SYLLABUS: TAX 4001 -- FEDERAL INCOME TAX I Spring 1998 Section 2: T/Th at 9:30-10:45 a.m. in 206 RBA Dr. Jeff Paterson Office hours: 423 RBA Monday 11:00 - 12:30 p.m. (850) 644-7887 Tuesday 11:00 - 12:30 p.m. jpaters@cob.fsu.edu Wednesday 11:00 - 12:30 p.m. http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~jpaterso/homepage.html (also by appointment) Text & course materials. Kramer, John L., and Thomas R. Pope. Prentice Hall's Federal Taxation 1998. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Notes packet (Target Copy) Homework solutions (website) Gleim, Irvin N., and John L. Kramer. Federal Tax: Objective Questions and Explanations or CPA Review. Gainesville, FL: Gleim Publications, Inc. (optional) [blue paperback, 8th edition becomes available in January, $17] Course objectives. The course objectives of TAX 4001 include learning the major provisions of federal tax law affecting individuals. Please, keep in mind that as a senior level course, TAX 4001 covers material quickly and thoroughly. Good math and problem-solving skills and study habits are highly valuable. Attendance. All students are expected to attend all classes and to complete all exams, quizzes, and assignments as assigned. Please, notify the instructor-in writting--if you will miss an exam, quiz, or assignment deadline because of a university approved reason. University approved absences include religious holidays, properly documented illness, and travel with a FSU team or performance group. The course packet includes a "Request for Excused Absence" form to help you document excused absences and to help the instructor keep track of excused absenses. The instructor will deal with students' excused absences on a case-by-case basis. Please, be aware that Thagard Student Health Center Verification of Visit forms qualify only if it states that the student possessed a serious medical condition that required the student to be absent from class. Alternative assignments. The instructor reserves the right to make alternative assignments to students who miss assignments and deadlines for excused reasons. Zero grades on missed assignments, quizzes and exams will be assessed in cases of unexcused absences. Disabilities. Students possessing disabilities or special needs are responsible for discussing their needs with the instructor. Proper documentation of students' special needs is required. Homework. Homework is not collected or graded. The purpose of homework is to provide you with opportunities to practice solving tax problems. Homework is assigned from each chapter of the text. Numerous questions and answers appear in study aids, such as Gleim, providing additional study questions. We usually discuss only a few homework solutions in class. Please, feel free to ask about the homework problems you find difficult. Quizzes & Exams. Quizzes are unannounced and worth 5 to 10 points. Exams are scheduled on the syllabus and are worth 100 points (the final exam is worth 150 points). Quizzes and exams are given in class. Early and late quizzes & exams are not given. You may use non-programmable calculators during quizzes and exams. Each student's lowest quiz grade will be dropped. No exam grades will be dropped. I will provide an unmarked exam-sheet, containing tax rates and miscellaneous other items, as a supplement to each exam. A copy of this exam-sheet is provided in the notes packet so students can familiarize themselves regarding its contents. Nothing may be shared during exams, including exams, answers, exam sheets, calculators, pencils, etc. Give the exam to the instructor before leaving the exam room. Students may not leave the exam room, return, and continue the exam without permission. Quizzes & exams consist of multiple choice, file-in-the-blank, true-false, work-out problems, and essay questions. You must show appropriate supporting computations to receive full credit on work-out problems. Practice exam questions appear in the student notes packet. Exams are confidential. Do not discuss their contents until after all Tax 4001 students have taken the exam. Questions are not to be copied, shared, or taken from the exam site or from the instructor's office. All materials relating to the contents of the exams (e.g. exams, tax tables, notes on scratch paper, etc.) must be given to the instructor or proctor before leaving the exam room in order to receive credit. Tax return & Tax research memo assignments. These assignments are group projects worth 25 points each. Please, select your own group. Groups may vary from 1-5 students, but groups of 3-4 are preferred. The tax return assignment involves semi-comprehensive sets of transactions. The difficult part of the tax return assignment is figuring out how to fill out the tax forms. Tax forms are not particularly difficult. Groups tend to be very effective at figuring out tax forms. As a group, fill-out the appropriate tax forms and turn in one copy for the entire group. The tax research memo covers a relatively narrow tax topic. Groups are required to assess the relevant issues, determine the best courses of action, and provide support for their suggestions. Write one tax memo, limited to two pages, and turn it in for the entire group. Tax returns and/or tax research memos submitted less than 24 hours after the due date will be penalized 5 points. I will not accept assignments more than 24 hours late. Additional instructions appear in the course notes packet. Cheating. Mahatma Ghandi said, "I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one's self-respect." Do not cheat. Cheating is not allowed. Cheating will not be tolerated. While enrolled at Florida State University, you are bound by the Academic Honor Code in all of your academic work. The Academic Honor Code is published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. If you observe cheating, notify me as soon as possible.DAILY SCHEDULE: TAX 4001 -- FEDERAL INCOME TAX I Spring 1998 T/Th 9:30-10:45am _____________________________________________________________________ Jan. 8 Chapter 1 [HW: 14, 36 (federal S.T.rate=6%), 38] _____________________________________________________________________ 13 Chapter 2 15 Chapter 2 [HW: 1, 4, 8, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 47] _____________________________________________________________________ 20 Chapter 3 22 Chapter 3 [HW: 35, 36, 37, 44, 46, & problems at the end of chapter 3 in the packet _____________________________________________________________________ 27 Chapter 4 Tax research memo is due 29 Chapter 4 [HW: 33-48, 50-51, 53-54] _____________________________________________________________________ Feb. 3 Exam #1 Chapters 1-4 5 Chapter 5 _____________________________________________________________________ 10 Chapter 5 [HW: 35, 36, 38-40, 42-46, 50, 53] 12 Chapter 6 _____________________________________________________________________ 17 Chapter 6 [HW: 35, 37, 38, 40, 46-48, 50, 53-57] 19 Chapter 7 _____________________________________________________________________ 24 Chapter 7 26 Chapter 7 [HW: 36-44, 46-57, 59] _____________________________________________________________________ Mar. 3 Chapter 8 5 Chapter 8 [HW: 43-45, 47-51, 53, 55, 57, 58] _____________________________________________________________________ 10 Spring break 12 Spring break _____________________________________________________________________ 17 Exam #2 Chapters 5-8 19 Chapter 9 _____________________________________________________________________ 24 Chapter 9 [HW: 50-54, 56, 57, 60] 26 Chapter 10 _____________________________________________________________________ 31 Chapter 10 [HW: 31, 32, 34, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 47] Apr. 2 Chapter 12 Tax return is due _____________________________________________________________________ 7 Chapter 12 [HW: 29, 30, 31, 34, 38, 40, 41, 45 (NEW LAW)] 9 Chapter 14 [HW: 41, 42, 45, 47] ____________________________________________________________________ 14 Exam #3 Chapters 9, 10, 12, 14 16 Chapter 13 _____________________________________________________________________ 21 Chapter 13 [HW: 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 43] 23 Review _____________________________________________________________________ May 1 Final Exam Friday 12:30- 2:30pm