Finance Foundations: Income Taxes

Course details

Filing your personal or professional income taxes in the US can be an overwhelming task. Accounting and finance professors Jim and Kay Stice can make filing this year's taxes a bit easier for you by explaining basic taxation concepts and terminology—and providing valuable tips to save money when it comes to tax planning. In this course, they cover concepts such as taxable income, tax brackets, average and marginal tax rates, tax withholding, deductions, and credits, and explain the motivation behind federal tax deductions such as mortgages, dependents, and charitable giving. They review the steps involved in filing a personal income tax return, explain the benefits of legitimate (legal) tax planning, and address some of the special issues that corporations and small businesses face in filing returns.

NOTE: The information in this course applies only to the United States.

Topics include:
Determine the most advantageous tax treatment of credits and deductions.
Explore the history of certain tax breaks.
Identify the reasons for including personal information on a federal tax return.
Define the most beneficial method to shift income from one pocket to the other for income tax purposes.
Examine the ways to avoid the double taxation on corporate income.
Explain legal issues involved in hiding income from taxing authorities.

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Learn the fundamentals of income taxes
02 - What you should know

1. Income Tax Overview

03 - The history of income taxes
04 - Different kinds of taxes
05 - How many sets of books does a large company keep

2. A Simple Income Tax System

06 - Taxman by the Beatles
07 - Tax brackets
08 - Average and marginal tax rates
09 - Tax deductions and tax credits
10 - Ordinary income and capital gains income

3. Common Tax Loopholes and General Income Tax Policy

11 - Who gets tax breaks
12 - Examples of individual tax breaks
13 - Examples of business tax breaks
14 - The biggest individual tax loopholes in the US tax code
15 - The biggest corporate tax loopholes in the US tax code
16 - What is the optimal income tax rate
17 - The relationship between tax revenues and spending

4. Completing a Basic Tax Return

18 - Della and Dee Stice doing people's taxes
19 - Joint Form 1040 - Entering personal information
20 - Joint Form 1040 - Computing adjusted gross income (AGI)
21 - Joint Form 1040 - Computing the total tax
22 - Joint Form 1040 - Additional tax payment or tax refund
23 - Itemized deductions
24 - Single Form 1040 - Computing Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
25 - Single Form 1040 - Additional tax payment or tax refund
26 - Online tax returns

5. Principles of Tax Planning

27 - Tesla and tax planning
28 - What is tax planning
29 - Strategy 1 - Shift income from one time period to another
30 - Strategy 2 - Shift income from one pocket to another
31 - Strategy 3 - Change the character of the income

6. Corporate Income Taxes

32 - How large are corporate income taxes
33 - Ownership structure - Sole, partnership, and corporation
34 - Corporate income tax issues
35 - Multinational corporate income tax issues

7. Income Taxes - Planning vs. Evasion

36 - Reporting foreign income on US income taxes
37 - Tax evasion - Beware of illegal strategies, part 1
38 - Tax evasion - Beware of illegal strategies, part 2

8. Common Income Tax Issues for Small Businesses

39 - Tax issues at a family grocery store
40 - Common tax issues for small businesses, part 1
41 - Common tax issues for small businesses, part 2
42 - Is your goal to minimize your income taxes

Review and Conclusion

43 - Taxes can be complex, but you have the basic tools
44 - Concluding income tax advice

Finance Foundations: Income Taxes

Authors

Jim Stice

Kay Stice