The Research Group on International, Constitutional and Comparative Tax Studies (ETICCs) was founded within the Financial and Tax Law Area of the Universitat de València in 2012, following the award of a Prometeo Research Project grant by the Generalitat Valenciana. The group’s foundation was established by the values instilled in many of its members by their shared professor, Juan Martín Queralt, and encouraged by his demands for rigour, professionalism and legal precision in the analysis of the different categories and institutions of financial and tax law.
The ETICCs Group employs a multifaceted approach to the financial phenomenon of public entities, with particular focus on taxation. It is widely acknowledged that the group’s expertise lies in the analysis of the constitutional implications of the tax phenomenon. Over the course of its development, through research results, dissemination and diffusion, the group has made significant contributions to this field, particularly in the areas of taxpayers rights and guarantees.
Since its inception, the group has been conscious of the necessity to address the challenges currently facing the tax system, particularly in the light of the new legal realities that have emerged as a result of the processes of internationalisation and legal and economic integration, as well as the constantly changing economic and social reality.
Consequently, the group’s primary objective has been to study these new legal and economic realities and phenomena, with the aim of formulating proposals and mechanisms to improve the analysis of comparative law and studies of alternative tax policies. To do so, the group has engaged in collaborative actions with international institutions (European Commission, UN, IMF, CFE, etc.), with national, regional and local public entities and with private entities and organisations.
Over the course of their trajectory, the group has developed more than a dozen joint research projects, participated in a number of collaborative initiatives with Spanish, European and American universities (EUCOTAX, EUTAX, Scuola Europea di Alti Studi Tributari) and provided advice to a range of international institutions and public and private sector entities. In the educational sector, the group, in collaboration with the UJI, organises the UV‑specific interuniversity Master’s Degree in Finance and Tax Consultancy, awarded with the Prize for University‑Business Cooperation and approved by the AEDAF. Throughout its 29 editions, the Master’s Degree has provided more than 400 graduates with high‑level professional training. It also offers a wide range of highly specialised training courses in tax matters, both face‑to‑face and online. Its scientific production is also extensive, with multiple monographic studies, sectorial and systematic analyses, proposals for improvement, articles in national and international journals and analysis of jurisprudence and administrative doctrine.
The group is aware of the need for analysis, study, assistance, advice and training adapted to a tax reality that is constantly changing and evolving. For this reason, its members work tirelessly, recognising the positive synergies that result from the various formulas for collaboration and support with the different agents involved in improving the tax and budgetary systems.
Prof. F. Alfredo García Prats
Head of ETICCs Group
