Front Range Community College Course Syllabus Fall Semester 2015-ACC132 Spring Semester 2016-ACC133 Tax Help Colorado (ACC132)/(ACC133) (CRN71245) Mountain Range High School Room C140 Formatted: Left: 0.25", Right: 0.25", Top: 0.2", Bottom: 0.46" Instructor: Jennifer Bloom Office Hours: 1 st and 2 nd Period, Access, or by appointment before or after school. Phone: 720-972-6372 Email: Jennifer.c.bloom@adams12.org MRHS Business Homepage: https://sites.google.com/site/mrsjenniferbloom/ Required course materials 1. Tax Help Colorado 2014 Student Edition 2. IRS Publication 4012 Volunteer Resource Guide 3. IRS Publication 17 Your Federal Income Tax Guide for Individuals 4. IRS Publication 4491 Student Training Guide 5. College Accounting ACC 101 6. Calculator, notebook, and pencil Trains students for preparing federal and state income tax returns for individuals. They learn the skill for employment and are trained to provide a community service. Emphasis is placed on tax-form preparation using profession tax software. A specifically prepared curriculum gives the students the necessary tax law knowledge to pass both the basic and intermediate levels of the IRS certification examination. Students need to pass the IRS exam as part of the course requirements. ACC 132 (2 credits/45 contact hours) ACC 133 (1 credit/30 contact hours)-practical Application Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, Skills, etc: This is a first college level course in tax preparation. No prior tax or accounting course work or work experience is required or assumed. Good basic math skills are essential. (Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) Course Objectives: Upon satisfactory completion of ACC132 and ACC133, each student should be able to- 1. Identify each taxpayers filing status utilizing the information provided by the taxpayer and the IRS decision trees provided. 2. Understand personal exemptions and dependents and how they impact a taxpayer s return. 3. Identify various types of income and how they are reported on tax returns. 4. Identify and understand different types of adjustments to income that are allowed by the IRS and report them on individual tax returns. 5. Identify Child Tax and Earned income credits as well as other credits allowed by the IRS and state revenue systems 6. Become certified to prepare individual tax returns using Tax Wise software. Page 1 of 6
Important Dates: August 20 First day of class December 1-5 (TBD) IRS Certification Exam Additional Information: Student Code of Conduct (excerpt from the Student Code of Conduct, found in the Student Handbook) Conduct which violates student rights and freedoms and is subject to disciplinary action includes, but is not limited to: Plagiarizing, cheating, or helping someone else violate reasonable standards of academic behavior. Students who engage in any type of academic dishonesty are subject to academic consequences as determined by the instructor and disciplinary action as outlined in the Front Range Community College Disciplinary procedures. Honesty - FRCC strives for academic excellence and encourages all students to achieve their best. Moreover, the department promotes academic honesty and does not tolerate cheating or plagiarism. Cheating is defined as the practice of fraud or trickery, to violate rules dishonestly and to act deceivingly. Plagiarism is defined as presenting ideas or words of another as one s own. As a college student it is your responsibility to fully understand the concepts of cheating and plagiarism. Instructors are always available to clarify for students the exact definition of cheating and plagiarism. Failure to understand these concepts does not excuse you from potential reprimand. According to Front Range Community College policy, consequences of cheating or plagiarism can result in an F on the assignment or exam, an F in the course, and/or dismissal from Front Range Community College. Proper cell phone etiquette requires that students turn off their cell phone while in class. If there is a situation that requires the use of your phone, please speak to me before class. Please do not call, answer, or text during class. Please do not put your cell phone anywhere on your desk. Put it out of reach. If you forget and it rings, immediately turn the ringer off. If you must answer your cell phone, please politely step outside of class with as little interruption as possible. Except where a student is entitled to make an audio or video recording of class lectures and discussions as an educational accommodation determined through the student's interactive process with college disability services, a student may not record lectures or classroom discussions unless written permission from the class instructor has been obtained and all students in the class as well as guest speakers have been informed that audio/video recording may occur. A student granted permission to record may use the recording only for his or her own study and may not publish or post the recording on YouTube or any other medium or venue without the instructor's explicit written authorization. Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the learning resources and support programs on each campus to arrange for accommodations and support services. The link to these programs is: http://www.frontrange.edu/current- Students/Learning-Resources-and-Support-Programs/. Front Range Community College provides faculty, staff and students a resource to report their concern about any member of the FRCC community. If you are concerned about yourself or someone else, please go to www.frontrange.edu/care and report. Instructional Environment and Support: The counseling and advising center provides, directly or by referral, many services potentially useful for any student, including individual and group seminar assistance on study skills, test stress management, test-taking techniques, etc. Any student who requires accommodations because of a physical, learning, psychiatric, vision or hearing disability should notify the instructor and the Special Services Office (303.404.5302) at the beginning of the semester. After you have documented your disability with Special Services, please call for an appointment. Page 2 of 6
Course Activities and Grading: Examinations: There will be exams (tax returns) during the semester. The exams will be on a cumulative basis, and taken during normal class time. Although the content of the exams will be cumulative, the nature of Tax Help is that a basis of knowledge is built as the course progresses. Students must build on their tax knowledge through the semester to be successful in the class; weakness early in the course could make the balance of the class difficult. If there are concepts that you are having difficulty with, it is recommended that you be proactive in obtaining help from the instructor, who can refer you to the tutoring center if additional help is needed. *Note: The certification exam is required for the completion of the course. The exam is considered your final. You will be allowed to use your notes and resources on the certification exam. Each exam (tax returns) is scheduled on the course outline. If time permits during the class period before the scheduled exam date, there will be a review. This review, however, may not cover all subjects on the exam. It is the student s responsibility to study all text material, assignments, lectures, and class discussions. Students are expected to be present the day of the examination. It is the student s responsibility to contact the instructor prior to the exam to explain why the exam will be missed. Only valid reasons (conflicts) will be excused. Arrangements for makeup will be handled at that time. DUE TO FINAL GRADE SUBMISSION DEADLINES, THE LAST EXAM CANNOT BE SCHEDULED FOR MAKEUP, unless extreme circumstances warrant. All students are expected to be present during finals week on the last day of class. Written Projects: Written projects will be integrated into the assignments during the term. Details will be distributed later in the semester. Daily Classwork/Homework: Assignments will be graded for each practice tax return. The practice problems shown on the schedule will be submitted at the start of class on the day they are due. Homework submitted after collected in class will received No credit after the due date no exceptions. Class Participation: You are expected to come to class prepared. As a minimum you are required to read the tax guides and complete the assignments listed in the schedule before we cover the material in class. Class participation is not optional. You are expected to participate and exhibit effective communication skills. You will be assigned to a group to work with in class. Class participation activities will involve these group activities and individual activities such as reading quizzes. Extra Credit: There will be limited opportunities for extra credit for FRCC class only. Attendance: Attendance will be taken daily at the start of class. It is a necessary administrative requirement at FRCC and Mountain Range High School. If you arrive for class late, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are marked as being present before class is dismissed. The core assignments scheduled per class period represent the minimum recommended homework for each chapter. It is recommended that the student attempt extra problems whenever possible. As class time permits, the core assignments will be covered during the class period; however, it is unlikely that time will permit coverage of all problems assigned. It is the student s responsibility to check the course outline to keep current with the chapters being covered and the anticipated homework assignments. Additional problems may be assigned during class for completion either at the next class period or the following week; specific due dates will be communicated. Page 3 of 6
The instructor reserves the right to modify any assignment, and to add or remove assignments from the course outline. These modifications will be announced in class, as will general modifications to grading policy or other class policies. The instructor also reserves the right to negotiate exceptions to timeliness policies and penalties with individual students on a case by case basis, based on circumstances. Due to the private nature of the issues that may be involved, such modifications will remain confidential between instructor and student. You are encouraged to attempt exercises and problems in addition to those which are assigned. Final Letter Grade Determination: Grading scale: A 90-100 Concepts 22.5% B 80-89 Concept Application 22.5% C 70-79 21st Century Workplace Skills 22.5% D 60-69 Communication 22.5% F 59 or below Practice 10% *Weekly progress grades are posted at https:// ic.adams12.org/campus/portal/adams12.isp Assessment/Practice Proficiency Levels 4 Advanced Understanding of the Standard 3 Meets the Standard 2 Approaches the Standard 1 Does not Meet the Standard General Expectations Grades are based upon the demonstration of proficiency on units associated with a standard given during each formative or summative assessment. Formative grades in addition to summative unit assessments will be used to holistically determine your grade. Concepts: 22.5% Summative measures of achievement are taken when unit master is expected. (i.e., unit tests, culmination of a project, embedded assessments, etc.) 21 st Century Workplace Skills: 22.5% Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Understand cause and effect Information Literacy/Technology Access and assess information efficiently, critically, and competently Work Place Readiness Take personal responsibility Teamwork/Collaboration Work effectively with others Work Ethic Demonstrate initiative and self-direction Assessments will be graded based on teacher/district/state rubrics. On group projects, students will receive a grade for individual work and a group grade. Grades are based on achievement of Content Standards and Grade Level Expectations. Class Expectations Missing or incomplete assignments/assessments for this course: Superintendent Policies 6280 Homework and 6281 Make-Up Work, will be followed for this course. Page 4 of 6
SYLLABUS AMMENDMENTS I reserve the right to make amendments to the present syllabus at any time, and at my discretion. Students will be notified of changes in a timely and reasonable manner. Changes will be announced either in class or via email. It is students' responsibility to inquire of any possible editions should a student miss class. Unit of Study Getting Started 1) Apply to Front Range Community College (FRCC) 2) Fill out the Colorado Opportunity Fund (COF) on the computer 3) Course paperwork Grade Level Expectations/ Content Standards ESS01 Academic Foundations; ESS02 Communications; ESS03 Problem-solving and Critical-thinking skills; ESS04 Information Technology Applications; ESS07 Leadership; ESS09 Employability and Career Development Approximate Time Spent or Percent of time Spent 1 week Targeted Date of Assessment 9/4/15 Last day to drop!!! 4) Register for class Tax Help Colorado Section 1 Filing Basics Section 2 Filing Status Section 3 Personal Exemptions & Dependents Section 4 Income Wages, Interest, Dividends, Taxable Refunds, Alimony, Business Income, Capital Gains, Losses, Retirement Plans, Annuities, Pensions, Social Security, Unemployment, Other Income, Cancellation of Debt and Health Savings ESS01 Academic Foundations; ESS02 Communications; ESS03 Problem-solving and Critical-thinking skills; ESS04 Information Technology Applications; ESS07 Leadership; ESS09 Employability and Career Development 2 weeks 9/18/15 3 weeks 10/8/15 Section 5 Adjustments to Income ESS01 Academic Foundations; ESS02 1 week 10/16/15 Section 6 Standard & Itemized Communications; ESS03 Deductions Problem-solving and 2 weeks 10/30/15 Section 7 Tax Credits and Section 8 Other Taxes Critical-thinking skills; ESS04 Information 3 weeks 10/23/15 Technology Applications; Section 9 Payments & Refundable ESS07 Leadership; ESS09 Credits Employability and Career 1 week 10/31/15 Page 5 of 6
Section 10 Colorado State Returns Section 11 Amended Returns Section 12 Quality Review Section 13 The Next Step Section 14 Returns not Prepared at Tax Help Colorado Development 1 week 11/7/15 1 week 11/13/15 Section 15 Exercises, Problems & Special Topic Returns 1 week 11/20/15 REVIEW TAX HELP CERTIFICATION TEST 2 days 3 weeks 11/30-12/4/15 12/7/15-12/18/15 Page 6 of 6