Boise State University
College of Business & Economics
Department of Accountancy
COURSE SYLLABUS
Fall 2015
Course:
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
ACCT 302A—Survey of Federal Income Taxation
Judith A. Sage, PhD, CPA, Visiting Professor of Accounting
MBEB 2219
M & W 10:30 am to 11:45 am
M & W 2:45 pm to 3:45 pm
And by appointment
Office Phone: 208-426-1238
Email:
judysage@boisestate.edu or lloydsage@aol.com
Required Textbook:
Murphy & Higgins, CONCEPTS IN FEDERAL TAXATION, 2016 Edition, Cengage Learning, 2016.
Prerequisites:
ACCT 206.
Course Description:
Theory and practice of federal income taxation, including concepts of taxation as they apply to businesses,
individuals, flow-through entities and corporations. Specific topics include property transactions, individual
tax rules, business revenue and expense issues, and state taxation. Emphasizes the social, political and ethical
considerations of tax law.
Course Objectives:
The goals of this course are:


To provide accounting students with an understanding of federal taxation.
To serve as a required core course in the accounting program.
Learning Objectives (LO):
Upon completion of Survey of Federal Income Taxation, the student should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Prepare reports with objectivity, conciseness and clarity.
Access relevant standards, rules, and other information.
Make valid and reliable evaluations of information.
Determine project goals.
Identify and gather data from a wide variety of sources to provide insightful interpretations for
decision-making.
ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
Due Date
Aug. 24
Assignments
Read Chapter 1 (p1-18 to 1-23 & p1-26 to 1-29) – Federal Income Taxation—An
Overview; Read Chapter 8 (omit p8-8 to 8-20) – Taxation of Individuals; Read page
4-18; Pr. 8-30, 8-32, 8-33, Assignment # 1
8-31, 8-35, Assignment #2; Read Chapter 3 (omit p3-33 to 3-36) – Income Sources
LO
2,3,5
2
8-62, 8-63, 8-64, 3-35, 3-37, 3-57, 3-58, 3-81, 3-82, Assignment #3; Read Chapter 4
– Income Exclusions; Read p1-16 to 1-17
3-39, 3-41, 3-42, 3-51, 4-57; Quiz #1 (Chapters 1,8,3), Read p6-2 to 6-5
7
9
Labor Day—No Class
4-49, 4-53, 3-49, 3-54, Assignment #4, Research Case #1
26
31
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
2,3,5
2,3,5
2,3,5
2,3,5
14
16
Assignment #5; Read Chapter 9 – Acquisitions of Property
9-57, 9-64, Assignment #6; Quiz #2 (Chapters 3 & 4); Read Chapter 12 –
Nonrecognition Transactions; Read p3-25 to 3-27
2,3,5
2,3,5
21
23
12-24, 12-26, 12-28, 12-31, 12-46, 12-50, 12-51, 12-53, 12-54, Assignment #7
Assignment #8; Read Chapter 11 – Property Dispositions; Read p1-11 to 1-17
2,3,5
2,3,5
28
30
11-34, Assignment #9; Quiz #3 (Chapters 9 & 12)
Assignment #10
2,3,5
2,3,5
Assignment #11; Read p3-33 & 3-34
Assignment #12; Read Chapter 5 – Introduction to Business Expenses; Read Chapter
6 – Business Expenses
2,3,5
2,3,5
12
14
Exam I (Chapters 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12)
5-37, Assignment #13; Read p8-8 to 8-20; Project #1
2,3,5
1,2,3,5
19
21
6-35, 8-42, 8-49, Assignment #14: Review Exam I
8-60, Assignment #15; Read Chapter 10 – Cost Recovery on Property: Depreciation,
Depletion, and Amortization; Quiz #4 (Chapters 5 & 6)
2,3,5
2,3,5
26
28
10-56, Assignment #16; Read p6-12 to 6-15; Read p7-4 to 7-6; Read p7-19 to 7-22
Assignment #17; Quiz #5
2,3,5
2,3,5
2
Assignment #18; Read p7-9 to 7-19; Read p8-22 to 8-30; Read Chapter 15 (p15-24
to 15-37) – Choice of Business Entity—Other Considerations
15-71, 15-72, 15-77, 15-78, 8-65, Assignment #19; Read §41(c)(2) and
§469(i); Quiz #6
2,3,5
5
7
4
9
11
8-73, Assignment #20; Read p15-2 to 15-23
Exam II
16
15-49, 15-50, 15-51, 15-53, 15-54, 15-59, 15-64, 15-65, 15-66, 15-67, 15-68, 15-69,
Assignment #21
Research Day
18
1,2,3,4,5
2,3,5
1,2,3,4,5
Due Date
Nov. 23
25
Dec.
30
2
7
9
14
Assignments
Thanksgiving Vacation—No Class
Thanksgiving Vacation—No Class
LO
Research Case 2 Presentations
Research Case 2 Presentations
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
Assignment #22; Review Exam II; Tax Return Problem
Tax Return Problem
2,3,5
2,3,5
Final Exam, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Withdrawal Deadline: It is the responsibility of the STUDENT to drop the course before the drop date.
Faculty are not responsible for dropping students who suspend class attendance. The last day to withdraw
from the course without a W is Friday, September 4, 2015. The last day to withdraw from the course with a
W is Friday, October 30, 2015.
Accommodations for Disabilities: Students with disabilities needing accommodations to fully participate in
this class should contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC). All accommodations must be approved
through the DRC prior to being implemented. To learn more about the accommodation process, visit the
DRC’s website at http://drc.boisestate.edu/new-drc-students/.
Classroom Behavior: Classroom discussion and academic debate are encouraged as an essential intellectual
activity. It is essential that students learn to express and defend their beliefs, but it is also essential that they
learn to listen and respond respectfully to others whose beliefs they may not share. Diverse, unorthodox, and
unpopular points of view will always be tolerated, but it will not tolerate condescending or insulting remarks.
When students verbally abuse or ridicule and intimidate others whose views they do not agree with, they
subvert the free exchange of ideas that should characterize a university classroom. If their actions are deemed
by the professor to be disruptive, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, which may include
being involuntarily withdrawn from the class.
Religious Accommodation: The university is composed of a diverse student body who have a number of
different religious beliefs. Reasonable accommodations will be made to allow students to practice their
beliefs. It is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor in advance when there is a conflict
between scheduled classroom activities (examinations, quizzes, etc.) and religious holidays.
Overall Course Objectives:
This course has been designed to meet two overall objectives. The first objective is to assist you to learn the
knowledge and skills that will prepare you for a competitive job market. The second objective is to prepare
you for a successful career in accounting and/or taxation.
Upon completion of Survey of Federal Income Taxation, the student should be able to:
----------------------------------------
Understand and apply the components of the Federal income tax formula.
Use the proper method for determining the tax liability.
Understand the concepts of gross income and realization.
Identify the circumstances under which various items are excludable from gross income.
Differentiate between deductions for and from adjusted gross income.
Determine bad debt deduction, loss deductions and casualty and theft losses.
Understand tax depreciation, depletion, and amortization methods.
Recognize the deductible transportation, travel, entertainment, moving and self-employed expenses.
Recognize the deductible tax, medical, interest, contributions, and other itemized deductions.
Understand the use and calculation of tax credits.
Understand the computation of recognized gain or loss on property dispositions.
Determine long-term and short-term capital gains and losses.
Determine alternative minimum tax.
----
Understand contributions to and distributions from retirement plans.
Methods of Instruction: This class is conducted using a combination of discussion, problem-based learning
and cooperative learning techniques. Discussion is used to clarify and expand upon information in the
textbook. Problem-based learning provides the student with the opportunity to use critical thinking to solve
accounting situations. Homework assignments are thoroughly discussed to the extent time allows. Students
are expected to prepare solutions to the homework assignments before coming to class. Cooperative learning
provides an opportunity to learn critical team skills.
Problem-Based Learning: Problem-based learning (PBL) reflects the way people learn in real life.
According to Barrows (1986) in “A Taxonomy of Problem-Based Learning Methods” the goals of PBL are:
1. Structure knowledge for use in working context – PBL is concerned with constructing knowledge
that is to be put to work.
2. Developing effective reasoning processes – PBL comprises the cognitive activities required in the
professional area concerning and including problem-solving, decision-making, hypothesizing, etc.
3. Developing self-directed learning skills – PBL involves generic study skills, content-specific study
skills, and self-management skills (i.e., “lifelong learning”).
Biggs (2003) in Teaching for Quality Learning at University states that PBL-taught students use the
knowledge that they have more effectively with richer reasoning chains; they have greater self-awareness and
self-direction than traditionally taught students.
Cooperative Learning: Every member of a team brings different skills to the solution of problems.
Accountants are important members of the team but they must be able to work in teams. D. W. John, R. T.
Johnson, and K. A. Smith's 1991 book, Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom mentioned
the following elements of cooperative learning:
Positive Interdependence is recognition that you cannot succeed unless other members of the group
also succeed. The group should agree on its solution and each member should fulfill his or her own
role.
Face-to-face Promotive Interaction exists when students orally explain to each other how to solve
problems, discuss concepts and strategies being learned, teach their knowledge to classmates and
explain the connection between today's learning and earlier learning. The word promotive implies
that students help, assist, and encourage each other's efforts to learn.
Individual Accountability/Personal Responsibilities means that your performance in this course will
be based primarily on your individual performance on quizzes, examinations and projects.
Collaborative Skills means that students exercise leadership, decision-making, trust-building,
communication, and conflict-management skills.
Another reason for using cooperative learning is that it is important to increase your retention of the materials
you learn. There are many studies that document the fact that students do not retain much over time from
traditional lecture teaching methods. Students who participate in classroom activities retain much more over
time.
AICPA Core Competencies: The accounting profession has indicated that all accountants entering into the
profession should possess all elements of the AICPA Core Competencies. The research cases, project, graded
assignments, homework assignments and class participation are all designed to maximize the number of
elements of the AICPA Core Competencies to be accomplished in this course.
Learning: With much to learn in this class, you must accept primary responsibility for your own learning.
The role of the instructor is to design a course and manage the overall instruction process. However, you
must accept the responsibility for learning some basic ideas before each class session. In particular, you will
be responsible for gaining the first three levels of knowledge in Bloom's Taxonomy of Knowledge before
class. The higher levels will be worked on in class.
Levels of Knowledge (Adapted from Bloom's Taxonomy):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Knowledge--Be capable of recalling words, facts, dates, conventions, classifications, principles,
theories, etc.
Comprehension--Be capable of transposing, interpreting and extrapolating from a certain body of
knowledge.
Application--Be capable of remembering knowledge or principles in order to solve problems.
Analysis--Be capable of identifying the elements, relationships, and organizational principles of a
situation.
Synthesis--Be capable of accomplishing a personal task after devising a plan of action.
Evaluation--Be capable of making a critical judgment based on internal and external criteria.
To reiterate, you are responsible for your learning. You will learn items at the first three levels before class
by studying your reading assignments, the examples, and assigned problems. These are the foundation for
higher levels of learning, which you will achieve in the class sessions.
Exams: When exams are returned, total points to date will be given and a letter grade indicated as if grades
were determined at that point in the course. Absence from an exam must be approved by the instructor in
advance. Generally, make-up exams will not be given and an unapproved absence will result in a zero
on the exam.
Quizzes and Homework: There will be six quizzes given over reading and homework assignments. The
lowest quiz score for the term will be dropped in the calculation of total points. Absence from a quiz must
be approved by the instructor in advance. Generally, make-up quizzes will not be given and an
unapproved absence will result in a zero on the quiz. Students are expected to have homework
assignments completed by the beginning of each class. All homework assignments will be collected on their
due dates. Late homework assignments will be given two points each. Xerox copies of homework
assignments will not be accepted.
Changes in Syllabus: The instructor reserves the right to change or adjust any part of this syllabus as
circumstances necessitate. All changes will be announced in class.
Grade Determination:
Quizzes (35 points each) --------------------------------------------------------Exam I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Exam II -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Final Exam ------------------------------------------------------------------------Project -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Research Case 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------Research Case 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------Homework Assignments (3 points per assignment) ------------------------Tax Return Problem--------------------------------------------------------------Class Participation----------------------------------------------------------------Total points -------------------------------------------------------------The course grade will be based on total points using a modified curve.
175
100
100
100
25
15
60
66
10
39
690
College of Business and Economics
Core Curriculum Student Learning Goals and Objectives
Students in this class will learn or practice the following COBE Core Curriculum
concepts, methods, and skills:
1. Understand and apply analytical and disciplinary concepts and methods related to
business and economics:


1.1. Accounting

2.1. Communicate effectively: Write messages and documents that are
clear, concise, and compelling

2.2. Communicate effectively: Give oral presentations that use effective
content, organization, and delivery

3. Solve problems, including unstructured problems, related to business
and economics


4. Use effective teamwork and collaboration skills
1.7. Legal environment of business
5. Demonstrate appropriate principles of responsible business practices
 5.1 Resolve issues related to Individual Responsibility (Business
Ethics)
 5.2 Resolve issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility
 5.3 Resolve issues related to Leadership Responsibility (Corporate
Governance)
 5.4 Resolve issues related to Environmental Responsibility
(Environmental Sustainability)
 5.5 Resolve issues related to Cultural Responsibility (Diversity)