COURSE SYLLABUS

School of Management
The University of Texas at Dallas
Accounting and Information Management Programs

Course: Individual Taxation-AIM 6351-OG1

Instructor: Arthur M. Agulnek
Semester: Spring, 2005

| Course Information | Technical Requirements | Course Access | Communications |

| Student Assessment | Scholastic Dishonesty | Course Evaluation | Course Schedule |

Course Information
Instructor Information

Instructor: Arthur M. Agulnek, CPA

Senior Lecturer of Accounting and Information Management
Telephone: 972-883-4773 (in case of emergency 972-867-6877 or 214-
762-2371-do not call the emergency numbers before 9AM or after 9PM)
Office: SOM 4.222
FAX: 972-867-4245 -home fax
E-mail: axa022000@utdallas.edu, Art3601@comcast.net-
Web site: www.utdallas.edu/~axa022000
TA: Ioana Lacatusu
Office Hours: BY APPOINTMENT

Course Objectives

To Use Critical Thinking

Ø To understand and apply income tax concepts which influence decisions of

individuals. The course will concentrate on tax effects in the following areas:

1. The Basic Tax Model-See Inside Front Cover of Textbook

a. Computing Tax Liability
b. Determining Exemptions
2. Determining Gross Income
3. Determining Deductions
4. Tax Effects of Property Transactions

Ø To determine the tax liability for individual taxpayers with varying tax
situations.

Ø To apply concepts to determine the best course of action for individual

taxpayers when confronted with options involving tax planning.
 To Understand the Ethical Considerations in Tax Practice

Ø To appreciate the requirements and concepts contained in the Statement on

Responsibilities in Tax Practice.

Ø To understand the ethical issues that confronts both individual taxpayers and
tax practitioners on a day-to-day basis.

To Enhance Communication Skills

Ø Completion of a tax return case study plus the online research project will
improve your tax communication skills. These all require the use of a
computer based tax preparation program and the use of a computer based
tax research program (CCH or RIA Checkpoint). Please see the appropriate
due dates which are noted in the syllabus section. You can gain access
to the CCH system by going to the UTD website -McDermott Library and
then periodicals. To gain access to RIA Checkpoint you need to login to
www.riahome.com/cploginids--this must be done from school—if you
are out of town-pls let me know and we will make an alternate
arrangement.

To Enhance Understanding and Use of Computers

Ø By requiring the use of an on-line tax research system in the preparation of

short answer to a tax question/issue.

Course Prerequisite

There is no prerequisite for this class.

Course Approach

The course will rely heavily on lectures, regular homework, problems and case studies.

Course Preparation and Participation

Each student must accept the responsibility for course preparation. Thus, for each
session, every student must study the assigned chapters and prepare the assigned
questions and problems. The questions and problems will be used as a basis for
furthering tax ideas and planning opportunities. In addition, each chapter will be
followed by a brief quiz that are not graded but are for purposes of self-
development.
Online Tests/Quizzes
You can access quizzes by clicking the Online Quizzes icon and then clicking the
available quiz title links. Each quiz is timed and can only be accessed once within the
scheduled time window. Please read the on-screen instructions carefully before you click
the Begin Quiz button. After each quiz is graded and released for reviewing, you may go
back to the quizzes page and click the “Completed” link under status column of the quiz
to review your quiz results and any feedbacks from the instructor.

Professional Linkages

Individual income taxation is an important area for all accounting firms, including Big 4,
regional and local firms. It continues to be a way of developing key relationships with
executives.

Course Materials

West Individual Income Taxes-2005—Hoffman, Smith, Willis, Thomson-Southwestern

Publishing
.
Textbooks and other bookstore materials can be ordered online through MBS Direct
Virtual Bookstore: http://direct.mbsbooks.com/utd.htm. They are also available in UTD
Bookstore and Off-Campus Books.

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General Comment

The instructor’s role is to provide technical content to the classroom environment. If you
have software or hardware problems-they need to be resolved with the Global MBA
hotline or with your other means of technical support.

Technical Requirements
In addition to a comfortable level of computer and Internet literacy, certain minimum
technical requirements must be met to enable a successful learning experience.
Technical requirements include but not limited to:

Hardware
• A Pentium processor or equivalent Mac system; Windows 98/Me/2000/XP or
Mac OS 9.x or OS X 10.1.
• Internet access with modem or preferably with other faster connections.
• 32 MB system Ram; 200 MB free disk space or sufficient storage
• Sound card
• CD-ROM capabilities

Software
 • Netscape Navigator 4.7x or higher (but 4.78, 4.79 and 6.0-6.1 not supported), or
Internet Explorer 5.0 to 6.0 (but 5.5 SP1 not supported).
• MS Office 97/98 is the minimum standard. (Microsoft software is available at a
nominal cost from UTD Microsoft Program. For more information, visit Global
MBA Online Student Service web page at:
http://som.utdallas.edu/globalmba/service.htm).
• Virus detection/protection software such as McAfee
• “Plug-ins” tools such as current version of RealPlayer/Real One Player (available
at: http://www.real.com/realone/index.html) and Adobe Acrobat Reader (available
at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)
• A zip file expansion tool such as WinZip or Stuffit Expander (available at:
http://www.download.com).

Web Browser Configuration

To view WebCT courses you need one of the WebCT supported browsers listed above
with JavaScript enabled and cookie enabled. It is also important that you set the
cache settings of your browser to verify web documents “Every Time”. The
methods for configuring these settings vary among browsers. Please follow this web link
provided by WebCT to tune-up your browser:
http://www.webct.com/quickstart/viewpage?name=exchange_browser_tuneup.

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Course Access and Navigation

This course is developed using a web course tool called WebCT. It is to be delivered
entirely online. You will be notified by email about the course access information at the
start of the course. You’ll need to have a UTD NetID and password (your UTD
Unix/Email ID and password) to access the course. If you have not used a UTD NetID
account yet, you can go to https://netid.utdallas.edu/ to initiate your account shortly
before or at the start of the semester. Your UTD NetID is your WebCT ID to be used
to log on to the UTD WebCT courses. For more information, please check out this NetID
FAQs page. The URL for the course login page is: http://webct.utdallas.edu. You can
login to the course whenever you want. You are required to meet deadlines for the
assignments and exams and also any schedules for class activities or tasks the course
requires. You should login to the course site regularly to check course updates,
discussion board messages, etc.

You’ll access “My WebCT” page after you login. The page listed all the courses you’ve
registered. You can click the course title to access the course Home page which
displays several icon links. Clicking each icon link will take you to different subsidiary
pages containing the course content elements or built-in course tools. Some navigation
components such as the Navigation Bar with Course Menu on the left side, the Menu
Bar and the path link on the top and the Action Menu on the content page can help you
navigate within the course site.

To get started with a WebCT course, please see Getting started: Student WebCT
Orientation. For more information about WebCT tool usage, please see the WebCT’s
Student Help Index. Within the course site, you can always click HELP on the WebCT
Menu Bar to find information and answers. You can also check out the Orientation
Center to Online Learning and WebCT provided on WebCT’s web site. For more
WebCT information and its learning resources, visit http://www.webct.com.

If you have any problem with your UTD account or connection to the UTD WebCT
server, you may email to: assist@utdallas.edu or call UTD computer help call center at:
972-883-2911. If you encounter any technical difficulties with the course, you can send
an email to gmbasupport@utdallas.edu.

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Communications
WebCT built-in communication tools: There are four built-in communication tools to
facilitate learning, communication and collaboration. A course conferencing system, the
Discussion, allows the communications among all course participants. Discussion topics
or groups can be set up for topic discussions and homework assignments. You can use
course Mail tool to communicate privately with instructor and classmates. The Chat tool
can be used for real time communication among course participates. Finally there is a
Whiteboard tool also allows real-time interaction among course participants using a
graphical interface. Instructor may schedule times to use the Chat and/or Whiteboard
tools for office hours and class discussion sessions.

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Student Assessment

Grading System

Points

1. Two Tests 200

2. Preparation of Tax Return 100

3. Short Answer – on-line research 50

4. Final Examination 150

TOTAL POINTS 500

Translation of the total point score into a letter grade will be based on the instructor’s
judgment. The letter grade will reflect each student's performance relative to the course
and standards expected of graduate students at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The tax return noted above (#2) will be posted in WebCT . Please see the syllabus for
the due date of this project.
Instructions for using a software system for the preparation of the assigned tax
returns will be posted in due course. In addition, you will need to notify my TA
upon completion of the tax returns with your locator number-that will also be
supplied with the instructions.

Proctored Final Exam Information

This course requires a proctored final examination. An on-campus class exam session is
scheduled on (Thursday 4/28/05 at 7:00-9:30 PM) under the supervision of the
instructor. Room info will be announced later and posted on Discussion board.

Students who are not able to attend this exam session with instructor can arrange
an individually proctored exam with a testing service of their choice at any date
within this required exam time window: (4/25/05-4/28/05). For local students, testing
service is available at UTD Learning Resources Center. Students who find UTD
geographically inconvenient may use a testing service at a convenient location to have
the exam proctored. All individually arranged proctored exams must be completed within
the required exam time window. Student who will use either UTD testing service at
Learning Resources Center or an outside testing service, please inform the instructor
and the Global MBA Online office (gmbasupport@utdallas.edu) and complete a
proctored exam form and send back to GMBA Office before (March 15, 2005). For more
information on arranging a proctored exam, the detailed procedures and a
downloadable exam form, please go to the Proctored Exam Information page at
http://som.utdallas.edu/globalmba/examinfo.htm. All completed exams must be
received by me no later than April 28, 2005.If you are using a testing service -you
can request that they fax me your papers-that helps to facilitate my end of the
process. If an exam is not received by that date a grade of Incomplete will be
given—pending receipt of the completed exam.

Important, Time- Sensitive Requirement

To facilitate the getting to know you process, the following information, formatted as
shown below, must be sent to the instructor immediately upon logging-in to the
course through the section entitled Student Introductions in the Discussion section
within WebCT (in the past, these introductions were scattered throughout WebCT
and all of my e-mail accounts—please follow the instructions-so all of your
classmates can get to know you as well!)

1. Last Name; First Name; UTD Degree Program and Expected Graduation
Semester
2. Day- time Telephone Number and FAX Number; Day and Evening Email
Addresses
3. Collegiate Degrees Earned; Years Earned; Name(s) of the Granting Institution(s)
4. Number of Earned Collegiate Semester Hours of Accounting; Where Earned
(Institution)
5. Name of Current Employer; Your Position or Title; Months with Employer
6. A Short Statement of Your Career Objectives and How You Expect This Course
to Help
Guidelines for Research Paper

1. State the relevant facts.

2. UTD has available for student’s use of the CCH on-line tax
service. The use of this system or a comparable
computerized system is required. Provide a copy of the
research data obtained from the on-line service.

3. Cite one or more of the following items in your short

answer:

a. Code Sections
b. Treasury Regulations
c. IRS Revenue Rulings
d. Court Cases
e. Letter Rulings

4. The format must be as follows:

• Facts
• Issues
• Conclusions
• Rationale-an analysis of the authorities that you
used in arriving at your conclusions. You should
cite the relevant cases, rulings, etc and tie them
back to your fact pattern.
• Any other format will not be acceptable

Recommendations-if fact pattern and conclusion lend

themselves to this.

You must use a bulletized approach in writing the paper.

Do not cite IRS publications or instructions

5. The paper should be no more than two pages in length,

typed and double-spaced. Copies of your research must
be attached.

6. The paper is due on March 4, 2005

7. The paper will be graded on:

a. Professionalism
 b. Logical format
c. Clarity-easy to understand by others
d. Creativity
e. Appropriate and acceptable writing style of a
graduate student

The basis for grading the paper is as follows:

Writing is clear, brief, articulate grammatical correct 20 points

Conclusions and rationale are logical, feasible, specific 15 points

and are supported by analysis

Conclusions are correct and rationale cites appropriate

authorities 10 points

Case, Internal Revenue Code and ruling citations

are correct 5 points

Total for research paper 50points

Topics for Research Paper

“First name” begins with: Chapter/Research Problem #

A-E 10/4
F-J 6/4
K-P 11/1
Q-T 9/3
U-Z 6/2

For example-Chapter 9, research Problem # 2 is found on page 9-43 in the textbook. Every
chapter has a series of research problems at the back end—please make sure that you do the
correct problem-based on your “first name”.

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Scholastic Dishonesty
The university has policies and discipline procedures regarding scholastic dishonesty.
Detailed information is available on Scholastic Dishonesty web page. All students are
expected to maintain a high level of responsibility with respect to academic honesty.
Students who violate university rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the
university. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the integrity of
the university, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.

Course Evaluation
As required by UTD academic regulations, every student needs to do an evaluation for
each enrolled course at the end of the semester. An online instructional assessment
form will be made available for your confidential use. Please look for the course
evaluation link on the course Homepage before finishing the course. Your feedback and
comments are greatly appreciated.

Course Schedule

Class Schedule
Week # Dates Topic Assignments
1 Introduction None
1/10/05 Chapter 1 Class Discussion
thru Questions and Problems – 4,11,15,18,23,26,39,&51
1/14/05

2 Chapter 2 Class Discussion

1/17/05 Questions and Problems – 2,9,19,22,29,44,48 and 50
thru Chapter 3 Class Discussion
1/21/05
3
1/24/05 Chapter 3 Class Discussion
thru Questions and Problems –
1/28/05 2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,19,20, 21,28, 39, and 55
Chapter 4

4 Chapter 4 Questions and Problems –

1/31/05 2,3,6,9,12,17,19,31,36,38,40,45 and 60 (prepare to
thru discuss)
2/4/05 Chapter 5 Class Discussion

Questions and Problems – 2,5,8,11,12,21,24,28,31,34,

47,48& 59(prepare to discuss)
5
2/7/05
thru Test #1 Chapters 1 – 5
2/14/05
6
2/14/05 Chapter 6 Class Discussion
thru Questions and Problems –
2/18/05 2,4,8,11,17,19,21,29,33,45,50, 53 ,61&63 (put data on
workpaper)
 Chapter 7 Class Discussion
Questions and Problems -
3,4,8,9,10,21,31,34,36,37,39,40,47,49 and 53 (put data
on workpaper)

7
2/21/05 Chapter 8 Class Discussion
thru Questions and Problems –
2/25/05 4,30,31,32,35,38,39,54,55,56,57&59(depreciation
section only )

Chapter 9 Class Discussion

Question and Problems –
2,3,8,10,11,19,20,34,38,39,40,& 44

8 Class Discussion
2/28/05 Chapter 10 Questions and Problems
thru 2,6,12,16,24,28,29,32,38,39,40,& 43

3/4/05
On-line Research Paper Due -3/4/05
3/7/05-
3/11/05
Spring Break
9 Class Discussion
3/14/05 Chapter 11 Questions and Problems – 4, 11, 17, 18, 26, 34, 38, 40,
thru 50 & 56
3/18/05

10 3/21/05 Test #2 Chapters 6 – 11

thru
3/27/05

11 3/28/05 Chapter 12 Class Discussion

thru Questions and Problems –4, 5, 13, 17, 31, 39, 42, 43,
47, & 58
4/1/05 Class Discussion

Chapter 14 Questions and Problems –

6,12,15,16,18,22,30,36,44,48,50,and 59

12
4/4/05 Chapter 15 Class Discussion
thru Questions and Problems 6, 20, 28, 31, 35, 39, 49, 50, &
4/8/05 55
13 Chapter 16 Questions and Problems – 3, 7, 19, 24, 29, 34 & 37
4/11/05
thru Tax Return is due-4/15/05
4/15/05

14
4/18/05 Chapter 17 Class Discussion
thru Questions and Problems
4/22/05 12, 15, 23, 37, 38, 45, 49, & 52

15
4/28/05 Final Chapters 12, 14-17