Federal Income Tax (FIT) is a four-credit course. There are no prerequisites. Prior background in accounting, economics, math, or finance is neither needed nor expected.
FIT is a survey course that examines the federal income tax, mostly as it applies to individuals. Its aim is to cover the fundamental principles that underlie the federal income tax and to convey the style and flavor of tax analysis. It touches on all major issues, such as what is gross income, what expenditures are deductible, what is the appropriate taxable unit, what is the function of "basis," and what is the appropriate timing of income and deductions. Specific topics include: employee fringe benefits, business deductions (e.g., travel, entertainment, and education), hobby losses, personal deductions (e.g., medical expenses and charitable contributions), the exclusions for gifts, bequests, and life insurance proceeds, income attribution, the taxation of the family (including divorce), the tax treatment of loans, capital expenditures, methods of capital recovery (e.g., installment sales and depreciation), capital gains and losses, tax-free exchanges and rollovers, tax accounting (e.g., the cash and accrual methods), the "tax benefit" rule, and the alternative minimum tax. FIT very deliberately seeks to promote student facility with the Internal Revenue Code and Regulations.
The final examination is open-book and multiple-choice.
Ascher, Mark L.