Students

ACCG8309 – CPA - Australia Taxation - Advanced

2021 – Session 1, Special circumstances

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Sally Joseph
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(ACCG907 or ACCG8307) and (ACCG908 or ACCG8308) and (ACCG913 or ACCG8313) and (ACCG924 or ACCG8124)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit provides extended formal academic support for students concurrently enrolled in the Advanced Taxation unit of the CPA program. This unit examines advanced tax issues including income tax law for a variety of business structures and investment entities; goods and services tax; international tax; and anti-avoidance regimes. It also considers the tax implications of complex business structures and corporate financing arrangements. By the end of this unit, students will have an ability to explain how tax theory, tax policies and tax legislation impacts on business decisions. Students will also be able to advise on the local and international tax issues surrounding various complex business structures, and make appropriate recommendations to clients.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • ULO2: Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • ULO3: Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • ULO4: Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

General Assessment Information

Class Test 1

After the first quarter of the session, a class test designed to provide feedback to students on the level of their understanding of key topics and concepts covered and to identify any particular learning challenges or areas of difficulty.

On successful completion you will be able to:

  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.

 

Class Test 2

Towards the end of the session, a second test will be conducted during the class time. This test is designed to provide feedback to students on their level of understanding of key topics and concepts and to identify any particular learning challenges or areas of difficulty

On successful completion you will be able to:

  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

 

Class Participation

Students are required to:

1. Prepare and submit at least two written answers to tax problems allocated

2. Attend and actively participate in class

3. Class participation is designed to encourage and help students achieve the learning outcomes of this unit.

4. Students will be nominated as an expert for a particular weekly class and are expected to have prepared for and be an active participant in discussions during their allocated class

On successful completion you will be able to:

  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

 

CPA External Examination

Examination administered by CPA Australia. CPA Australia will advise on the format and topics included in the final exam. Students need to achieve at least a PASS mark in this CPA external examination. If students do not pass this CPA examination, students will not pass this unit.

On successful completion you will be able to:

  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
CPA External Examination 30% No 7 April 2021 to 25 April 2021
Class Participation 15% No All classes
Class Test 2 35% No 9 April 2021
Class Test 1 20% No 26 February 2021

CPA External Examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 7 April 2021 to 25 April 2021
Weighting: 30%

 

Examination administered by CPA Australia. CPA Australia will advise on the format and topics included in the final exam. Students need to achieve at least a PASS mark in this CPA external examination. If students do not pass this CPA examination, students will not pass this unit.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

Class Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: All classes
Weighting: 15%

 

Students are required to:

1. Prepare and submit at least two written answers to tax problems allocated

2. Attend and actively participate in class

3. Class participation is designed to encourage and help students achieve the learning outcomes of this unit.

4. Students will be nominated as an expert for a particular weekly class and are expected to have prepared for and be an active participant in discussions during their allocated class

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

Class Test 2

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 9 April 2021
Weighting: 35%

 

Two thirds into the session, a second examination will be conducted during the class time. This test is designed to provide feedback to students on their level of understanding of key topics and concepts and to identify any particular learning challenges or areas of difficulty

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge to recommend an appropriate business or investment structure to achieve commercial and client’s personal goals.
  • Apply advanced tax knowledge in complex business areas at local and international levels, such as transactions involving complex goods and services tax law, cross-border tax issues, and tax avoidance.

Class Test 1

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 26 February 2021
Weighting: 20%

 

After the first quarter of the session, a class test will be conducted during the class time. This test is designed to provide feedback to students on the level of their understanding of key topics and concepts covered and to identify any particular learning challenges or areas of difficulty.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain how tax theory and tax policies impact on business decisions and the tax consequences of various corporate financing arrangements
  • Advise on the tax implications arising from various complex business structures, superannuation and associated investment decisions.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Classes

There are 3 hours of face-to-face teaching per week consisting of a 3-hour seminar conducted online via Zoom. Depending on when the CPA exams are scheduled, there may be a need to schedule more than one 3-hour seminar in a week. 

Students are required to attend all classes. Webcams are required.

Required and Recommended texts and/or Materials

Required texts

CPA Program: Advanced Taxation, Study Materials, Deakin University (provided to you by CPA Australia)

Recommended texts

Students will need to refer to legislation throughout the course. No legislation reference is prescribed as compulsory, but students would find useful:

OUP Core Tax Legislation and Study Guide (latest edition), or Thomson Reuters Fundamental Tax Legislation (latest edition).

Alternatively, students can access tax legislation at www.comlaw.gov.au. Additional references The following books are not required to be purchased, but students would benefit from reference

to any of the following as additional reading:

OUP Australian Taxation Law, Woellner, Barkoczy, Murphy, Evans and Pinto (latest edition) CCH Australian Master Tax Guide (latest edition), or

Thomson Reuters Australian Tax Handbook (latest edition).

Students would also benefit from referring to the latest edition of the OUP Australian Taxation Study Manual (Nethercott, Devos and Gonzaga ) which provides questions and suggested solutions to tax problems.

Many of the recommended texts and additional references are available in the Library and for purchase from the Macquarie University Co-op Bookshop.

Unit Web Page

Course material is available on iLearn.

Teaching and Learning Activities

The unit is broken up into seminars in which students and the lecturer discuss readings, case studies and assigned questions on specified taxation topics that correlate with the 10 modules. Each seminar will be held on the scheduled date for 3 hours.

In between these seminars, students are required to work through and complete nominated modules in the CPA program, as well as work on assessment tasks.

Each seminar will consist of a mixture of activities based around the CPA program modules.

             

These will include:

  • discussion of case studies, examples and questions relating to the class's assigned module, and

  • review of the main concepts and content, and their practical application, arising from the current class's assigned module.

    The workload in completing this unit is 150 hours.

    Technology Used and Required

    Students are expected to have:

  • proficiency in Word, Excel and Powerpoint

  • knowledge of Macquarie University's online learning management system (iLearn) for

    downloading materials, and

  • knowledge of the library resource database for accessing additional research material.

     

Unit Schedule

Class

Topic

1

Module 1: Tax theory and tax policy and reforms 

2

Module 2: Trusts and trust distributions 

3

Module 3: Taxation of superannuation funds 

4

Module 4: Companies and company distributions 

5

Module 5: Tax consolidations 

6

Module 6: Complex business structures 

7

Module 7: Corporate financing 

8

Module 8: International transactions and cross-border tax issues

9

Module 9: Advanced GST issues

10

Module 10: Anti-avoidance regimes

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.


Unit information based on version 2021.02 of the Handbook