B.Com (Law) (Stell)
LLB (Stell)
LLM (Leiden)
LLM (UCT)
PhD (Cantab)
Advocate of the High Court of South Africa

Bio

Professor Johann Hattingh is a scholar of international tax law and the history of taxation. He is a Professor of Commercial Law and an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. Since 2025, he serves as the President of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) of South Africa.

Professor Hattingh earned his PhD in Law from the University of Cambridge, where he developed a theory of integrative tax treaty interpretation. He also holds a LLM by research from the University of Cape Town and another LLM in International Tax Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands. He completed his B.Com (Law) and LL.B at Stellenbosch University. Earlier in his career, he practiced in international tax with PwC.

Since 2003, Professor Hattingh has been affiliated with the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam, where he was appointed Chief Editor of the Bulletin for International Taxation in 2019. He is a member of Global IFA’s Permanent Scientific Committee and serves on the International Tax Law Committee of the International Law Association (ILA). 

His academic contributions include lecturing at institutions such as the University of Cambridge, Stellenbosch University, Leiden University’s International Tax Centre, and serving as an academic visitor at the Oxford Institute for European and Comparative Law. As a productive author, Professor Hattingh has published more than 75 academic works. His research on tax treaties has been cited by courts including the South African Tax Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. He is a member of the International Tax Group, which is a renowned research group comprising academics with a background in practice, who has been publishing books and articles in the field of comparative and international tax law for more than 50 years. 

Professor Hattingh has acted as a senior international tax consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and has contributed to tax initiatives under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) on behalf of the African Union. He is widely consulted by both public and private sector organizations across the African continent.

Teaching

LLM/MCom in International Taxation

• International Tax I FTX5034F
• International Tax II FTX5033S
• Research Methods in Tax FTX4036S

LLM in Tax Law

• Tax Treaty Law CML5663F
• Statutory Tax Law of Entities and Transactions CML5661S

LLM in the Law of Mineral and Petroleum Extraction and Use

• Resource Revenue Law PVL5633S [see http://www.mlia.uct.ac.za/llm-law-mineral-and-petroleum-extraction-and-use ]

LLB

• Statutory Tax Law of Entities and Transactions CML4507S 

Research Interests

International Taxation, Comparative Tax Law, Treaty Law, South African Tax Law, Legal History in the field of taxation and finance laws

Research - Information

SSRN author page:  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1779840

Google scholar page:  https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=LmVEeIYAAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3198-5925

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57217532200

Publications

* denotes peer review publications

Journals

*Frank Pötgens, Stéphane Austry, John Avery Jones, Philip Baker, Peter Blessing, Robert Danon, Shefali Goradia, Johann Hattingh, Koichi Inoue, Guglielmo Maisto, Toshio Miyatake, Angelo Nikolakakis, Kees van Raad, Jens Schönfeld, Richard Vann and Bertil Wiman, “Interpretation under the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) – Part One”, (2025) 79 Bulletin for International Taxation, Nos. 6/7, 8, 215-237.

*S. Parsons, A. Marais & J. Hattingh, “Regulating Tax Avoidance Driven by AI Neural Networks: Strengths and Weaknesses of General Anti-Avoidance Regimes in South Africa and Elsewhere”, (2024) 78 Bulletin for International Taxation, No. 9/10, 374-387.

*J. Hattingh and J. Avery Jones, “Oppenheimer v HMRC: Determining Centre of Vital Interests” (2022) 3 British Tax Review, 245-251.

*J. Avery Jones, P. Blessing, J. Hattingh, G. Maisto & A. Nikolakakis, “Fowler v HMRC: Neither Fish Nor Fowler: Boggling on the Tax Treaty Implications of Domestic Deeming Rules”, (2020) 4 British Tax Review, 537-547.

*J. Hattingh and A. Titus, “Judicial Reinterpretation of Legal Doctrine to address Tax Avoidance in South Africa: Sasol Oil v. CSARS”, (2020) 2 British Tax Review, 174-183.

*J. Hattingh, “Taxation of Bilateral Investments: Tax Treaties after BEPS, Carlo Garbarino” (2020) 137 South African Law Journal, 565-575.

*J. Hattingh, “The relevance of BEPS Materials for Tax Treaty Interpretation”, (2020) 74 Bulletin for International Taxation, No. 4/5, 179-196.

• Cited by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland in Case 9C_682/2022 and 9C_683/2022, 23 June 2023, at 9.4.2.

*G. Maisto, S. Austry, J.F. Avery Jones, P. Baker, P. Blessing, R. Danon, S. Goradia, J. Hattingh, K. Inoue, J. Lüdicke, T. Miyatake, A. Nikolakakis, F. Pötgens, K. van Raad, R.J. Vann, B Wiman, “Dual Residence of Companies under Tax Treaties”, IBFD International Tax Studies 1 (2018), 3-84.

*J. Hattingh, “The Impact of the BEPS Multilateral Instrument on International Tax Policies”, (2018) 72 Bulletin for International Taxation, no. 4/5, 234-247.

*A. Nikolakakis, S. Austry, J.F. Avery Jones, P. Baker, P. Blessing, R. Danon, S. Goradia, J. Hattingh, K. Inoue, J. Lüdicke, G. Maisto, T. Miyatake, K. van Raad, R.J. Vann, B Wiman, “Some Reflections on the Proposed Revisions to the OECD Model and Commentaries, and on the Multilateral Instrument, with Respect to Fiscally Transparent Entities” (2017) 3 British Tax Review, 295-373 and (2017) 71 Bulletin for International Taxation, 475-504, 553-567. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3005860

J. Hattingh, "The Multilateral Instrument from a Legal Perspective: What May Be the Challenges?", (2017) Global Taxation, 1, 27 and (2017) 3/4 71 Bulletin for International Taxation, 1-10; translated into Chinese in Taxation Translation Journal, 101 Issue 2, pp. 77-88 (June 2017) 《税收译丛》第101期，2017年第2期，第77-88页.

*T. Hagemann, J. Hattingh & C. Kahlenberg, "Recent Developments Regarding the Taxation of Pensions under Tax Treaties from a German and a South African Perspective", (2017) 71 Bulletin for International Taxation No. 1, 2-10.

*J. Hattingh, “The East African Community Multilateral Tax Treaty – Fit for Purpose?”, (2016) 70 Bulletin for International Taxation No. 12, 701-716.

*J. Avery Jones and J. Hattingh, “Fowler v. HMRC: divers and the dangers of deeming”, (2016) 4 British Tax Review, 417-434.

J. Hattingh, “Aubrey Silke’s 1958 PhD Thesis on Tax Avoidance”, (2016) 65 The Taxpayer, 41-43, 61-64.

J. Hattingh and A. Marais, "Retroactive Amendments: Value Shifting and Residence of Companies " (2014) 63 The Taxpayer, 42-47.

*J. Hattingh, "An Overview of the Court System of South Africa with Emphasis on the Resolution of Tax Disputes", (2011) 65 Bulletin for International Taxation, No. 3, 127.

*J. Hattingh, "The tax treatment of cross-border partnerships under model-based Bilateral Tax Conventions: A Case & Methodology" (2010) 6 Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law (formerly CSLR), 16.

*J. Hattingh, "The Tax Treatment of Partnerships under Model-based Bilateral Tax Treaties: Some Lessons from JJ Grundlingh v. The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service" (2010) 127 The South African Law Journal, 38.

*J. Hattingh, "The Volkswagen case and the Secondary Tax on Companies: Part 1 - The Outcome" (2009) 63 Bulletin for International Taxation, No. 10, 442.

*J. Hattingh, "The Volkswagen case and the Secondary Tax on Companies: Part 2 – The Effect on the Taxation of Dividends with Emphasis on Deemed (Constructive) Dividends" (2009) 63 Bulletin for International Taxation, No. 11, 509.

*J. Hattingh, "Article 1 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital in historical and functional perspective" (2004) 121 The South African Law Journal, 64.

• Cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Alta Energy Luxembourg SARL v R 2021 SCC 49; 24 ITLR 346, 397

*J. Hattingh, "The Role and Function of Article 1 of the OECD Model" (2003) 57 Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation, No. 11, 546.

*J. Hattingh, "Article 1 of the OECD Model: Historical Background and the Issues Surrounding It" (2003) 57 Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation, No. 5, 215.

Book chapters (in print)

*J. Hattingh, Chapter 8: International Aspects, in Fundamentals of Corporate Taxation (IBFD, Amsterdam, 2025).

*J. Hattingh, Chapter 8: International Aspects, in Fundamentals of Individual Taxation (IBFD, Amsterdam, 2025), 161-185.

J. Hattingh & P. Hongler, General Report:  Finding the meaning of nexus for taxes – past, present, and future, Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International, vol. 108a (International Fiscal Association, The Hague, 2024), 14-100.

*J. Hattingh, Chapter 14: Decades of Parallels: South Africa’s Efforts During the First Half of the Twentieth Century to Avoid Double Taxation and the Impact of Model Solutions by the League of Nations, in P. Harris and D. de Cogan, Eds., Studies in the History of Tax Law, vol. 11 (2023, Hart, Oxford), 381-411.

*J. Hattingh, Chapter 9: Dangerous Transplantation: Importing Big Government Into Article 3(2) of the 2017 OECD Model Tax Convention, in G. Maisto, Ed., Dispute Resolution under Tax Treaties and Beyond (2023, IBFD, Amsterdam).

J. Hattingh, Chapter 1: An “International Tax Language” for Tax Treaty Interpretation: Its Histories in Common and Civil Law Discourse, in Building Global International Tax Law: Essays in Honour of Guglielmo Maisto (P. Pistone ed., IBFD 2022).

*J. Hattingh and C. West, “Implementing the Multilateral Instrument in South Africa” in Mission Completed? The Implementation and Lasting Effects of the OECD BEPS Multilateral Instrument (2021 IBFD).

*J. Hattingh, “Legal considerations arising from the use of memoranda of understanding in bilateral tax treaty relations” in G. Maisto (ed) Current Tax Treaty Issues: 50th Anniversary of the International Tax Group (IBFD 2020), 359-438.

J. Hattingh and C. West, “South Africa”, in D. Duff and D. Guttmann, eds., Reconstructing the Treaty Network, Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International, vol. 105a (IFA The Hague, 2020).

J. Hattingh and J. Mann, “Taxation of Technical Service Fee Income: Selected Aspects of the Policy & Tax Treaty Practice of South Africa Relevant for Brazilian Taxpayers” in D.V. de Biasi Cordeiro, E.S. Gomes, F. C. Pepe, G. Teixeira Godoy (Eds.), Estudos de Tributação Internacional, (Vol. 3, Editora Lumen Juris, Rio de Janeiro, 2019).

*J. Hattingh, Rule of Law, in P. Pistone, J. Roeleveld, J. Hattingh, J. Nogueira and C. West (Eds.), Fundamentals of Taxation: An Introduction to Tax Law, Tax Policy and Tax Administration (IBFD, Amsterdam, 2019).

*J. Hattingh, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4 Legal Systems, in P. Pistone, J. Roeleveld, J. Hattingh, J. Nogueira and C. West (Eds.), Fundamentals of Taxation: An Introduction to Tax Law, Tax Policy and Tax Administration (IBFD, Amsterdam, 2019).

J. Hattingh and M. Eksteen, Chapter 22: South Africa, in G. Maisto (Ed.), New Trends in the Definition of Permanent Establishment, (IBFD, Amsterdam, 2019).

*J. Avery Jones and J. Hattingh, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd v Howe (1906) - Corporate residence: an early attempt at European harmonisation, in D. de Cogan and J. Snape, eds., Landmark Cases in Revenue Law (Hart, Oxford, 2019).

J. Hattingh & C. West, South Africa, in M. Helminen, ed., The Notion of Tax and the Elimination of International Double Taxation or Double Non-Taxation, Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International, vol. 101b (IFA, The Hague, 2016).

*J. Hattingh, Corporate-shareholder taxation in South Africa: 1914-1953, In J. Hattingh, J. Roeleveld and C. West, eds., Income Tax in South Africa – The First 100 Years, (Juta, Cape Town, 2016).

*J. Hattingh, On the Introduction of Income Tax in South Africa by Genl. JC Smuts: Three Eventful Months (24 April 1914 to 20 July 2014), In J. Hattingh, J. Roeleveld and C. West, eds., Income Tax in South Africa – The First 100 Years, (Juta, Cape Town, 2016).

J. Hattingh, C. de Bruyn and D. Lermer, South Africa, In. E. Reimer, S. Schmid and N. Urban, eds., Permanent Establishments. A Domestic Taxation, Bilateral Tax Treaty and OECD Perspective, (Kluwer, The Hague, 2015).

*J. Hattingh, South Africa, In Y. Brauner and P. Pistone, eds., BRICS and the Emergence of International Tax Coordination, (IBFD Amsterdam, 2015).

J. Hattingh, On the Origins of Model Tax Conventions: Nineteenth-Century German Tax Treaties and Laws Concerned with the Avoidance of Double Tax, In J. Tiley, Ed., Studies in the History of Tax Law, vol. 6, (Oxford 2013), 31-79.

J. Hattingh, South Africa, in Key Practical Issues to Eliminate Double Taxation of Business Income, Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International, vol. 96b, (IFA, Rotterdam, 2011).

J. Hattingh, South Africa, In G. Maisto, Ed., Residence of Companies under Tax Treaties and EC Law, (IBFD Amsterdam, 2009), 603-752.

J. Hattingh, South Africa, In M. Lang and P. Pistone, Eds., The EU and Third Countries: Direct Taxation, (The Hague 2007), 917-942.

J. Hattingh and B. Newton, South Africa, in The Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments, Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International, vol. 91b (Rotterdam 2006).

J. Hattingh, South Africa, in R. Russo, Ed., The Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments: The taxation of intra-company dealings, (IBFD Amsterdam, 2005), 285-312.

J. Hattingh and C. du Toit, Zuid afrika, In Nederlandse Regelinge van Internationale Belastingrecht, Loose-leaf (Kluwer, The Hague, 2002). 

Reference Works

J. Hattingh (2023 update author), Chapter 36: Mining and Petroleum Royalties, in P.J. Badenhorst and H. Mostert, Eds., Mineral and Petroleum Law of South Africa (Juta, Cape Town, looseleaf).

*J. Hattingh, Treaty Interpretation, in Global Tax Treaty Commentaries (IBFD On-line, 2022).

*J. Hattingh, Elimination and Prevention of International Double Taxation, in Silke on International Tax (2e Ed., LexisNexis On-line, 2019).

*J. Hattingh, Beneficial Ownership, in, Silke on International Tax (2e Ed., LexisNexis On-line, 2019).

J. Hattingh, South Africa - Corporate Taxation, 13th Ed., Country Analyses (IBFD 2022). 265 A4 folios.

J. Hattingh, South Africa - Individual Taxation, 13th Ed., Country Analyses (IBFD 2022). 85 A4 folios.

J. Hattingh, South Africa - Corporate Taxation, 14th Ed., Country Surveys (IBFD 2022). 60 A4 folios.

J. Hattingh, South Africa - Individual Taxation, 14th Ed., Country Surveys (IBFD 2022). 38 A4 folios.

J. Hattingh, South Africa - Business & Investment Guide, 11th Ed., Country Surveys (IBFD 2022). 35 A4 folios.

J. Hattingh, Elimination and Prevention of International Double Taxation, in E. Brincker and A. De Koker, eds., Silke on International Tax (LexisNexis On-line, 2010). 116 A4 folios.

J. Hattingh and C. du Toit, Beneficial Ownership, in E. Brincker and A. De Koker, eds., Silke on International Tax (LexisNexis On-line, 2010). 75 A4 folios.

Case Commentaries in the International Tax Law Reports

J. Hattingh and J. Avery Jones, Commentary, Oppenheimer v Revenue and Customs Commissioners (2022) 24 ITLR 714, 716-720.

J. Avery Jones and J. Hattingh, Commentary, Fowler v Revenue and Customs Commissioners (2020) 22 International Tax Law Report 679, 681-688.

J. Hattingh, Commentary, ABC Proprietary Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (2019) 22 International Tax Law Reports 153, 155-175.

J. Hattingh, Commentary, X v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service, (2018) 20 International Tax Law Reports 658, 660-681.

J. Hattingh, Commentary, Pienaar Brothers (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service and another, (2017) 20 International Tax Law Reports 284, 288-293.

J. Hattingh, Commentary, Krok and another v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services, (2015) 18 International Tax Law Reports 42, 44-52.

• Cited by the South African Tax Court in ABC Proprietary Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services, (2019) 22 ITLR 153, at 190.

J. Hattingh, Commentary, AB LLC and another v Commissioner of the South African Revenue Services, (2015) 17 International Tax Law Reports 911, 915-932.

J. Hattingh, Commentary, Shuttleworth and another v South African Reserve Bank and another, (2015) 17 International Tax Law Reports 956, 957-962.

Forthcoming (finalised and in the process of publication)

J. Hattingh, Relevance and status of the OECD and UN Model Tax Convention and Commentaries in tax treaty interpretation (including OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS materials), in Tax Treaty Interpretation (International Fiscal Association) [forthcoming 2025].

Other academic

Translation (German to English): Re Shareholder Discrimination by German Thin Capitalisation Rules (Part II), 2014, 17 International Law Reports 711, 725-735.