Income Tax Accounting I—AC 423
Fall, 2006
Meeting Time:
Place: Business Center 217 Office:
Office Phone: 352-8428 Home Phone: 352-2197 (before
Office Hours: M
T
W
H
F
Prerequisites: Principles of Accounting II (AC 122) and 4th
year status.
Textbook: West
Federal Taxation—Comprehensive Volume by Willis, Hoffman, Maloney, and
Raabe (2007 edition)
Course Objective: Determination of individual tax liability in
accordance with current tax law. Includes the discussion and understanding of gross income, business
and nonbusiness deductions, dependency exemptions, capital gains and losses,
net operating loss, and tax credits.
Assignments: We will be spending two or three days on each
chapter of the textbook covered this semester.
It is expected that students will have read the text material and
attempted the questions assigned for the first day on the chapter. For the second (and third) day(s) on the
chapter, students are expected to complete the assigned questions and
computational problems. It is hoped that
the selected questions and problems will highlight the material covered in the
textbook. Students are encouraged to complete
additional questions/problems from the book.
If you have questions which are not resolved by assigned material, make
sure that you ask your questions in class.
The keys to success in this course will be (1) regular class attendance
and (2) diligence in working assigned problems.
Your
assignments for the whole semester are attached to the syllabus.
The
material covered this semester will be divided up into three units as follows:
Unit 1—Chapters 1, 3, 4, & 5—Exam Date is planned for
1. Introduction to Taxation and Understanding
the Federal Tax Law
3. Tax Determination; Personal and Dependency
Exemptions; An Overview of Property Transactions
4. Gross Income—Concepts and Inclusions
5. Gross Income—Exclusions
6. Deductions and Losses: In General
7. Deductions and Losses: Certain Business Expenses and Losses
8. Depreciation, Cost Recovery, Amortization and
Depletion
9. Deductions:
Employee and Self-Employed-Related Expenses
Unit 3—Chapters 10 through 13—Exam Date is planned for
10. Deductions and Losses: Certain Itemized Deductions
11. Passive Activities Losses
12. Tax Credits
13. Property Transactions; Determination of Gain
or Loss, Basis Considerations, and
Nontaxable
Exchanges
FINAL EXAM PERIOD IS
Part 1 of the final exam is an exam on unit 3 and students
can use textbook and notes for this portion.
Part 2 of the final exam will consist of 50 multiple choice
questions. Students
will not be allowed to use any reference material for the final exam.
Evaluation Process: Students will be evaluated on 4 examinations
(3 unit exams and a comprehensive final) as indicated on the assignment sheets
that follows, completion of the special tax returns
that will be expected throughout the semester, and the student’s preparation
for class.
For
the 3 unit exams, students may use their textbook and notes as reference
material, but too much reliance on this material will not be helpful in
preparing for the CPA exam or for the comprehensive final exam. The format of the exams will be primarily
multiple choice questions with at
least one essay question on each exam.
The exams will comprise 80% of your final grade for this course.
To
get you into the preparation of the tax returns, you will be assigned several
sets (3 are planned) of tax returns that will need to be completed throughout
the semester. These should be prepared
before coming to class; on that day we will discuss how to handle various items
on the tax returns; and they will be turned in to be graded. Your performance on completing these tax
returns will comprise 15% of your final grade.
The
final 5% of your grade will be based on your preparation for class. Students will be responsible for presenting
solutions to the assigned questions/problems to the rest of the class—using the
board if required by your classmates to show how you arrive at your
solution. I have prepared a series of
random lists to be used each day to determine which questions students will be
asked to present. It is important that
you have prepared each question/problem for each session.
The
final grade will be based on a weighted average of your performance in each of
the above three areas.
General Conduct in Class:
Hats
are not to be worn during exams or presentations. PDAs and other hand-held devices are not
allowed during exams—you will be given a calculator to be used during exams—use
your own during quizzes. Students are
not to leave the room without permission during exams. As a courtesy to others, please turn off cell
phones and other electronic devices during all class activities.
Special Needs:
The Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (
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