Ivan Ozai researches and teaches national and international tax law and policy, with a particular focus on the intersection of tax law with legal theory and political philosophy.
His academic writing has appeared in various law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, such as the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, the Columbia Journal of Tax Law, the Fordham International Law Journal, the Dalhousie Law Journal, the World Tax Journal, the Canadian Tax Journal, and the Journal of Tax Studies. He is the author of Expenditures in the Value-Added Tax (2019), published in Portuguese by Editora Lumen Juris, and has participated in several edited volumes, including Tax Justice and Tax Law: Understanding Unfairness in Tax Systems (Hart Publishing, 2020).
Professor Ozai has been the recipient of multiple awards for his scholarly work, including the IFA USA Writing Award (2018) by the International Fiscal Association and the Paul-Gérin-Lajoie Rising Star Award (2019) by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec, Société et Culture (FRQSC). His recent work was shortlisted for the Frans Vanistendael Award (2023) by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation.
Before moving into academia, he practised tax for more than ten years as a litigator, legal adviser, and chartered professional accountant. In Brazil, he was appointed a tax court judge and held several senior government positions, including as the Director-General of the Advance Tax Rulings Directorate of the Department of Finance of the State of Sao Paulo.
Professor Ozai was awarded the Osgoode Hall Law School Teaching Award in 2023. He currently sits on the editorial board and serves as a reviewer for several journals and book publishers in law and philosophy. He is also a board member of the YIN Steering Committee (Canada) of the International Fiscal Association. During his doctoral studies at McGill University Faculty of Law, where he was a Richard H. Tomlinson fellow, he was a visiting scholar at the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam, the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales de Montréal (CÉRIUM), and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario.
Research Interests: National, International and Comparative Tax Law; Fiscal Policy; Fiscal Federalism; Statutory Interpretation; Deontic Logic; Jurisprudence
Graduate Research Supervision (LLM): Professor Ozai is interested in supervising students on projects relating to national, international and comparative tax law and policy. He is also interested in research projects focusing on legal theory, jurisprudence, deontic logic and statutory interpretation.
Professor Ozai is willing to read preliminary proposals from prospective students and comment on interest in supervision before submission of an official application. Potential students may send an email, attaching their cv and a brief research proposal.