Course

Goods and Services Tax: Design and Structure - ATAX0422

Faculty: Australian School of Business

School: Australian School of Taxation and Business Law

Course Outline: ATAX0422 Course Outline

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 Programs 9250 or 9255 or 9260 or 9245 or 9200 or 5740 or 9210 or 9230 or 9257 or 9231 or 5231

Excluded: ATAX0322, ATAX0522, ATAX0622

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course explores the economic and policy issues which underlie and drive GST. It tests these policy issues against critical selected aspects of Australia's and other GST legislative frameworks. The course analyses administration and compliance costs and the importance of planning, by government and business, for the successful operation of a GST. Importantly, it also explores conceptual issues arising in the transition from a tax like a wholesale sales tax to a GST. The focus of the course is a full overview of all aspects of the theoretical concepts that underlie a GST. The objective of this course is to provide sound conceptual and analytical knowledge of GST, which will be valuable for tax practitioners and essential for those involved in administration and development of the GST.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The objective of this course is to give a sound theoretical and practical understanding of the case for and operation of a GST. This course is generic in approach and does not seek to elaborate on the GST in any single country. Rather, the course is designed to provide an understanding of the theoretical issues associated with the case for a GST, the problems involved in implementing and administering a GST, along with the politics and economics of moving to such a tax.

More specifically, this course provides an insight into:
  • Why over 100 countries now have introduced a GST
  • The conceptual and theoretical superiority of a GST
  • The typical treatment of different goods and services under a GST
  • The practical problems associated with the transition towards the implementation of a GST, both for the taxpayer and tax administrator
  • The different ways in which a GST can be administered in practice
  • The broad economic and social impact of a GST

Main Topics

  • A survey of consumption taxes
  • Theory of GST
  • GST rates and base
  • GST rules
  • GST administration and compliance
  • Transitional issues
  • Economic and distributional issues

Course Texts

Textbook lists for ATAX courses will be available from the UNSW Bookshop from 1 February for Semester 1 courses and from 1 July for Semester 2 courses.
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Study Levels

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