PROF. DR.

Filip Debelva

Professor of Tax Law
Head of the Institute of Tax Law

Holder of the Deloitte Legal Chair
in International and EU Tax Law

About

Filip Debelva is a multi-award-winning researcher, Professor of Tax Law and Head of the Institute of Tax Law at KU Leuven. He holds the Deloitte Legal Chair in International and EU Tax Law and serves as Programme Director of the Advanced Master in Taxation.

His research focuses on international and European tax law, taxpayers’ rights and fundamental principles of taxation. Particular areas of interest include tax treaties, legal certainty, tax procedure, real estate taxation and the protection of taxpayers under European human rights law.

His work connects doctrinal and comparative legal research with questions about the design of tax systems. Alongside his academic activities, he is Of Counsel at Deloitte Legal.

Research

At the intersection of international and European tax law, fundamental rights and tax policy.

International & European Tax Law

Tax treaties, EU tax law, the allocation of taxing powers and the interaction between national, European and international legal orders.

Taxpayers’ Rights & Tax Procedure

Fair-trial guarantees, legal certainty, property rights and domestic and international tax dispute resolution.

Fundamental Principles of Taxation

Legality, equality and proportionality, and the relationship between taxation, fundamental rights and the rule of law.

Tax Policy & Design

The structure and development of tax systems, including capital taxation, real estate taxation, environmental taxation and taxation in times of crisis.

PROJECT CODE · 3H260278

CRISISTAX

Fair taxation in times of crises: a legal framework for windfall taxes.

Principal Investigator

Project at KU Leuven ↗

PROJECT CODE · 3H220829

Taxpayers’ Rights

Fundamental rights that taxpayers can invoke against the state, in the light of human rights law and EU law.

Principal Investigator

Project at KU Leuven ↗

PhD projects supervised or co-supervised at KU Leuven 9 projects

Catching up to the Future: Developing a Legal Framework for Embedded Royalties. Ewoud Nottebaere
International tax procedure: quo vadis? Sesil Velieva
Fair taxation in times of crises: a fundamental legal framework for windfall taxes Glynn Cooreman
Taxation of Professional Real Estate Sellers in Direct and Indirect Taxes Dioni Heymans
Sustainability as nexus for the taxation of Belgian investors Michael Joosen
Shaping the Future: Developing a Legal Framework for Environmental Taxation to Combat Climate Change Pierre van Limpt
Processing conflicts between European law and international law at the domestic level - a tax perspective Anne Mieke Vandekerkhove
Substance and Tax avoidance on a national, international and EU level Melanie Massant
Taxation of corporate groups under the Belgian corporate income tax system Nele Verlinden

PhD projects supervised or co-supervised at other institutions 3 projects

Robbe Basteleurs WU Vienna University of Economics and Business
Martin Gaupp University of St.Gallen
Faisal Kontogumde Leiden University

Membership of PhD examination committees 9 committees

Ruben Bashandeh 2026 · Essential Features of VAT in the Digital Age University of Deusto
Dieter Bettens 2024 · The OECD’s Global Minimum Tax as a Solution to 21st Century Taxation? KU Leuven
Felix Desmyttere 2022 · De fiscale nalevingskosten in het perspectief van het eigendomsrecht en de vrijheid van ondernemerschap Ghent University
Eva Goetz 2025 · The European Company (SE): A Proposal for Reform of Cross-Border Mobility of SEs from a Socio-Legal and Legal-Economic Perspective in the Context of EU Company Law, Insolvency Law and Tax Law Harmonization UCLouvain
Liesa Keunen 2026 · Fishing in the Data Lake: Tax Audits on (Digital) Information — Exploring the Legitimacy and Limits in Light of the Prohibition of Fishing Expeditions University of Antwerp & Ghent University
Karl Pauwels 2025 · Belasting en draagkracht: De toekomst van het draagkrachtbeginsel als verdelingsbeginsel in België University of Antwerp
Dina Scornos 2026 · Towards a Fair International Corporate Income Tax System for Artificial Intelligence- and Robot-Related Transactions KU Leuven
Anne Mieke Vandekerkhove 2026 · Processing Conflicts Between European Law and International Law at the Domestic Level — A Tax Perspective KU Leuven
Sharon Waeytens 2026 · The Coherence Between Tax Policy and Development Policy University of Antwerp