grant (2012-2013, HK$59,104).
My Qualifications
- PhD in Law, The University of Hong Kong
- MSc in Taxation, The University of Oxford
- LLB & MPhil in Law, Wuhan University
My Awards
- Scientia Fellowship Award (Level D) by UNSW Sydney (2023);
- Scientia Fellowship Award (Level D) by UNSW Sydney (2019);
- Fulbright Senior Research Scholar Award (valued at A$100,000) by the US Department of State and Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) (2014-15) in connection with a Fulbright Visiting Fellow at Columbia University School of Law and an invited visitor to the NYU International Taxation Program;
- Research scholarship by the Institute for Global Law and Policy of Harvard Law School (2014);
- Visiting Fellowship at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law (2014);
- International scholarship by Brown University International Advanced Research Institute (2013);
- Abe Greenbaum Fellowship by UNSW School of Taxation and Business Law (2012);
- OeAD Scholarship by the Austrian Federal Government (2008-2009).
My Engagement
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TaxCOOP (Canada-based NGO), documentary interview on tax competition, 8 July 2020 and film documentary on “Fast & Furious Race to the Bottom” (released 15-16 October);
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Public media consultations: Tax Analysts, The Economist, Wolters Kluwer, China Law & Practice, Phoenix TV, South China Morning Post, International Taxation Review.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0758-9458