Syllabus for ACC-421-OL

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Federal Income Taxation is a one-semester course designed to help you learn the basics of federal income taxation of individuals. The course covers the basic tax calculations, filing status, gross income inclusions and exclusions, gain and loss recognition, business and personal deductions, tax credits, and filing requirements. It also looks briefly at the taxation of partnerships, as well as that of corporations and special "S corporations."

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COURSE OBJECTIVES

By successfully completing the learning activities of the course, including careful study of the textbook and study notes, use of chapter self-tests, and problem solving, you should be able to:

• Apply all steps in preparing individual taxable income and tax.



• Indicate which items are included in income and which items are excluded.



• Recognize deductible business expenses and nonbusiness deductions.



• Calculate depreciation, bad debts, and losses.



• Apply the rules for capital and ordinary gain and loss recognition.



• Demonstrate conversance with available individual tax credits.



• Articulate the fundamentals of the taxation of corporations and partnerships.

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REQUIRED TEXTBOOK

You will need the following text to complete the work of the course. The text is available from the textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

South-Western Federal Taxation: Individual Income Taxes, 2010 Edition, ed. William H. Hoffman Jr., James E. Smith, and Eugene Willis (Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2010; ISBN-10: 0-324-82865-9).

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COURSE STRUCTURE

Federal Income Taxation is a three-credit, online course. Its six assignment modules require you to complete six written assignments and participate in six graded online discussions. You are also required to take a midterm examination and complete a final project.

The written assignments consist of discussion questions and problems from the end of each assigned chapter in the textbook. Online discussions similarly draw on discussion questions and problems from the text.

For the course's six assignment modules, go to the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site.

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ONLINE PARTICIPATION

In addition to an ungraded "Introductions" forum in module 1, Federal Income Taxation requires you to participate in six graded class discussions (worth 12 percent of your course grade). Like the written assignments, online discussions draw on end-of-chapter discussion questions and problems from the textbook.

Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct activities: an initial response to the assigned problems and subsequent comments on classmates' responses.

You will be evaluated both on the quality of your responses (i.e., the correctness of your answer and your understanding of the tax code) and on your participation (i.e., the number of times you participate meaningfully in the assigned forums). Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.

Meaningful participation in online discussions is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement.

For additional information on online discussions, see Online Discussions in the Online Student Handbook.

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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Federal Income Taxation has six (6) written assignments (worth 38 percent of your course grade), due at regular intervals throughout the course—one written assignment per assignment module. The written assignments help to solidify and summarize the tax laws for you and consist of discussion questions and problems from the end of each assigned chapter in the textbook. For the specific problems to solve and send to your mentor, see the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site. Be sure to show all computations.

Prepare your written assignments using whatever word processing or spreadsheet software you have on your computer. However, before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing or spreadsheet software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled.

When satisfied that your assignment represents your best work, submit it to your mentor by means of the assignment link provided on each assignment page. Use the Browse button within this link to locate and attach your assignment file. Click to turn in the assignment.

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MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Federal Income Taxation requires you to take a proctored midterm examination (worth 30 percent of your course grade). Consult the course Calendar for the scheduling of this exam.

The proctored midterm examination is open book, which means you may bring texts and notes and use a calculator. It covers all material assigned in modules 1–3 of the course. The exam is three hours long and consists of true-and-false questions, multiple-choice questions, and problems similar to those on the written assignments.

You may take the examination only during the designated exam week, at an approved location, and with an approved proctor. In this regard, you need to schedule your exam and submit your "Proctor Request Form" with the necessary documentation no later than the end of the first week of the semester (see Administrative Forms in the General Information area of the course Web site).

If you are on a course extension and have not yet taken the midterm exam, you must let your examination proctor know when you plan to take the exam and contact the Office of Test Administration (609-984-1181) two weeks in advance to request that your exam be sent to the proctor.

For more information on scheduling a proctored examination, see the section Examinations and Proctors in the Online Student Handbook.

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FINAL PROJECT

In lieu of a final examination, you are required to complete a final project (worth 20 percent of your course grade). The final project consists of a tax return along with two end-of-chapter problems assigned from the text.

Instructions for completing and submitting the final project will be made available to you in the penultimate week of the course in the Final Project area of the course Web site. Please consult the course Calendar for the project's due date.