Semester 1 Coordinator

Name:  Domenic Carbone
Location:  Room 4.16  Building: Law School
Telephone:  8313 4759
Email:  domenic.carbone@adelaide.edu.au


Semester 2 Coordinator

Name:                    Sylvia Villios
Location:                Room 4.15,     Building: Law School
Telephone:             8313 7223
Email:                    sylvia.villios@adelaide.edu.au

This course is designed to:

• Provide students with an understanding of the Australian income tax system in a range of contexts.
• Provide knowledge of fundamental concepts of Australian income tax law.
• Enable students to develop experience in identifying tax issues and applying the income tax law to arrive at reasoned solutions to problems.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify and apply fundamental concepts of Australian income tax law.
2. Investigate and analyse current income tax information and issues.
3. Apply critical thinking and problem solving skills to resolve income tax issues.
4. Communicate effectively orally income tax information and solutions to income tax issues.
5. Communicate effectively in writing income tax information and solutions to income tax issues.

Semester 1
Text Books
Income Tax Law Study Guide 2017
Core Tax Legislation 2017 (Oxford University Press)

Readings for semester 1
The Income Tax Law Study Guide 2017 refers to further required reading from the Australian Master Tax Guide 2017. This is available free online through the Law Library’s Quick Links to CCH Online (via IntelliConnect)  A Case Materials Booklet will also be made available that contains the essential tax cases that must be read.

References
Australian Master Tax Guide 2017 (Oxford University Press)
Australian Tax Handbook 2017 (Thomson Reuters)
Australian Taxation Law 2017, Woellner, et al, (Oxford University Press)

Case Books
Australian Taxation Law Cases 2017, Krever (Thomson Reuters)
Australian Tax Casebook 2017, Barkoczy (Oxford University Press)

Useful Internet Websites
www.austlii.edu.au – Legislation and case law.
www.comlaw.gov.au – Commonwealth legislation.
www.ato.gov.au – Australian Taxation Office (eg ATO publications and brochures, Public Taxation Rulings and Determinations, ATO case decisions and administrative guidelines, Taxpayer Alerts, etc).
www.taxboard.gov.au – The Board of Taxation (Independent, non-statutory body established to advise the Government on the development and implementation of taxation legislation and the ongoing operation of the tax system).
http://www.treasury.gov.au/Policy-Topics/Taxation – Commonwealth Department of Treasury information on taxation. taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=html/home.htm – Australia’s future tax system.
www.igt.gov.au – Inspector General of Taxation.
www.taxinstitute.com.au – The Tax Institute (Professional association of tax practitioners, ).

The lecture recordings, PowerPoint slides used in lectures and other material for the course, such as tutorial questions, will be made available on MyUni throughout the semester.

The lectures will set out the approach to understanding the Income Tax Law and applying the different topics of the tax law to problems.  Although attendance at lectures is not compulsory, it is highly recommended that students attend so that students get that understanding and familiarity with that approach to the topics.

Before a lecture, students are expected to have at least read the Study Guide topic summary or outline and PowerPoint slides for the topic being covered.  The Study Guide set out further reading prescribed from the Australian Master Tax Guide.  After a lecture, students will need to do further reading of the sections of income tax legislation covered, and also the further reading prescribed from the Australian Master Tax Guide to confirm and expand their understanding of a topic.

Tutorials are a very important component of the way the course is taught.  The Tutorial questions will be made available throughout the semester and will be fairly simple at first, and will then progressively increase in complexity throughout the course.

The tutorials will usually consider and discuss practical problem type questions in which the income tax law or “theory” from lectures is applied to arrive at a solution supported by appropriate reasoning.  This process of applying the income tax law to arrive at a reasoned solution is critical to doing well in the exam and the course.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course of private study outside of your regular classes.

Students in this course are expected to attend all lectures throughout the semester plus one tutorial class each week.

Lectures will cover:

1    Introduction to Taxation, including income tax, capital gains tax, fringe benefits tax, and goods and services tax
2    Jurisdiction to Tax
3    Assessable Income, including taxation of capital gains and losses
4    Non-assessable Income
5    Deductions
6    Tax Accounting
7    Tax Treatment of Tax Entities
8    Anti-avoidance
9    Tax Administration

The assessment components are:

Assessment Item	% of Final Mark	Due Date	Learning Outcomes Assessed
Tutorial Attendance – Quantitative: 10 out of 11 tutorials	5% Not redeemable		1, 2, 3 & 4
Tutorial Participation – Qualitative assessment	5% Not redeemable		1, 2, 3 & 4
Online Test 1 – Qualitative assessment	15% Not redeemable	Friday week 6 at 4 pm	1, 2, 3 & 5
Online Test 2 – Qualitative assessment	15% Not redeemable	Monday week 12 at 9 am	1, 2, 3 & 5
Final Exam The exam will be 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time and "open book"	60%		1, 2, 3 & 5

1. To gain a pass in the course, a mark of at least 50% overall is required. There is no requirement that a particular part of the assessment must be passed.
2. Examples of previous assessment (eg a sample exam) will be made available on the MyUni site.
3. Assessment marks prior to the final exam will be displayed on the course website. Students are encouraged to check their marks and notify the Lecturer-in-Charge of any discrepancies.
4. Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. Marks may be deducted in the final examination because of poor hand-writing.
5. Students in this course may take into the examination an English or English-Foreign dictionary (paper only). The use of a calculator in the examination is permitted in this course.

Tutorial Attendance
To gain a mark of 5% for Tutorial Attendance, students must attend a minimum of 10 tutorials out of a total of 11 tutorials that will be held.

It is a student’s responsibility to ensure that their attendance at a tutorial is recorded by their tutor.  This can be done by producing a student ID card and having the attendance noted on a class roll.  However, a student's attendance will only be recorded if the student is present during the entire duration of a tutorial.

If a student does not attend at least 10 tutorials they will receive a NIL mark for this assessment component, unless the non-attendance is due to the student’s illness or exceptional personal circumstances.  Such students must provide their tutor with a completed "Supporting Statement / Certification Form" that is part of the Replacement/Additional Assessment application available at:

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/3303/?dsn=policy.document;field=data;id=7446;m=view

that is available at Examinations Forms website page

Students relying on medical reasons must visit their medical practitioner, with that approved University form, and have the medical practitioner complete it. A normal doctor's certificate will not be accepted.

Online Tests
The two Online Tests form 15% each of the total assessment in the course and are compulsory.  The mark for the tests will not be redeemable by other assessment in the course.  Each Online Test comprises 15 multiple choice questions and students must answer all 15 questions.  The Online Tests must be completed in no more than 45 minutes from starting to answer the questions and in a single sitting.

Exam
The exam is “open book” but you must not bring into the exam room any book belonging to the University of Adelaide Libraries.  “Permitted Materials” in the exam room are the prescribed textbook or any other tax textbook, the legislation, course materials and handouts, your own lecture and other notes written and prepared by you, and not prepared by or taken from someone else.  Your own notes can be typed and printed or in hand writing.  You may also bring into the exam room an English or English/foreign language dictionary (paper only), and calculator incapable of sending text.

It is each student's responsibility to read the examination timetable.  Misreading the timetable is not accepted as grounds for granting a replacement/additional (sup) exam.  University staff are not permitted to provide examination times to students over the telephone or in response to personal enquiries.

Examinations will be held only at the time and locations stated in the University’s Examination Timetable, so they may not be taken in another country.  Students should not make any arrangements to be absent until after the replacement/additional (sup) exam period.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible  moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment  results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is  required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Acess Adelaide at the end of each semester.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

For more information please check out the Writing Centre website at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/  

Lex Salus Program

Lex Salus was founded in 2013 by Adelaide Law School Wellbeing officers Ms Corinne Walding, Ms Kellie Toole and Dr Mark Giancaspro. Lex Salus is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at raising law student awareness of the importance of mental, physical and nutritional health across all year levels of the degree, and of the various counselling, disability and equity services both within and outside the University that can provide help. Research shows that law students, both in Australia and in many jurisdictions around the world, experience the highest levels of stress, anxiety and depression out of any other discipline. Many do not get enough sleep, maintain a healthy diet or achieve a realistic work/life balance. Making matters worse, they are unwilling or afraid to speak up for fear of feeling 'weak' or because of the negative stigma that attaches to seeking help. Lex Salus is dedicated to tackling these problems head-on.

Counselling Service

The University Counselling Service provides a free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Counselling service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life. More information is available at https://www.adelaide.edu.au/counselling_centre/.

Plagiarism and other forms of cheating

Plagiarism is a serious act of academic misconduct. All students must be familiar with the Adelaide Law School Enrolment Guide, and should note in particular the sections relating to plagiarism, grievance procedures and academic conduct within the Law School and the University.

Plagiarism is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Please be aware that “academic dishonesty” (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to refuse to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Academic honesty is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.