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An understanding of the principles of taxation is one of the most important and useful tools for anyone seeking advancement to senior management status in the corporate world, to those providing accounting, financial or legal services to business or to those seeking to be professional accountants or lawyers. It is also equally important for individuals in managing their personal affairs. There would be no major business decision in Australia, from the purchase of an item of plant to the overall organisation of a business structure, which is taken without regard to the taxation implications. Indeed, tax is often the motivating factor behind a decision or action. A study of taxation law involves not only an attainment of knowledge of the provisions of the various Tax Acts, but also a large volume of case law which has defined and/or clarified both the acts or general concepts not defined in the Acts, as well as the ability to apply this knowledge to factual situations. This course extends a student’s understanding of the fundamental tax concepts studied in LAW3500 Taxation Law A. For students wishing to meet the taxation education requirements for registration as a tax agent with the Tax Practitioners Board, this course (in combination with LAW3500 Taxation Law A) is a required course.

The material covered in the course will build upon the concepts covered in LAW3500 Taxation Law A and students will be expected to have retained a working knowledge of material covered in that course. This course primarily deals with concepts not covered in LAW3500 in order to provide students with a greater understanding and knowledge of the Australian taxation system. Specifically it covers more advanced topics relating to the taxation of various business organisations (partnerships, trusts, companies); the taxation of superannuation funds; more specific Fringe Benefits Tax topics; General and Specific Tax Avoidance rules; the ethical and professional responsibilities of tax agents; and some specialist tax topics including: the taxation of primary producers; advanced CGT issues; advanced GST issues; stamp duty; and payroll tax. This course uses real world case studies to solve taxation problems.

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1. identify various types of taxation in Australia including income tax, consumption taxes, goods and services tax, capital gains tax and fringe benefits tax;
2. apply to factual scenarios the legal principles of taxation of trusts, companies, partnerships, superannuation funds, stamp duty, primary production, special taxpayers, fringe benefits tax and superannuation as well as explain the advantages and disadvantages of the various entity structures covered in the course;
3. describe and apply the ethical and professional responsibilities of tax agents and their obligations under the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 (TASA) and the Tax Agents Services Regulations 2009 (TASR);
4. apply appropriate taxation legislation using critical thinking and problem-solving skills to reach well-reasoned conclusions that optimise outcomes and to communicate these clearly in a written context;
5. reflect on personal professional skills, attributes and perspectives as they might apply to a tax practitioner and tax policy.