{"id":181953,"date":"2025-04-03T10:46:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T08:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=181953"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:55","slug":"helft-fiscale-hoogleraren-heeft-commerciele-baan-erbij","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/04\/03\/helft-fiscale-hoogleraren-heeft-commerciele-baan-erbij\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of tax law professors hold commercial side jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half of all professors of tax law also have a paid job in the private sector, according to a new count by Leiden University. Not all of them are transparent about this.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJowan de Haan<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At the end of February, the Senate received a \u2018no\u2019 from Eppo Bruins. The Minister of Education could not tell senators how many tax law professors have a commercial side job.<\/p>\n

Leiden University can, as it now turns out. On Tuesday, professor of tax law Jan Vleggeert published a list of 68 professors of tax law and their additional positions. More than seventy percent wear two hats: twenty percent work in public administration or the judiciary, while fifty percent have a commercial side job.<\/p>\n

This latter group includes 35 professors who advise companies or wealthy individuals. They do so for large consultancy firms such as EY (with four affiliated professors), PwC (five), and KPMG (two). Slightly smaller firms also value having a foothold in academia, including BDO, Mazars, BakerTilly and Loyens & Loeff. The latter pays three professors for advice and employs another two directly.<\/p>\n

A good thing<\/h2>

At Erasmus University, all tax law professors hold additional roles, though most are judges or members of the Council of State. Four of the nine have commercial side jobs.<\/p>\n

The University of Amsterdam has the highest relative number of commercial dual roles: eight out of nine. The Vrije Universiteit is also high, with five out of six professors in this category.<\/p>\n

Not everyone sees this as a problem. In response to questions from the Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau, the University of Amsterdam described side jobs as \u201cessentially a good thing: they create strong links with society, enrich education and contribute to the impact of research\u201d. It\u2019s also difficult to attract full-time tax law professors, the university added. Sector salaries are \u201csignificantly higher\u201d than those at the university.<\/p>\n

Gaps<\/h2>

Not all professors are transparent about their side jobs, even when those are closely related to their academic work. Vleggeert and his student assistant found \u201cgaps\u201d for eight of the 68 professors on the list. They found various additional roles through public sources that were not mentioned on university websites.<\/p>\n

Some professors offered explanations. One, for instance, said he had already retired from PwC and as a professor. But at the time Vleggeert compiled the list, this was not reflected on either his LinkedIn profile or the university website.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the roles were listed in a separate register but not on the professor\u2019s personal university page. Vleggeert: \u201cIt seems to me that maximum transparency would be best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incomplete<\/h2>

Until recently, Nyenrode Business Universiteit took a different view. Anyone wanting to know about a professor\u2019s side jobs had to consult the central register. According to the private university, it is \u2018central, transparent and accessible\u2019 and is \u2018updated annually\u2019.<\/p>\n

But even Nyenrode\u2019s central register is incomplete. For example, tax law professor Rudolf de Vries failed to list his work for consultancy firm EY. Nyenrode has now said it will correct this \u2018in the next update\u2019. De Vries has not responded to questions from HOP. However, his LinkedIn profile was updated last Monday.<\/p>\n

Nyenrode has now confirmed it will also start listing side jobs on professors\u2019 personal pages, as other universities already do. That avoids the need to hunt for the register \u2013 but only if the website and the register show the same information.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201cIt\u2019s true that I was involved in tax avoidance structures, but when I turned 50 I started to wonder what I had been doing\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

For instance, Hans van den Hurk, a Maastricht-based tax specialist, lists no commercial roles under \u2018additional positions\u2019 on his UM profile, even though public sources indicate he has at least two. His profile merely states, in general terms, that he advises multinationals on their tax strategies.<\/p>\n

Van den Hurk says \u2018not every role is visible due to technical issues\u2019. He claims to have reported his additional positions, and says, \u201cThey have been approved by Maastricht University.\u201d The technical problem will be resolved as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Pot calling the kettle black<\/h2>

Van den Hurk seems annoyed at being called out for his side jobs. He stressed in an email that he has \u2018never sold tax avoidance structures\u2019. On the contrary, he helps South American countries to combat them. He claims the same cannot be said for Jan Vleggeert, the compiler of the list, who in the past helped companies and wealthy individuals avoid tax.<\/p>\n

Vleggeert confirms he worked as a tax advisor. \u201cIt\u2019s true that I was involved in tax avoidance structures. But when I turned 50 I started to wonder what I had been doing. This isn\u2019t right, I thought. That\u2019s why I made the deliberate choice to move into academia \u2013 to promote fair taxation by multinationals and the wealthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his research, Vleggeert names professors, but insists he is not questioning their integrity. In 2020, during his inaugural lecture, he criticised the influence of consultancy firms on academia. This drew a lot of criticism from people who felt personally attacked, he recalls. \u201cBut my concern is with the discipline as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independence<\/h2>

He decided to count dual roles after reading that the minister had told the Senate he couldn\u2019t provide figures on this. \u201cBut it turns out not to be that difficult\u201d, says Vleggeert now.<\/p>\n

He is concerned about the independence of his field. A professor who one moment helps a client reduce their tax bill must the next moment be critical of such strategies as an independent academic. \u201cIf so many professors with dual roles must consider their employer\u2019s interests, then tax law as a discipline in the Netherlands is not independent enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also the fear of Daan Roovers, senator for GroenLinks\u2013PvdA. \u201cI\u2019m concerned about the system as a whole, even if all individual professors behave with integrity\u201d, she told HOP in November.<\/p>\n

Roovers hopes the ministry will use the Leiden research to set a benchmark: \u201cAt what percentage of professors linked to commercial advisory firms can academic independence still be guaranteed? What do the ministry and universities think about that? I urge the minister to take this on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018In the Netherlands, tax consultancies, academia and political committees are so intertwined that at the very least there is a strong appearance of a conflict of interest\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Too easy<\/h2>

Concerns about professors\u2019 side jobs have existed for some time. In 2016, Oxfam Novib mapped the ties between consultancies and universities. \u201cIn the Netherlands, tax consultancies, academia and political committees are so intertwined that at the very least there is a strong appearance of a conflict of interest\u201d, it wrote. This made the Dutch tax climate especially favourable for multinationals.<\/p>\n

But Bastiaan Starink, professor in Tilburg and partner at PwC, sees no issue with holding dual roles. It depends on how you handle them, he argues. \u201cWhat I don\u2019t like about this debate is the suggestion that a dual role automatically makes you untrustworthy. That\u2019s far too simplistic and just isn\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s less concerned about the system as a whole. \u201cWhat matters to me is that individual researchers behave with integrity. That\u2019s why we have a code of conduct and must be transparent to an almost absurd degree, about funding and interests. Precisely to safeguard that integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make it clear that he wears two hats, Starink\u2019s Tilburg University profile states that he is also a tax lawyer at PwC Belastingadviseurs. The same is listed in the university\u2019s register of side jobs.<\/p>\n

Unpaid work<\/h2>

A side job in public administration can also create a conflict of interest, and the same standards of transparency should apply. Arjen Schep, an endowed professor specialising in local government taxation, does not state on his website or in the register that he also works for the international arm of the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG). His department even referred to him as \u2018scientist in residence\u2019 in an annual report.<\/p>\n

Schep agrees that things could be more transparent but points out that he is not personally paid for this work. He helps developing countries reform their local tax systems on behalf of VNG International, and the money goes to his faculty, which uses it to fund his chair. The large municipalities don\u2019t pay enough to cover the cost of his position, so Schep also conducts contract research. \u201cIt\u2019s my own independent academic decision to work with VNG International.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanctions<\/h2>

Senators are concerned that side jobs are not properly disclosed. Paul van Meenen (D66) advocates sanctions. \u201cThe minister must be able to act as the responsible authority for the system.\u201d The academic code of integrity asks researchers to be transparent about \u201cpotential conflicts of interest\u201d, but \u201cwithout sanctions, too many people ignore such codes\u201d, the senator argues.<\/p>\n

The VVD also wants more clarity but feels sanctions go too far, says senator Paulien Geerdink. She still hopes universities will see the light themselves and ensure that all professors report their side jobs as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

In recent years, views on registering side jobs have slowly shifted. In 2008, there were still concerns about professors\u2019 privacy. Today, all universities have a register.<\/p>\n

But what if a professor doesn\u2019t report their side job? University responses suggest they don\u2019t see it as a major issue. Maastricht University didn\u2019t seem particularly bothered either, two weeks ago, when it admitted it had failed to supervise a professor of epidemiology who also worked for the chemical industry. The university said he would have to update the register \u2013 though that still hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t