Course Syllabus Session : Spring 2013

COURSE TITLE: TAXATION

COURSE CODE : FIS300

COURSE TIMING : WEDNESDAY 2:30 to 5:30 pm

TEACHER INFORMATION:

Mr. Mehdi Elharti (economixt@gmail.com)

B.A. in Economics, California State University Chico

M.S. in Economics, California State Polytechnic University Pomona

PhD student in Economics, Universidad de Granada, Spain

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL AND RESSOURCES :

Title Edition Author

The Economics of Taxation 2003 Bernard Salanie

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course will help students understand the economics behind taxation. Both theoretical and applied economic tools will be used to analyze various issues of tax policy. As great emphasis will be put on bridging the gap between theory and applied cases, students will be asked both to formalize tax issues and to discuss the complexity of real life taxation.

At the end of the course, students should:

have a knowledge of the structure of taxation in Morocco and the United States

be familiar with basic economic concepts and methods relating to taxation, including tax incidence and excess burden;

have an understanding of some of the key behavioral effects of taxes, including those on consumer spending, labor supply, saving and investment;

be able to analyze, using relevant economic concepts and methods, a number of issues in tax policy, such as the relative merits of different forms of income taxation, environmental taxation or other tax reforms.

TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE

Class 1 Introduction Review of Economic Concepts: Elasticity Types of Taxes

Class 2 Tax Incidence

Class 3 Optimal Taxation: Indirect Taxation

Class 4 Optimal Taxation: Direct Taxation

Class 5 Optimal Taxation: Mixed Taxation

Class 6 Optimal Taxation: Taxation of Capital

Class 7 Tax evasion and fraud

Class 8 Low income support

Class 9 Consumption taxation

Class 10 Environmental taxation

Class 11 International taxation

Class 12 Class Presentations

Class 13 Class Presentations

Class 14 Review

COURSE ASSESSMENT AND GRADING:

The class will be mainly conducted through formal lectures. You are encouraged to ask questions. Your final grade depends on your performance in the following categories:

Participation = 10%

Assignments/Homework = 25%

Midterm exam = 25%

Final exam = 40%

Grades are strictly based on performance in the course, not on personal circumstances. There is no negotiating for grades. There will be no sharing of calculators during an exam.

The following AUL grading schedule will be used:

POINTS GRADE 95+ A

90-94 A- 87-89 B+ 84-86 B 80-83 B- 77-79 C+ 74-76 C 70-73 C- 67-69 D+ 64-66 D 60-63 D- <59 F

STUDENT’S RESPONSIBILITIES :

Please note that student grades depend on participation in class. Students should actively engage themselves in all the class activities including discussions, respect the others, ask timely questions, answer questions, share insights, bring interesting material and ideas, speak in class when inspired without monopolizing, be helpful, and exceed the expectations of the instructor.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend ALL classes. Students are only allowed to attend their registered sections. Attendance will be taken from the first day of class. Students who miss class are obviously not contributing to the discussion, so grades for participation will suffer. Attendance is mandatory and forms part of your grade. Arriving late or leaving earlier as well as having a break during the class will result in deduction of your participation grade.

If you arrive late to class after attendance is taken, it is your responsibility to notify the instructor immediately after the class in the classroom in question of your late attendance;

otherwise, you are absent.

Any student whose attendance drops below 85% in the semester will be forced to withdraw from the class and/or fail the course if no withdraw occurs.

Behavioral Expectations

General conversation between students while class is in session can result in the student’s dismissal from the class. Continued violations may result in permanent dismissal from the course. Cheating will not be tolerated in this course.

Mobile phones are a distraction in class. They must be turned off and put away out of sight.

Student Academic Integrity Code Statement

Students are advised that violations of the Student Academic Integrity Code will be treated seriously and can lead to suspension or dismissal from the university. A notation of the academic integrity code violation can become part of the student’s permanent record.

Academic violations include but are not limited to:

• Plagiarism

• Inappropriate Collaboration

• Inappropriate Proxy

• Dishonesty in Examinations and Submitted Work

• Work Completed for One Course and Submitted to Another

• Deliberate Falsification of Data

• Interference with Other Students’ Work

• Copyright Violations

• Complicity in Academic Dishonesty

Note: Both the syllabus and course outline are subject to change without notice at the Professor’s discretion.