Tax Compliance & Planning (TCP) Graduate Certificate

This course introduces the basic principles of taxation common to all types of taxpayers, with special emphasis on business taxation and planning. Topics include tax policy issues, tax planning, computation of business taxable income, and an introduction to the taxation of corporations, S corporations, partnerships, and limited-liability companies.

This course will focus on individual tax planning considerations for gross income, inclusions and exclusions, adjustments and deductions to arrive at adjusted gross income and taxable income, and passive activity and at-risk loss limitations. Students will also learn tax planning considerations for the computation of tax, estimated taxes, and tax credits, as well as topics related to loss limitations and tax attributes.

The objective of this course is to analyze sale and exchange property transactions and calculate gains for federal tax purposes. Emphasis will be placed on related party transactions (including imputed interest) and tax planning strategies for entities. Students will also learn about the tax classification of qualified joint ventures, consolidated tax returns and transactions between a shareholder and a corporation, and resulting gains and losses.

This course will explain and apply various tax research techniques, the importance of tax research, and appropriate techniques for conducting tax research in real world contexts. Students will learn how to apply research techniques to resolve basic to intermediate tax compliance issues and to distinguish primary versus secondary authority in the tax areas, as well as about the hierarchy of federal tax guidance.