Expertise: Taxation Law

Ozai, Ivan

Ivan Ozai researches and teaches national and international tax law and policy, with a particular focus on the intersection of tax law with legal theory and political philosophy.

His academic writing has appeared in various law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, such as the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, the Columbia Journal of Tax Law, the Fordham International Law Journal, the Dalhousie Law Journal, the World Tax Journal, the Canadian Tax Journal, and the Journal of Tax Studies. He is the author of Expenditures in the Value-Added Tax (2019), published in Portuguese by Editora Lumen Juris, and has participated in several edited volumes, including Tax Justice and Tax Law: Understanding Unfairness in Tax Systems (Hart Publishing, 2020).

Professor Ozai has been the recipient of multiple awards for his scholarly work, including the IFA USA Writing Award (2018) by the International Fiscal Association and the Paul-Gérin-Lajoie Rising Star Award (2019) by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec, Société et Culture (FRQSC). His recent work was shortlisted for the Frans Vanistendael Award (2023) by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation.

Before moving into academia, he practised tax for more than ten years as a litigator, legal adviser, and chartered professional accountant. In Brazil, he was appointed a tax court judge and held several senior government positions, including as the Director-General of the Advance Tax Rulings Directorate of the Department of Finance of the State of Sao Paulo.

Professor Ozai was awarded the Osgoode Hall Law School Teaching Award in 2023. He currently sits on the editorial board and serves as a reviewer for several journals and book publishers in law and philosophy. He is also a board member of the YIN Steering Committee (Canada) of the International Fiscal Association. During his doctoral studies at McGill University Faculty of Law, where he was a Richard H. Tomlinson fellow, he was a visiting scholar at the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam, the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales de Montréal (CÉRIUM), and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario.

Research Interests: National, International and Comparative Tax Law; Fiscal Policy; Fiscal Federalism; Statutory Interpretation; Deontic Logic; Jurisprudence

Philipps, Lisa

Professor Lisa Philipps teaches and writes about taxation law and fiscal policy. She is known for incisive expert commentary on budgets, taxes, law, gender and social policy, and higher education policy.

On faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School since 1996, Philipps has published widely on topics such as registered savings plans, tax expenditures, income splitting and family taxation, balanced budget laws, judicial approaches to tax law, taxes and disability, and charitable donation tax incentives. In her scholarship and in the classroom, she explores the basic values and policy choices at play in designing a fair and efficient tax system.

Professor Philipps has provided commissioned research and advice to a number of bodies. In 2015 she was appointed as Special Counsel to Ontario’s Ministry of Finance. She practised tax law with the firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon prior to embarking on her academic career, and taught at the Universities of Victoria and British Columbia before joining York University.

She has held a number of leadership roles at the Law School and University levels, most recently as Interim Dean of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University (fall 2015), and Associate Vice-President Research at York University from 2011-14.  She is currently serving a five-year term until June 30, 2022 as York’s Provost and Vice-President Academic. An active volunteer, she serves as Director of Research Policy on the Board of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, a national non-profit organization. She is also appointed as a member of the Provincial Judges Pension Board.

Professor Philipps received her LLB from the University of Toronto and her LLM from York University. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1988.

Current Funded Research:

Principal Investigator, “Legal Frameworks for Work Integrated Learning: The Role of Law in Promoting Expansion of Quality WIL Programs” (Funded by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO)

Recent Media:

“In Praise of Secondments“, University Affairs, March 29, 2017

“Ontario the Indebted”, panellist on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin”, September 20, 2016.

“The principal-residence exemption is a fixable piece of the housing puzzle”, The Globe and Mail, September 16, 2016.

“We need Canadian courts to uphold the spirit of our tax laws”, The Globe and Mail, June 3, 2016.

Recent Publications:

“Registered Savings Plans and the Making of the Canadian Middle Class: Toward a Performative Theory of Tax Policy” (2016) 84:6 Fordham Law Review (forthcoming).

Canadian Income Tax Law, 5th ed. (with David G. Duff, Benjamin Alarie, Kim Brooks and Geoffrey Loomer) (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2015).

“Real versus Notional Income Splitting: What Canada Should Learn from the US ‘Innocent Spouse’ Problem” (2013) 61:3 Canadian Tax Journal 709.

“Bringing Evidence to Tax Expenditure Design: Lesson’s from Canada’s Innovation Policy Review 2006-12” in Evidence-Based Policy-Making in Canada, ed. S.Young (Oxford University Press, 2013).

“The Globalization of Tax Expenditure Reporting: Transplanting Transparency in India and the Global South” in Tax Law and Development, ed. Y. Brauner and M. Stewart (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2013).

Li, Jinyan

Jinyan Li is Professor of Tax Law and former Interim Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. She is currently the co-director of the LLM Tax program and academic director, Professional Graduate Studies Program.

Professor Li has authored, co-authored and co-edited numerous books, including: Income Tax at 100 Years: Essays and Reflections on the Income War Tax Act (2017); International Taxation in Canada (multiple editions); Principles of Canadian Income Tax Law (multiple editions); International Taxation in the Age of Electronic Commerce: A Comparative Study, and International Taxation in China: A Contextualized Analysis. She is the co-author chapter 13 (Capital Gains) of the Global Tax Treaty Commentaries on IBFD Tax Research Platform. She is the co-editor of Current Tax Readings, Canadian Tax Journal and a member of the editorial board of World Tax Journal. She has organized conferences and symposiums, the most recent of which are a symposium on Pillar Two (2022) and Women with Disabilities: Income Security and Tax Policy (2022).

Her work has been cited by Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada in Deans Knight Income Corp., Alta Energy and MacDonald.

She has recently served on the Panel of Experts advising the Minister of Finance, Canada on reviewing tax expenditures and a member of the advisory committee to the Minister of National Revenue on the taxation of e-commerce. She has also been a consultant to the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Auditor General of Canada, and the Department of Justice of Canada.

Professor Li has received numerous awards from external organizations, including: Tax Excellence Award (2021) from the Ontario Bar Association),  Lifetime Contribution Award (2017) from the Canadian Tax Foundation, Academic Excellence Award (2007) from the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, and D.J. Sherbaniuk Distinguished Writing Award (1999). She was a York University Research Leader (2017) and recipient of teaching awards (2004 and 2014). She is currently on the Council of IFA Canada and a speaker at Canadian and international conferences.

Brooks, Neil

Professor Neil Brooks taught tax law and policy at Osgoode Hall Law School for over 35 years.  His research interests include tax law and policy, corporate and international tax, and financing the welfare state.  He published extensively on income tax issues and was been the editor of Canadian Taxation, Osgoode Hall Law Journal and the Canadian Tax Journal.  He co-authored The Trouble with Billionaires (2010) with Linda McQuaig.  He has been a consultant on tax policy and reform issues to several departments in the government of Canada, and to the governments of New Zealand, Australia and several Canadian provinces. He was Co-Vice Chair of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission and has been on several advisory committees for the Auditor-General of Canada and Revenue Canada.  In 2002 he was awarded the Canadian Association of Law Teacher’s Award for Academic Excellence.  He is a frequent speaker and public commentator on current public finance issues.  Over the past few years he has participated in capacity-building projects relating to taxation in a number of low-income countries including Lithuania, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Botswana.