Prof. Karoline Spies is full professor and holds a chair in tax law at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law at WU. Prior to that she was  a (post-)doctoral researcher at the same Institute for more than eight years (2010-2018) and has also gained international experience by conducting research stays at various institutions (e.g. Singapore Management University, CJEU). Since 2019, Karoline Spies has been a member of the VAT Expert Group at the European Commission, where she contributes to the discussions on potential reforms of the EU VAT system. 

Her main area of research is EU tax law in the field of direct and indirect tax law. In her research, Karoline Spies deals with a wide range of topics, including, inter alia, the effect of general principles of EU law on taxation (in particular the fundamental freedoms and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights), the CJEU’s approach in direct tax and VAT law (e.g. on abuse/fraud and double taxation), mutual assistance and dispute resolution in tax law and (pending) reforms in VAT law. She has received a number or prestigious awards for her research (most significantly the European Academic Tax Thesis Award and the Maurice Lauré Prize).