This course introduces students to the main principles of Australia's income tax system. In order to understand the critical function of taxation in the Australian community, the taxation system is studied in its legal, economic, social and political context. Given the speed with which changes are made to the technical skills of tax law, this course seeks to provide students with an understanding of the principles of the income tax system and tax policy, rather than knowledge of a particular but limited set of technical rules.
Topics to be considered include:
- the concept of income;
- personal services income;
- business income;
- property income;
- the deductions;
- the taxation of capital gains;
- residency, source and double tax agreements;
- the taxation of trusts;
- the anti-avoidance measures; and
- tax administration.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Define, describe and apply an advanced understanding of the main principles of Australia's income tax law;
- Outline and summarise with intellectual independence the tax issues that arise in complex legal problems;
- Formulate arguments about the way in which those complex legal problems are likely to be resolved, noting contrary arguments and their strengths; provide legislation and case law for propositions of law that they use in those arguments;
- Apply legislation and case law to a given set of facts; where applicable, distinguish the facts in decided cases from those in a given set of facts and build this into argument;
- Structure an answer to a problem question in a logical and effective way;
- Conduct legal research with some independence to comment critically to a variety of audiences on tax policy, tax law and cases studied during the course.
Other Information
Classes may be offered in non-standard sessions and be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (a minimum of 36 hours). Please refer to the LLB timetable for dates. Please contact the ANU College of Law Student Administration Services to request a permission code to enrol in classes offered in non-standard sessions.
Indicative Assessment
- Research essay (50) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
- Take-home exam 2500 words. The take-home examination is to be undertaken in the examination period consisting of a compulsory problem question (50) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 36 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
- Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week. Students are generally expected to devote at least 10 hours overall per week to this course.
Click here for the LLB Program course list
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course. Alternatively, this information will be published in the Program course list when known.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.