Taxation (MSc)

Curriculum

For the MS in Taxation online, the 30-hour curriculum includes 16 semester credit hours of required tax courses that span topics related to corporate, individual, and other entity structures and 14 semester credit hours of electives to satisfy degree requirements. All courses are 2 credit hours and run 7 weeks. Please note, this is subject to change based on university discretion. View Major Map

Students must complete the following 8 core courses (16 credit hours). Course Title/Description Credit ACCT 8023 Individual Tax: Structure Examines topics in the area of individual federal income taxation including but not limited to: income (active, passive, portfolio), adjustments to income, adjusted gross income (AGI) and deductions limited by AGI, personal exemptions, filing status, itemized deductions, taxable income and the regular income tax calculation. 2 ACCT 8043 Individual Tax: Special Topics Examines advanced topics in the area of individual federal income taxation including but not limited to: property transactions, minimum tax, investment interest expense limitations, charitable contributions, property settlements, and tax shelters. 2 ACCT 8031 Corporate Tax: Formation & Structure Covers the Federal income tax consequences of the creation and operation of a C corporation with a detailed treatment of corporate nonrecognition rules for asset transfers to new and existing corporations. Various planning techniques are explored to minimize Federal income tax during the incorporation and capitalization phases. Practical aspects of corporate tax computations and tax return preparation issues. Special corporate taxes imposed against C corporations are also examined.(Credit cannot be earned for both ACCT 6072 and ACCT 8031.) 2 ACCT 8032 Corporate Tax: Life Cycle Strategies Exploration of the distributions that corporations may make during their life cycle, from a federal income taxation perspective. Coverage of specific concepts and principles contained in Subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Also coverage of relevant provisions contained in U.S. Treasury Regulations, decisions of the U.S. Tax Court, decisions of other federal judicial cases, and Internal Revenue Service administrative pronouncements. Specific emphasis is also placed on advanced planning to minimize federal income tax liabilities. 2 ACCT 8033 Corporate Tax: Attributes & Operational Considerations Concentrates on the tax principles and laws involving the survival and transfer of corporate tax attributes, allocations between affiliated corporations, abusive tax shelters, statutory limitations with net operating losses and capital losses, acquisitions to evade or avoid federal income taxes, and limits on using pre-acquisition losses to offset built-in gains. Coverage the specific concepts and principles contained in Subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Coverage of relevant provisions contained in U.S. Treasury Regulations,decisions of the U.S. Tax Court, decisions in other federal judicial cases, and Internal Revenue Service administrative pronouncements. Specific emphasis is also placed on advanced planning to minimize federal income tax liabilities. 2 ACCT 8041 Taxation of Subchapter S Corporations Investigation of the Federal income taxation of a specialized class of corporation known as an S corporation. Detailed examination of the shareholder and corporate quality and quantity rules required to make an S corporation election. A review of election mechanics and election revocation rules and the determination of the items that are identified on the S corporation tax return and passed through to its shareholders. Coverage of shareholder basis rules that are important in determining shareholder tax consequences. Introduction of entity level taxes along with planning techniques used to minimize the Federal income tax impact of these entity level taxes. 2

To be completed before graduating. Course Title/Description Credit ACCT 8080 Federal Tax Research: Individuals This course provides MS Tax students with an in-depth coverage of proper tax research procedures, a survey of the sources of authority, both primary and secondary, and application to practical situations. Students will discuss, research and write about a variety of individual tax issues, ones that don’t require any prior knowledge of individual tax. In addition to individual tax research, students will study issues related to working with the IRS. 2 ACCT 8090 Federal Tax Research: Corporations This course provides students with an in-depth coverage of proper tax research procedures, a survey of the sources of authority, both primary and secondary, and application to practical situations. Students will discuss, research and write about a variety of corporate tax issues, ones that don’t require any prior knowledge of corporate tax. In addition to corporate tax research, students will study issues related to tax planning and tax practice. 2

Free Electives Course Title/Description Credit ACCT 8030 Partnership Taxation Income tax consequences of the formation, operation, and termination of a partnership; partnership distributions; sale of a partnership interest; and withdrawal from a partnership. 2 ACCT 8036 International Taxation Study of the federal income tax provisions applicable to foreign income of U. S. citizens, residents, and corporations and to foreign persons with U. S. income. 2 ACCT 8037 Consolidated Tax Returns This course covers the federal tax treatment of consolidated groups. It will cover the qualifications to be considered a consolidated group, as well as intercompany transactions, loss disallowance rules, limitations regarding the utilization of "purchased" net operating losses, carryovers of NOL's and other attributes related to NOL's. Additional topics will include planning opportunities unique to consolidated groups, stockbasis calculations and elections that are available to consolidated groups 2 ACCT 8039 International Tax: Special Topics Addresses US tax issues associated with doing business outside the US. US multi-national companies face a complex system of tax compliance,and this course will explore some of these issues. 2 ACCT 8042 IRS Tax Practice and Procedure An extensive study of the organization of the Internal Revenue Service with emphasis on the practices and procedures available to and used by the Service in its daily dealings with the taxpaying public. 2 ACCT 8044 State and Local Taxation Examines structure of state and local laws involving property, sales and use, franchise, and corporate income taxes on the firm operating in either a single or multi-jurisdictional environment. 2 ACCT 8046 Estate and Gift Tax Intensive study of federal taxation of estates and transfer of property rights by gift. Determination of the gross estate, taxable estate, taxable gift,and gift tax. 2