Syllabus
Houston Community College
Workforce
Dean:
Dr. Arnold Goldberg
Department
Chair:
Dr. Marina Grau
ACNT 1347 – FEDERAL INCOME TAX FOR PARTNERSHIPS AND
CORPORATIONS. This course is an
introduction to the tax laws as currently implemented by the Internal Revenue
Service providing a working knowledge of preparing taxes for a partnership,
Subchapter S, and Corporations. This
course covers taxation of corporate operations, distributions, reorganizations,
and accumulations, Subchapter S Corporations, partnership formations,
operation, and transfer of interests.
An overview is provided of the unified transfer tax on gifts and
estates.
Prerequisites: ACCT 1331 (Federal Income Tax: Individual).
Course Reference Number: 31430
Instructor: Mel McQueary
Instructor of Accounting
Southwest College
Cell Telephone Number: 713-304-7461. I don’t answer this after 7:00 pm, but I always return my calls. If I do not call you back the next day, call me again, because my cell has probably dropped your message.
My home email is: mel.mcqueary@sbcglobal.net and my Houston Community College email is glenn.mcqueary@hccs.edu.
Please send all class materials and handouts through the
Distance Education WebCT class shell. I
also prefer all emails to go through this WebCT class shell; however, I realize
that some students may not have access to the Web during work hours and must
send emails to my personal or school email accounts.
Basic Course Goals:
The primary purpose of Federal Income Tax: Partnerships and Corporations, is to provide the student with a comprehensive course covering corporate taxation. The course is designed to meet the needs of those students who are preparing for a career in accounting and/or taxation.
Textbooks & Related Materials:
Required for the course:
Text: West Federal Taxation, Corporations, Partnerships, Estates & Trusts, Edition 2008, Hoffman, Raabe, Smith, Maloney, Thompson;
Optional Materials:
The Internal Revenue Service has a world of publications available and most are free. Forms and publications may be ordered by calling: 1-800-829-3676.
Also, feel free to visit their Website at www.irs.gov.
Evaluation and Requirements:
Students are expected to read all assigned chapters, complete and submit all assignments on due dates, and keep up with the on-line material. Accounting is best learned through doing. Therefore, there are always homework assignments to do. This will be a considerable commitment of time and effort from you.
Students are responsible for the “learning objectives” at the beginning of each chapter. Accounting is not a subject that can be mastered passively. The concepts and ideas can be compared to building blocks – each serves as a foundation for new ones. It is extremely important that each student be actively involved in the learning process. This requires intensive study of each chapter, and continuous application of ideas to homework problems.
Always keep in mind that achievement is rewarding both personally and economically. If accounting was easy, everyone could do it and it would not be considered as important as it is and it would not pay. Ask yourself, where do I want to be in the future and what do I need to do to be there. There are many roads to success and accounting can be one of those roads. It has been very good to me without compromising my integrity.
Your final grade for this course will be based on how well you do in meeting the evaluation requirements listed on your assignment schedule and applying the grading scale which is listed below.
Note: The instructor reserves the right to modify the course requirements, assignments, grading procedures, and other related policies as the circumstances dictate.
Evaluation Requirements:
2 Exams (100 points each) 200 points
Homework 40 points
Tax Return 60 points
Total 300 points
Grading System:
A= 90-100% (270 points and above)
B= 80-89% (240 to 269 points)
C= 70-79% (210 to 239 points)
D= 60-69% (180 to 209 points)
Examinations will be timed at a 2 hour maximum. The student must take the exam in the range of the exam week.
The exams will be multiple choice. More information about the exams will be given during the semester.
Other:
There will be a section for emailing in WebCT and I encourage all students to communicate with each other.
New DE Student User ID
Your new student
login user ID will be your HCC User ID (sometimes
referred to as the “W” number). All HCC students have a unique
User ID. It is the same number you use for class registration. For
students who have taken DE classes in previous semesters, the login will no
longer be “firstname.lastname” + the last 2 digit of your SS #. If
you do not know your User ID you can look it up using the following links:
Or use the direct
link: https://hccsaweb.hccs.edu:8080/servlets/iclientservlet/sauat/?cmd=start
The default student
password will still be “distance.” As always, students will then be
prompted to change their password after their first login. These new student login procedures apply to
classes taught in both WebCT and Blackboard. Please contact desupport@hccs.edu if you need additional
assistance with your log in.
HCC Course
Withdrawal Policy
The State of Texas has begun to impose penalties on students who drop courses excessively. That is, if you repeat the same course more than twice, you have to pay extra tuition. In addition, as of Fall 2007, students are limited to no more than SIX total course withdrawals throughout their educational career at a Texas public college or university.
To help students avoid having to drop/withdraw from any class, HCC has instituted an Early Alert process by which your professor will “alert” you and distance education (DE) counselors that you might fail a class because of excessive absences and/or poor academic performance. Contact your DE professor or a DE counselor to learn about what, if any, HCC interventions might be available to assist you – online tutoring, child care, financial aid, job placement, etc. – to stay in class and improve your academic performance.
In order to withdraw from your DE class, you MUST contact a DE counselor or your DE professor and this must be done PRIOR to the withdrawal deadline to receive a “W” on your transcript. If you do not withdraw before the deadline, you will receive the grade that you have earned by the end of the semester. Zeros averaged in for required assignments/tests not submitted will lower your semester average significantly, most likely resulting in a failing grade (“F”). Please do not contact both a DE counselor and your DE professor to request a withdrawal; either one is sufficient.
The final withdrawal deadline for regular term and second start classes is April 3, 2008. However, classes of other duration (mini-term, flex-entry, 8-weeks, etc.) have different final withdrawal deadlines. Please visit the online registration calendars, HCC schedule of classes and catalog, any HCC Registration Office, or any HCC counselor to determine class withdrawal deadlines. Remember to allow a 24-hour response time when communicating via email or telephone with a DE professor and/or counselor. Do not submit a request to discuss withdrawal options less than a day before the deadline.
EARLY ALERT NOTIFICATION:
The Distance Education (DE) Department utilizes an Early
Alert system managed by the DE counselors to provide outreach and intervention
to students who may be at risk of withdrawal or failure. Referrals to this
system are typically made by a DE faculty member. If a DE professor is
concerned about a student's performance in class, that student may be referred
to Early Alert for counseling intervention.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS:
Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student Visa. Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F because of the visa consideration. Since January 1, 2003, International Students are restricted in the number of distance education courses that they may take during each semester. ONLY ONE online/distance education class may be counted towards the enrollment requirement for International Students per semester. Please contact the International Student Office at 713-718-8520 if you have any questions about your visa status and other transfer issues.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
"Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning,
psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc) who needs to arrange reasonable
accommodations must contact the appropriate HCC Disability Support Service
(DSS) Counselor at the beginning of each semester. Faculty are authorized
to provide only the accommodations requested by the
Disability Support Services Office.
Students who are requesting special testing accommodations must first contact
the appropriate DSS Counselor for assistance. Please contact the Distance
Education Counselors at 713.718.5275, option #4 or at decounseling@hccs.edu in order to be
referred to the appropriate HCC DSS Counselor.
Students who require testing accommodations need to schedule an appointment for
testing to ensure that staff will be available for proctoring and to arrange
for any adaptive equipment that may be required. Students should contact the
distance education instructor's "Instructional Support Specialist"
(ISS) the week prior to each exam throughout the semester to confirm that the
requested testing accommodations will be met. If you need assistance in
determining your instructor's ISS, please contact your instructor or the
Distance Education Department (713.718.5275, option #1 or
decounseling@hccs.edu) for assistance."
DISTANCE EDUCATION ADVISING AND COUNSELING SERVICES:
Advising can be accomplished by telephone at 713/718-5275 - option # 4, via
email at decounseling@hccs.edu, by
visiting the Distance Education Office at the HCC Administration Building, 3100
Main Street, 3rd floor and/or by on-site advising at other HCC locations upon
request. Confidential sessions with the distance education counselors will help
students understand admissions, registration, entrance testing
requirements, degree planning, transfer issues, and career counseling. Houston
Community College counselors also maintain a local referral base in order to
provide appropriate referrals to students with personal or family issues that
may require long-term solutions.
NOTICE FOR STUDENTS WHO LIVE OUTSIDE OF HOUSTON:
Students who live outside the Houston area and cannot take
paper exams at one of our HCC testing locations MUST make arrangements for a
proctor. Please see the Distance Education (DE) Student Services webpage
for information at the following URL:
http://distance.hccs.edu/de-counseling/student_out_houston.htm
VIRTUAL CLASSROOM CONDUCT:
As with on-campus classes, all students in HCC Distance
Education courses are required to follow all HCC Policies & Procedures, the
Student Code of Conduct, the Student Handbook, and relevant sections of the
Texas Education Code when interacting and communicating in a virtual classroom
with faculty and fellow students. Students who violate these policies and
guidelines will be subject to disciplinary action that could include denial of
access to course-related email, discussion groups, and chat rooms or being
removed from the class.
USE OF CAMERAS OR RECORDING DEVICES:
Use of recording devices,
including camera phones and tape recorders, is prohibited in classrooms,
laboratories, faculty offices, and other locations where instruction, tutoring,
or testing occurs. Students with
disabilities who need to use a recording device as a reasonable accommodation
should contact the Office for Students with Disabilities for information
regarding reasonable accommodations.
SCANS –
Secretary’s Commission for Achieving Necessary Skills
The
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) from the U.S.
Department of Labor was asked to examine the demands of the workplace and
whether our students are capable of meeting those demands. Specifically, the Commission was directed to
advise the Secretary on the level of skills required to enter employment. In carrying out this charge, the Commission
was asked to do the following:
SCANS
research verifies that what we call workplace
know-how defines effective job performance today. This know-how has two elements: competencies
and a foundation. This report identifies five competencies
and a three-part foundation of skills and personal qualities that lie at the
heart of job performance. These eight
requirements are essential preparation for all students, whether they go
directly to work or plan further education.
Thus, the competencies and the foundation should be taught and understood
in an integrated fashion that reflects the workplace contexts in which they are applied.
The
five SCANS workplace competencies identified by the Commission are the
following:
The three SCANS foundation skills identified by the
Commission are the following:
ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
Federal Income Tax: Partnerships
and Corporations
WEBCT Class – Mel McQueary
|
Date |
Chapter |
Topic |
Homework Assignment |
|
1/12 to 1/18 |
1 |
Understanding
and Working with the Tax Law |
1-12,
48, 49 & 54 |
|
1/19 to 1/25 |
2 |
Corporations:
Introduction, Operating Rules |
1, 2,
15, 23, 27 & 52 |
|
1/26 to 2/1 |
3 |
Corporations:
Special Situations |
1,
3, 20, 29, 36 & 41 |
|
2/2 to 2/8 |
4 |
Corporations:
Organization and Capital Structure |
1–6,
27 & 31 |
|
2/9 to 2/15 |
5 |
Corporations:
Earnings & Profits and Dividend Distributions |
1-3,
5, 22, 28 & 35 |
|
2/16 to 2/22 |
6 |
Corporations: Redemptions and Liquidations |
1-8,
14,16 & 34 |
|
2/23 to 2/29 |
Review |
Review
for Mid-term |
|
|
3/1 to 3/7 |
|
Midterm
(Chapters 1-6) |
Turn
in homework |
|
3/8 to 3/21 |
7 |
Corporations:
Reorganizations |
1-5,
12, 19, 21 & 35 |
|
3/22 to 3/28 |
8 |
Consolidated
Tax Returns |
1-5,
14, 22, 27 & 32 |
|
3/29 to 4/4 |
9 |
Taxation
of International Transactions |
1-8,
16, 27 & 38 |
|
4/5 to 4/11 |
10 |
Partnership
Formation, Operation and Basis |
1-3,
13, 14, 22 & 23 |
|
4/12 to 4/18 |
11 |
Partnerships:
Distributions, Transfer of Interests, and Terminations |
1-8,
15, & 24 |
|
4/19 to 4/25 |
12 |
S
Corporations |
1-7,
12, 18 & 26 |
|
4/26 to 5/2 |
17 |
The
Federal Gift and Estate Taxes and Review |
1-7,15,
18, 26 & 33 |
|
5/1 to 5/7 |
|
Final
Exam (Chapters 7-12 and 17) |
Turn
in homework and Tax Return |