AC307: Business Planning: Tax

Module code: AC307

Module provider: Business Informatics, Systems and Accounting; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Mrs Clare Bentata, email: clare.bentata@henley.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST ( TAKE AC207 OR TAKE AC108 ) AND TAKE AC217 (Compulsory)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded: IN TAKING THIS MODULE YOU CANNOT TAKE AC221 OR TAKE AC319 (Compulsory)

Placement information: na

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module builds on the knowledge acquired in AC217 Tax Compliance, developing knowledge, understanding and advisory skills relating to potential business and personal tax scenarios.

This module aims to enable students to apply technical knowledge and professional judgement to identify, explain and evaluate alternative tax treatments to resolve tax issues that arise in the context of preparing tax computations and to advise on tax-efficient strategies for businesses and individuals. Students will also be required to evaluate the commercial, legal and ethical implications of recommendations.

Students undertaking this module will learn some more advanced aspects of the UK tax system as required by professional accountants and gain relevant, practical knowledge for running a business.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Analyse, evaluate and calculate the tax consequences of actions for individuals and companies and evaluate the interaction of taxes in given scenarios by reference to the tax regulations.
2. Advise on alternative tax treatments to defer or minimise tax liabilities.
3. Understand the interaction of taxes in given scenarios and to identify and discriminate between tax evasion and tax avoidance.
4. Recognise and explain ethical and legal issues arising in taxation scenarios.

The module also aims to encourage the development of oral communication skills and the students’ effectiveness in group situations. Structured activities are designed to develop independent learning, including reflective, adaptive and collaborative learning.

Module content

• Tax liabilities for individuals and companies in a range of scenarios
• International aspects of corporate tax
• Tax implications of financing and investing in companies
• Tax implications of employment income and remuneration packages
• Personal tax
• Overseas tax
• Tax planning to defer or minimise tax liabilities
• Interaction of taxes in tax planning scenarios
• Ethical and legal implications in tax scenarios
• The module covers international aspects of income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax and VAT.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures will be used for both the exposition of the main concepts, principles and techniques associated with the discipline and for numerical practice and discussion of examination style questions.  Lectures will be recorded using learning capture technology, where possible, and Blackboard will be used to support and structure the module.

Study hours

At least 40 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

This module contributes to the Business Planning:Taxation module of ICAEW ACA Professional level. In order to apply for ICAEW credit for prior learning, students must be registered on the BA Accounting and Business programme and must obtain a minimum mark of 55% in this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Formative assessments are available in the textbook for all weeks of the module to enable students to gain the necessary practice. This work is primarily designed as a learning vehicle, and students will be provided with marking guides and feedback where appropriate so that they can assess their own performance.

Reassessment

Additional costs