The 2006 Taxation course was extremely content heavy: instead of using an academic textbook (2005 used Guilders, and excerpts of Guilders were used in the 2006 course to teach some concepts) the prescribed texts were the Master Tax Guide and a study guide for Taxation legislation. This meant that you were required to do a very large amount of reading, and we all know how fun it is to read taxation material. These texts are used by accountants and tax consultants in practice, so exposure to them at an undergraduate level is good (and also somewhat good in interviews), however they are expensive (around $180) and you really cannot complete the course without them.
The course takes a general overview of income and deductions in the first half of semester and goes into more specific topics (eg. fringe benefits tax, partnerships, companies, trusts) in the second half. The first half is very content heavy, and it's important to get on top of this early to understand the remainder of the unit, and to avoid getting hammered by assignments towards the end of semester.
This unit is much more tightly packed than similar courses at Curtin as Curtin splits taxation up into multiple units, and hence the UWA course can't go into as much detail.
Exams: In 2006 both the mid semester and final exams were open book. You must manage your time extremely well and pay attention to where marks are delegated as most people didn't complete either exam.
Assignment: The assignment was worth 10% in 2006, and involved completing an individual tax return for a fictitious person. Start all assignments like this early, as the work involved will help with your understanding of concepts and make it easier for you in the exams.
Tutorials: You get marked on attendence, so turn up. The topics reviewed in tutorials might also save you in the exam.
Taken by MarkHolub.
Unit website is on WebCT and is not public.
[http://handbooks.uwa.edu.au/units/acct/acct3331 Handbook entry]
