ACTG 325: Introduction to Taxation

Winter 2009 Syllabus

Professor: Dr. Jared A. Moore E-mail: jared.moore@bus.oregonstate.edu

Office: BEXL 224E Phone: 737-2517

Office Hours: MTWTh 3:00 – 4:00pm

(or by appointment)

Class Times: TTh 10:00 – 11:50am (CRN 36733) Classroom: BEXL 328 (Moss Adams Classroom)

TTh 12:00 – 1:50pm (CRN 36734) Credit Hrs: 4

COURSE OVERVIEW

Welcome to ACTG 325, Introduction to Taxation.

ACTG 325 is the first of two tax courses offered through the College of Business. It covers concepts related business taxation and focuses primarily on 1) basic income tax law as it relates to businesses, 2) the role of income taxes in decision making processes, and 3) basic income tax research. In addition, the course is intended to assist students in preparation to become a professional, and thus contains components designed to aid in the development of technical, analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.

Class will be conducted in a lecture-discussion format. Topics will be introduced and examples will be given in class – and students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in class discussion. There will also be in-class exercises from time to time that will require participation from students. Students are expected to bring to class the textbook, a calculator, and a printout of the class notes for the chapter(s) to be covered in class. This is a tough and time-consuming course. Make sure your schedule allows you sufficient time to be successful.

Prerequisites:

Enforced prerequisite: ACTG 319

Other prerequisites: ACTG 317 and BA 340 (with C or better), and departmental approval

Required Resources:

Text:

Jones and Rhoades-Catanach, Principles of Taxation for Business and Investment Planning, 2009 Edition

IRS Forms, Instructions, and Publications:

Certain IRS forms, related instructions, and publications will be used throughout the course. These documents are available in PDF format at http://www.irs.gov/ and can be downloaded without charge.

CCH Tax Research Network:

The CCH tax research database is available through the OSU library website (link provided on Blackboard) and will be a necessary resource at various points throughout the course.

E-mail:

E-mail may be used at times to communicate course information to students outside of class. All students need to have a functional Oregon State University (OSU) e-mail account (@onid.orst.edu) and check it AT LEAST DAILY. Everyone in the class has an OSU e-mail account – and if you do not regularly check your OSU account, it is your responsibility to get your OSU account forwarded to the e-mail account you regularly use.

Blackboard:

Class notes (Power Point slides) and various other course materials will be available for download from the course Blackboard site at https://my.oregonstate.edu/webapps/login. Blackboard will also be the primary outlet for important course announcements – so it should also be checked AT LEAST DAILY.

Important Dates:

Last Day to Drop a Course by Web: Jan. 16, 11:55pm

Last Day to Withdraw from a Course: Feb. 20, 11:55pm

Last Day for Total Withdrawal from University: Mar. 13, 5:00pm

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Dishonesty:

Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course. If a student is caught engaging in such activity, he or she will be dealt with according to University and College of Business guidelines and will be subject to penalties ranging from a failing grade on the assignment, exam, quiz, etc. in question to a failing grade for the course. The University guidelines can be found online at http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm. All students will be required to sign an Academic Integrity Policy form at the beginning of the class.

Grading:

Final grades will be determined based on the following structure:

Tax Research Cases (3)	80 points
Tax Return Project	60 points
Midterm Exams (2)	200 points
Final Exam	120 points
Professionalism	40 points
Total	500 points

Grades are calculated based on the plus/minus system. Specific information is available on the Blackboard site in the “Syllabus” folder.
The 500 points listed above are the only points available for the class. In other words, no extra credit.
GRADE LIMIT: A student can earn no more than one full letter grade above his or her exam average (midterms and final).

Homework: Problems will be assigned from each chapter to give you practice in applying the concepts learned. It is essential that you work through these on your own before coming to class so you can participate in any class discussion and so the material presented in class is easier to absorb. Homework will not be collected, but there are two ways in which failing to complete the homework assigned can adversely affect your grade. First, successfully learning the material in this class depends at some level on having adequate practice and repetition. Much of this practice is provided by the homework. As such, failure to take the homework seriously often translates into lower exam scores. Second, coming to class unprepared to participate in class discussions will adversely affect your Professionalism grade for the course (described in detail below).

Tax Research Cases: Three tax research cases will be assigned that will require you to find answers to technical questions and communicate your findings. These cases are to be completed in a professional manner, meaning that they must be typed, proof read, clear, and accurate. You are to work with a partner to complete the tax research cases (no more than two people per team). Late work will be accepted up to the next class session, but with a 25% penalty for each 24 hours or part thereof that the work is late.

Tax Return Project: A tax return project worth 60 points will be assigned in this course. More information on the nature of the work and the time frame involved will be provided in class. You are to work with a partner to complete the tax return project (no more than two people per team). There may or may not be some class time available to organize and discuss the assignment; however, substantial out-of-class work will be required to complete it. Late work will be accepted up to the next class session, but with a 25% penalty for each 24 hours or part thereof that the work is late.

Exams: Both midterm exams will be administered during normal class times on the dates shown on the schedule portion of the syllabus. The final exam will be held at the times prescribed by university policy, which are also shown on the schedule portion of the syllabus. All exams must be taken during the times scheduled – missed exams cannot be made up without prior approval from the professor. Absence from a scheduled exam without prior approval from the professor will result in a grade of zero on the exam. Approval to be absent from an exam will only be granted in cases of extreme personal emergency. Written verification of the personal emergency must be provided. Note that recruiting activities, oversleeping, parking trouble, traffic, etc. are NOT considered extreme personal emergency.

Graded exams remain the property of the professor, but may be viewed at any time during office hours.

Each student must have his/her own calculator as no sharing will be allowed on exams. Also, students are responsible for battery failure and/or calculator malfunction – and may not use this as a reason for excused absence from an exam or additional time to complete an exam. Finally, cell phone calculators or other calculators with text storage capabilities are not permited.

Professionalism: Professionalism consists of class participation, preparation for class, attendance, punctuality, cooperation, respect for colleagues, respect for the instructor, etc. You are strongly encouraged to come to class prepared and to participate in class discussion (including asking questions when you have them). Please refrain from behaviors that are disruptive to the learning process and/or disrespectful (to the instructor or to other students) such as coming to class late, working on or reading materials for other classes during class, conversing with other students during class, using your cell phone (e.g., texting) during class, etc. Please turn cell phones off. Finally, please attend the section for which you are registered. The Professionalism points in this course (noted above) will be awarded on the basis of the professionalism elements listed above and will amount to about 8% of the total course grade.

Grading Disputes:

Students who believe that an error has been made in the grading of an exam, project, or quiz should submit a written request for re-grading within one week of the originally graded exam, project, or quiz being returned in class. This request must identify the item in question and describe why the student believes it has been graded erroneously. Students should understand that submission of this request will result in a re-grading of the item in question, which may produce a higher or lower score than originally received.

Syllabus Changes:

Changes to the syllabus are not anticipated and would only occur if absolutely necessary. However, you are responsible for any changes announced in class, communicated through e-mail, and/or posted on Blackboard.

Students with Disabilities
Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). Students with accommodations approved through SSD are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through SSD should contact SSD immediately at 737-4098.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR ACTG 325

The primary learning objectives of this course are to acquire suffiecient knowledge and comprehension of the internal revenue code and regulations and federal income tax forms to enable you to apply income tax law and concepts to (properly) prepare income tax returns, to assess various income tax issues that arise based on the underlying facts and circumstances, to analyze and solve income tax compliance issues, to formulate solutions to complex income tax planning problems, and to communicate your understanding and conclusions about income tax issues to clients and colleagues.

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ACTG 325
Winter 2009
Syllabus - Class Schedule

DAY	TOPIC (AND ITEMS DUE)	READING	HOMEWORK
	-Introduction	Chapter 1	*CH1 -*
TUE 1/6	-Course / Syllabus Overview		DQ 2, 6, 8, 12, 15; AP 1, 4, 7;
1	-General Overview of Taxation		IR 1, 5, 8

THU 1/8	-Policy Issues: Standards for a "Good" Tax	Chapter 2	*CH2 -*
2	-Tax Research	Chapter 5	DQ 2, 5, 6, 9, 15, 17;
			AP 4, 5, 7; IR 3, 4
			*CH5 -*
			DQ 2, 9; AP 3, 6, 11, 13; RP 1

TUE 1/13	-Tax Research (cont.)	Chapter 3	*CH3 -*
3	-Taxes as Transaction Costs		DQ 2, 3, 4; AP 8, 11, 13, 14, 16;
			IR 5, 6, 7, 8

THU 1/15	-Taxes as Transaction Costs (cont.)	Chapter 4	*CH4 -*
4	-Maxims of Tax Planning		DQ 1, 7, 14; AP 11, 15, 16, 19;
			IR 2, 3, 4; PC 4

TUE 1/20	-Maxims of Tax Planning (cont.)
5	-Catch Up

THU 1/22	NO CLASS - SELF STUDY

TUE 1/27	Research Case 1 Due
6	-Review for Midterm 1
	-Practice Problems (time permitting)

THU 1/29	MIDTERM 1
7
TUE 2/3	-Brief Review of Exam	Chapter 6	*CH6 -*
8	-Taxable Income from Business Ops		DQ 8, 14; AP 1, 10, 21, 24, 27,
			28, 29; IR 7, 11; RP 2; PC 2

THU 2/5	-Taxable Income from Business Ops (cont.)	Chapter 7	*CH7 -*
9	-Property Acq & Cost Recovery		DQ 7; AP 2, 7, 9, 12, 13, 17,
			27, 29, 30; IR 8; PC 4

NOTE: You can use the following key to identify the appropriate homework problems in the text:

DQ – Questions and Problems for Discussion

AP – Application Problems

IR – Issue Recognition Problems

RP – Research Problems