History

The basic principles of taxation and their influence on business decisions have been taught at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen since 1950. This was a component of the business lectures at the Law Faculty and later at the Faculty of Economic and Social Science. Professors lecturing in this area included Wilhelm Hasenack, Werner Flume, Gustav Saage, Alfred Riewald and Theodor Ascher.

The new separate department for business studies with a focus on business taxation, originally combined with the fields of auditing, business finance and general business studies, was established in 1971 and held by Prof Dr. Wilhelm H. Wacker.

With the reorganization of the University, the Faculty of Economic Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences became two distinct entities. As the first dean of the new Faculty of Economic Sciences (1979-1981), Prof. Wacker combined three departments to form a department for commercial information technology, business management and taxation.

In 1991, the department for commercial information technology, having grown substantially in size, became a separate entity, and the Institute for Domestic and International Taxation came into being. This new department was formed to do justice to the growing cross-border activities of enterprises, and to the ongoing process of internationalization of taxation and tax consulting.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Oestreicher has been Director of the Institute (now Department) for Domestic and International Taxation since January 1, 2001.