Rita de la Feria

Rita de la Feria joined the Law School at Durham University in October 2012 as Chair in Law. She received her law degree from the University of Lisbon, having specialised in economic law, and began her professional career as a tax consultant with Arthur Andersen, working in both their Lisbon and Dublin offices. She completed her PhD on EU VAT harmonisation at the Law School of the University of Dublin, Trinity College in 2006.

Prior to joining Durham Law School, Professor Rita de la Feria worked at Oxford University, and before that held lecturing positions at both Trinity College, Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast. She has been a Visiting Scholar/Professor at New York University, Law School (2008); ATAX, University of New South Wales, Sydney (2009); Católica Global School of Law (2010-); Muenster University (2012-); Michigan University, Law School (2014-2015); and Leiden University (2014-). She is a Programme Director at the Centre for Business Taxation, Oxford University, and has been Visiting Professor at the University of Lisbon since 2010.

Professor Rita de la Feria has published widely on European law and tax law issues, including over 40 articles/book chapters. Most notably she is the author/editor of three books and one loose-leaf, which is updated bi-annually. She is regularly invited to speak on tax issues at conferences and seminars around the world, presenting to academic, and practitioner audiences, and providing training to the judiciary, and to tax administrations, the latter amongst others within the framework of the European Commission’s Fiscalis Programme.

Her work on VAT and on the principle of prohibition of abuse of law is regularly cited by the courts, including the EU Court of Justice, and has supported various policy documents prepared by, or commissioned for, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the IMF. Between 2011 and 2012 she was Adviser to the Portuguese Government on VAT Policy, with responsibility for ensuring that VAT reforms were in line with the troika’s May 2011 bail-out agreement, as well as with best international practice. In 2013, Professor de la Feria gave evidence before the UK House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s enquiry into taxing corporations.

She is a member of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) and the European Association of Tax Law Professors (EATLP). She is also on the editorial board of the British Tax Review, and is correspondent for Highlights & Insights on European Taxation, Revista de Finanças Públicas e Direito Fiscal and the World Journal of VAT/GST.