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Taxation of Companies, Trusts and Partnerships - ATAX0113
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Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Australian School of Taxation
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: ATAX Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 0
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Restricted to students enrolled in Program 5541 or 7541
 
 
Excluded: ATAX0013
 
 
Fee Band: 1 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

This course is an introduction to taxation of the company, partnership and trust. The course provides a brief introduction to the key concepts and legal framework of each of these business and investment vehicles, with emphasis on the concept of legal personality. It pulls together the basic structural elements of the key business vehicles and provides a comparative overview of their key features and taxation. It covers practical problems arising from the taxation of the company and trust. This includes tax on the company itself, including restrictions on the carry-forward of losses and taxation of profits distributed to members. The course looks at the income taxation of the partnership or, more accurately, the partners. This includes the basis for allocating income and losses between partners. It deals with the basic capital gains tax framework on each of the vehicles. It gives a brief overview of the main heads of entity tax avoidance. These are then examined in the context of the push for tax neutrality.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

Students are advised to have completed ATAX0001 Basic Tax Law and Process or ATAX0100 Principles of Australian Taxation Law prior to undertaking this course.

Course Objectives

This course will help you develop the following skills and knowledge:
  • An understanding of the legal status of companies, trust and partnerships with specific understanding of the concept of legal personality
  • An understanding of the essential principles of taxation law applying to companies, trusts and partnerships and the ability to apply the legislative provisions that relate to each of these structures
  • An ability to compare and contrast the tax and legal implications of investing via one or other of companies, trusts and partnerships, from the perspective of the investor/shareholder and in the case of companies and trusts that of the investment vehicle itself and provide clear, reasoned advice on the tax consequences
  • An ability to recognise and solve legal and tax problems and to communicate your findings effectively

Main Topics

  • Tax on companies
  • Tax on shareholder
  • Partnership
  • Trust
  • The big picture - comparing structures

Assessment

1 assignment
2 WebCT MCQ quizzes
1 exam

Course Texts

Prescribed
You must purchase or have access to the latest edition of the following annual publication:

  • Woellner R, Barkoczy S, Murphy S & Evans C, Australian Taxation Law (Sydney: CCH, latest edition)
The paragraph references have been updated for the most recent version of the textbook, but paragraph references for the earlier editions are also provided where they are different from the current edition.

Acts
You must purchase or have access to the following publications:

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
or
Australian Tax Legislation - Student Edition (Sydney: Australian Tax Practice, latest edition)
or
Fundamental Tax Legislation (Sydney: Australian Tax Practice, latest edition)
or
Australian Income Tax Legislation (Sydney: CCH, latest edition)
or
Core Tax Legislation and Study Guide (Sydney: CCH, latest edition)

Citation and Style Guides
The following is a selection of acceptable citation and style guides, which you may use as the basis for your written work. You must purchase or have access to one of the following publications:

  • Rozenberg P, Australian guide to uniform legal citation (Sydney: Lawbook Co, 2nd ed, 2003)
  • Stuhmcke A, Legal referencing (Sydney: Butterworths, 3rd ed, 2005)
  • Australian guide to legal citation (Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2nd ed, 2002) - Available from http://mulr.law.unimelb.edu.au/aglc.asp
Recommended
  • Evans M, Equity and trusts (Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2003)
  • Lipton P & Herzberg A, Understanding company law (Sydney: Law Book Co, 13th ed, 2006)
  • ATAX0009/0109 The Law of Companies, Trusts and Partnerships Study Guide, 2007

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.