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 and fringe benefits;
- business income;
- property income;
- the deductions;
- the taxation of capital gains;
- the taxation of business entities;
- residency, source and double tax agreements;
- the anti-avoidance measures; and
- tax administration.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Examine, assess and apply the main principles of Australia’s income tax law;
- Investigate and critically analyse the tax issues that arise in complex legal problems;
- Hypothesise solutions to complex legal problems, including synthesis and application of relevant legislation and case law to support ideas;
- Plan and execute a research-based project with independence, applying expert judgement on tax policy, tax law, and cases studied during the course.
Indicative Assessment
- Online optional quiz (0) [LO 1,2]
- Online group collaboration and seminar participation (10) [LO 1,2,3]
- Legal analysis of in-class problem (40) [LO 1,2,3]
- Research essay (50) [LO 1,2,3,4]
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 26 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.
Click here for the LLM Masters 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.
Preliminary Reading
Supplementary Texts:
Income Tax: Text, Materials and Essential Cases, Catherine Brown, Michael Kobetsky, Peter Gillies, Rodney Fisher, Sylvia Villios, The Federation Press, 9th ed, 2016
Income Taxation in Australia: Parsons, R. W., The Law Book Company, 1985
(available digitally from University of Sydney, https://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/ozlit/pdf/p00086.pdf)
Required legislation:
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth)
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth)
Fringe Benefit Assessment Act 1986 (Cth)
(available on Federal Register of Legislation - https://www.legislation.gov.au/Browse/Results/ByTitle/Acts/InForce/In/0/0/principal)
ActsTitle - Legislation - This page lets you browse for the text of Acts. Clicking on a capital letter, or pairs of letters below it, takes you to a list of Acts with titles starting with that letter/letters. www.legislation.gov.au
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 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $5280 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $6720 |
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.