Required Materials:

Casebook: Freeland, Lind & Stephens, Fundamentals of Federal Income Taxation (latest ed.) and either:

Internal Revenue Code and Regulations. (May share w/ group), or

Tax Analysts One-Disk (current)

Course Objective

This course covers roughly the same subjects as an undergraduate introductory tax course, but the focus and method are very different. Graduate students, like tax professionals, will work with primary source materials, including the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS Regulations and Rulings, and Court cases. Students are expected to have available a recent edition of the Internal Revenue Code and Regulations (hard copy or on CD-ROM) and the textbook is a reasonably good collection of the leading court cases.

This course includes legal materials, but it is not aimed at lawyers, nor does it duplicate legal study. Taxation blends words and numbers, so practitioners regardless of professional category need to understand both legal and accounting concepts. Most students probably have more exposure to accounting rules, rather than the legal principles, and the emphasis in this course on the words of the law is intended to provide an overall balance.

Computer-assisted learning is an integral part of this class. The notes for each lecture will be posted on the class web page at least one day in advance. I ask your assistance in maintaining and adding to this page. I encourage you to use CD-Rom based Code/ Regulations/Cases (Tax Analysts' OneDisk) rather than the CCH paper copy. I expect you to use spreadsheets for complex calculations, to discover and use on-line research sources, and to follow newsgroup discussions regarding taxes. Familiarity with these applications is an essential component of your future success.

Course Prerequisite    Bus. 785

Midterm Exam	30%
Written Exercises	30%
Final Paper	30%
Class Participation	10%