The course will also approach these topics from the viewpoint of how the state of Florida tax law, including tax compliance, applies.

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1 FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING TAX 6935 State and Local Taxation Instructor: Clinton Tarkoe Class: M 7:10-10:00 pm 3 credits Course Objectives: This course surveys the variety of regimes deployed by various states to fund state and municipal government, with primary attention to state income taxation of individuals and businesses, property taxation and sales taxes. Among the topics to be covered are: The importance of state and local tax planning. Constitutional law limitations Corporate income/franchise taxes Sales and use taxes Property taxes Unemployment taxes Mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring Special tax incentives Taxation of electronic commerce Income taxation of employees and sole proprietorships The course will also approach these topics from the viewpoint of how the state of Florida tax law, including tax compliance, applies. The objective of this course is to give students of an understanding of: a) The application of the Commerce Clause and other state-level constitutional issues. b) Different state methods for sales and use taxes. c) Property taxes personal and real property. d) The various state and local income tax regimes. e) Other taxes Texts: (1) Swenson, Gupta, Karayan, Neff, State and Local Taxation: Principles and Planning, (J. Ross Publishing, Inc. 2 nd Edition 2004) ISBN (2) 2010 State Tax Handbook, ( CCH Incorporated) 2004 ISBN TA FAU Owl Card for library access. Please make sure that your owl card gives you current access to library resources at You TAX 6935 page 1

2 will need to be able to access EZproxy. The course materials will be supplemented with articles and state primary authorities accessible through EZproxy. This course s website is on ecompanions. Students are responsible for periodically checking the course site for announcements, changes to the schedule, additional readings, documents to read in Doc Sharing, etc. Methods: The course will be taught based upon a discussion method. Everyone is expected to read the supplied materials before arriving in class. In addition, everyone should expect to discuss during the semester. This does not mean stand-up in the front of the room, more of an informal discussion regarding state taxes. You should come to class prepared. Active and thoughtful class participation could make a difference in your grade. Students participating in class discussions may see their grades raised by one-half interval (B to B+). Those who do not participate will not be penalized. Moreover, you must adhere to the SOA s attendance policy. Attendance will be taken each week. Note Grades: Presentations 20% Mid-term Exam 40% Final Exam 40% Pop quizzes. Up to five (not exceeding in total 50 points), unannounced closed book quizzes may be given. The number of quizzes will depend upon whether the assigned material is being read prior to class. Homework assignments. Homework problems may be assigned each week. These will be assigned in class. You are expected to hand in the problems at the start of class. These problems will not be graded. In the event that you fail to turn in the homework or turn in problems in which minimal effort or computations are attempted and such occurrences occur twice during the term, then you will lose 15 points. Each subsequent occurrence will result in an additional lose of 15 more points. The result is that not doing your homework will reduce your grade. Also, during the class, you may be called upon to tell the class how to solve the homework problems. You are not expected to submit the correct answers, but you are expected to submit an assignment demonstrating that you have read the relevant material (including any primary sources) and have made an attempt to apply what you have read to answering the problems by explaining the solution in terms of the text material. This means that prior to doing the homework assignment it will be necessary for you to have read the text material and make an effort to solve the problems. An assignment will be considered to be unsatisfactory if the assignment were to be graded on the basis of 100 points, the assignment were to receive 70 or less points. TAX 6935 page 2

3 Grades are assigned according to percentage of points earned. A 92 to 100% A- 90 to B+ 88 to B 82 to B- 80 to C+ 78 to C 72 to C- 70 to D+ 68 to D 62 to D- 60 to F below 60% Syllabus controls. This syllabus controls all matters related to the class. In no event will student requests for exceptions be granted. Requests for separate or special treatment may be considered to be an "interference with the educational mission of the classroom in accordance with the Academic and Policies and Regulations section of the FAU University Catalog and will be dealt with in accordance with the procedures therein depending on the nature and seriousness of the offense. This syllabus may be revised during the semester to correct errors, provide clarification or to articulate university and/or college policies. In addition, the instructor reserves the right to make changes as he deems necessary for the administration of the course. Emergencies, including extreme weather conditions, security issues and other matters may also result in changes to the course format, this syllabus and scheduled classes, lectures, etc. Uniform Course Policies In the event of a conflict between this document and a course syllabus, this document will prevail. Syllabus updates may be necessary during the semester. Students are expected to access the class syllabus on the professor s home page for updates. Students are required to have an account through the university. An FAU account will be automatically generated upon enrollment, and you are required to use only your FAU account for all university correspondence. This service will be able to accept attachments. Students must have access to Word and Excel for attachments. Students are responsible for class announcements made via . Each student is expected to subscribe to the appropriate School of Accounting Newsletter. Please Susan Dobson at dobson@fau.edu to subscribe to the appropriate newsletter. Students are responsible for any announcements posted to the applicable newsletter. TAX 6935 page 3

4 Any student who does not meet course prerequisites will be administratively withdrawn from such course or courses at any time during the semester when such deficiency is determined to exist. Note than an Incomplete is not a substitute for a poor grade and is rarely granted. In accordance with the policy of the School of Accounting and the College of Business, an Incomplete will be given only under the following circumstances: The student is otherwise passing the course (at least a C). The student has an excused absence that prevented the on-time completion of the course requirements. Any student who decides to drop is responsible for completing the proper paper work required to withdraw from the course. Important dates: Florida Atlantic University Academic Calendar A fundamental principle of academic, business and community life is honesty. In the academic environment, the following are critical: For most graded assignments, students are expected to work independently. However, team assignments typically require students to work together. For both individual and team assignments, each student should be careful not to represent the work of others as his or her own. Appropriate classroom behavior is expected at all times, including respect for the instructor and peers. Disruptive classroom behavior is unfair to other students who are in class to learn, as well as to the instructor, and will not be tolerated. Academic irregularities: The FAU Graduate School of Business has adopted a strict academic honesty policy. A fundamental principle of academic, business and community life is honesty. Therefore, all students are expected to follow Regulation of Chapter 4 of the University Regulations. Adherence to the Honor Code is a professional competency and an expectation of all students. ANY act of dishonesty that violates the honor code and misrepresents your efforts or ability is grounds for immediate failure of the course. For full details of the FAU Honor Code, see University Regulation at Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to SafeAssign for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the SafeAssign reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. The Internet is a powerful tool providing access to a wealth of information. Students are reminded that plagiarism guidelines that apply to printed materials also apply to materials accessed via the Internet. TAX 6935 page 4

5 No student should use old materials obtained from another student who has taken this course. The use of such materials will be considered to be cheating. The College of Business may use students course-related materials for legitimate institutional purposes, such as accreditation, or university review process, etc. In such cases, the materials will be used within the college and university. TAX 6935 page 5

6 TAX 6935_SP10 Tentative Class Schedule, subject to change (check ecompanions). 1. Chapter 1: The importance of state and local tax planning 2. NC 3. Chapter 2: Sources of Law, Interplay with Federal Rules, Constitutional Issues 4. Chapter 3: Corporate Income/Franchise Taxes 5. Finish Chapter 3 6. Chapter 5: Property taxes 7. 02/22 Mid-term exam 8. Chapter 4: Sales and Use Tax 9. NC 10. Finish Chapter 4 Chapter 6: Unemployment taxes 11. Chapter 7: Mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring 12. Chapter 10 Income taxation of employees and sole proprietorships 13. Finish Chapter Chapter 9: Taxation of electronic commerce Chapter 8 Special tax incentives 15. Presentations 16. Presentations /03 Final The exams will not be cumulative and will consist of essay and word problems. The exams will be open book and notes. The above schedule is subject to change based upon the speed we finish the course. It will never accelerate, but can slow done if it appears additional time is necessary.