ACCOUNTING 523 – TAXATION OF CORPORATIONS

EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE, & INFORMATION SYSYTEMS

Spring 2007

 

Course:            ACC 523;   6:00 – 8:45 p.m. Mondays;  Room: BTC 101

Instructor:        Dr. Edmund Fenton, CPA, CMA, Cr.FA

Office:              BTC 124

Phone:             (859) 622-1119        

E-mail:             Ed.Fenton@eku.edu

Office Hours:   1:30 – 3:30 p.m. T,Th; 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. M; other times by appointment.

Home Page:    http://people.eku.edu/fentone/

 

Prerequisite:    Completion of Accounting 322 with a minimum grade of C- or better.

 

Required Text:  West Federal Taxation Comprehensive Volume 2007 Edition with TNOW Access Code, Willis, et. al., Thomson South-Western (2007).

 

Required Paper:  Wall Street Journal.  Some of the exam questions may be based on articles in the WSJ.

 

Internet Access:  Internet access is a requirement for this course.  The study of some course material and the taking of some class quizzes and possibly exams will be performed via the internet.  Students must obtain and use an e-mail account on a regular basis.  Also, there are many resources available for the text that are online.

 

Blackboard:  Students must use the Blackboard system.  Class announcements, assignments, changes to the syllabus, and online quizzes and/or tests will be posted on Blackboard.  Blackboard should be checked on a daily basis for updates.

 

E-mail Accounts: All EKU students are assigned an EKU Webmail account.  Blackboard will allow students to change their email address to their home email address (AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.).  Some email accounts (AOL is the worst) have spam blockers that will block mail from EKU.  If you change your email address, it is your responsibility to make sure that your personal email account will not block email from EKU. 

 

Submitting Work Online:  The option may be given to submit papers and projects online.  When this is done, please send the file as an attachment and use the following format to name your file:  yourlastname_assignmenttitle.doc

                   

Library Research Required:  Professional Taxation Journals, CCH Tax Research Network.

 

Course Description:  Federal income tax report preparation with an emphasis on partnership and corporate returns; estate and trusts; gift and estate taxes; special problems in preparation of tax returns.

 

Objectives:  This course will provide a foundation in the areas of Federal taxation for C-corporations, partnerships,

S-corporations, and estates & gifts.  Also included will be discussions of current topics in taxation.

 

Class Format and Attendance: This is a 3 credit‑hour course.  You will meet in class one time per week.  Class will consist of discussion and tax analysis.  The student must be well prepared for the discussion that evening.  Preparation for class includes chapter reading and homework problem assignments.  You should anticipate spending a minimum of 10 hours outside of class each week in preparation.  There is no short cut.  What you get from the course depends on what you are willing to put into it.

 

Class attendance is critical to the learning process and is a course requirement.  If you have more than three unexcused absences during the semester, your overall course average will be reduced by 20 percentage points for each absence over three.  One absence is considered to be one-half of the night class period.  Students who consistently arrive late or leave before the end of class will be considered absent.
Grading Policy: Grades for the course will be determined as follows:

Online Exam 1:  50 points

     50

 

Exams 2,3,4:  150 points each

   450

      A   90% or better

Online Assignments & Quizzes

   100

      B   80% to 89%

Tax Return Projects (25 points each)

     50

      C   70% to 79%

Tax Article Summary

     15

      D   60% to 69%

Tax Research Document Summary

     15    

      F   less than 60%

Total points for the semester

    680

      

 

 

 

Bonus I:

 

Only a total of 20 Bonus I points will be allowed.  The points are awarded in 10-point increments.

 10 points for each item below:

 Maximum

 

Additional tax article summary

    20

 

Helping with a session of VITA

    20

 

 

 

 

Bonus II:

 

 

Attendance at the IMA Student Night: 20 bonus points (these are in addition to the regular bonus points above).

Also, additional bonus opportunities may be provided during the semester.

Note: the amount of bonus points for the items above could change.

 

Exams:  The exams will either be given during regular class hours or online outside of class time.  The final exam date is set by the university and is fixed.  The exams may consist of multiple choice, problems and/or essay questions.  Students will be evaluated on the accuracy and thoughtfulness of their answers and on their abilities to write clearly, concisely, and effectively.  All students are expected to take the examinations at the scheduled time for the class.  Examinations that are missed will be given a grade of zero and will not be allowed to be taken at a later date unless: (1) the student contacted the instructor prior to the examination date and received permission to miss the in-class exam, or (2) the situation was an extreme emergency.  Make‑up examinations will be allowed only at the judgment of the instructor.  A written verification or explanation must be submitted to the instructor before a make-up exam is permitted.

 

Article and Original Tax Document Summaries: Federal income taxation articles from taxation and/or accounting journals are to be read and a written summary prepared.  Original tax research sources such as Treasury regulations, Revenue Rulings, and Revenue Procedures are also to be read and summarized.  The summaries are to be two pages in length, double-spaced.  The page margins must be one inch, and the type may not be smaller than 10 point or larger than 12 point.  The citation for the article is to be placed at the top of the first page and should be single-spaced.  Journals from which full-length articles may be found are ones similar to The Tax Adviser, The Journal of Taxation, Taxes, The Journal of Accountancy, and The CPA Journal.  Use the library resources of periodical and the online CCH tax service both in the campus library and online to locate the journal articles and tax research sources.

 

Disabilities Statement:

If you are registered with the Office of Services for Individuals with Disabilities, please make an appointment with the course instructor to discuss any academic accommodations you need. If you need academic accommodations and are not registered with the Office of Services for Individuals with Disabilities, please contact the office on the third floor of the Student Services Building, by email at disabilities@eku.edu or by telephone at (859) 622-2933 V/TDD. Upon individual request, this syllabus can be made available in alternative forms.

 

Note: The chapter assignment schedule and examination dates (not the Final Exam date) are subject to change depending on the needs of the class and time spent covering the material.  More assignments may be given and some may be deleted, and the exam dates could be earlier or later than the dates listed above.  Each student is responsible for attending every class meeting to become aware of any changes.  The chapters are to be read and the problem assignments are to be completed before the class period on the dates shown in the schedule above.

 

Final Exam: Everyone will take the final exam at the scheduled time; no exceptions.  Please plan your travel after the final exam.


 

Date

Chapter Assignment

Assignments Due

Jan.  22

Introduction;

Chapter 15  Alternative Minimum Tax;

 

Ch 15: 1,3,6,7,8,32(a)(b),37,46,58

 

 

 

29

Chapter 15  Alternative Minimum Tax;

Chapter 16  Accounting Periods and Methods

CCH Internet Tax Research Network

 

Ch 16: 6,7,8,13,14

 

 

 

Feb. 5

Chapter 16  Accounting Periods and Methods;

Chapter 17  Corporations: Introduction, Operating Rules, and Related Corporations

Tax Article Summary Due

Ch 16: 20,22,23,28(a)

 

Ch 17: 1,4,11,17,20

 

 

 

 

Exam #1 Chapters 15,16 - Online

 

 

 

 

Feb. 12

Chapter 17  Corporations: Introduction, Operating Rules, and Related Corporations;

Chapter 18  Corporations: Organization and Capital Structure

 

Ch 17: 22,27,31,36,39,40,41

 

Ch 18: 1,2,3,4,11,13,18

 

 

 

19

Chapter 18  Corporations: Organization and Capital Structure;

Chapter 19  Corporations: Distributions Not in Complete Liquidation

C Corporation Tax Return Project

 

Ch 18: 24,27,29,30,32,36,39,41

 

Ch 19: 2,5,14,16,29

Problem 3, page E-9 (Form 1120)

 

 

 

20 Tuesday

Bluegrass IMA Student Night – 20 Bonus Points

In Lexington

 

 

 

26

Chapter 19  Corporations: Distributions Not in Complete Liquidation;

Chapter 20  Corporations: Distributions in Complete Liquidation and An Overview of Corporate Reorganizations

 

Ch 19: 30,33,36,43,47,50

 

 

Ch 20: 2,4,6,11,17,21,26

 

 

 

March 5

Exam #2  Chapters 17,18,19,20

 

 

 

 

12

Spring Break  - no class

 

 

 

 

19

Chapter 21  Partnerships

CCH Internet Tax Research Network

Ch 21: 1,9,13,14,16,17,18

 

 

 

26

Chapter 21  Partnerships;

Chapter 22  S Corporations;

Tax Research Document Summary Due

Ch 21: 21,23,27,33,40,45

Ch 22: 1,8,12,15,19

 

 

 

April 2

Chapter 22  S Corporations;

Graduate Presentations

Partnership Tax Return Project

Ch 22: 25,27,35,42,44

 

Problem 4, page E-13 (form 1065)

 

 

 

April 9

Exam #3  Chapters 21,22

 

 

 

 

April 16

Chapter 27  The Federal Gift and Estate Taxes

Ch 27: 3,4,9,11,16,18,28

 

 

 

April 23

Chapter 27  The Federal Gift and Estate Taxes;

Chapter 26  Tax Administration and Practice

Ch 27: 29,34,35,38,41,42,43,48

Ch 26: 6,7,8,10,13,16

 

 

 

April 30

Chapter 26  Tax Administration and Practice

Ch 26: 21,23,24,28,33,34,37,41

 

 

 

May 7

Exam #4 - Final Examination  Chapters 26,27