Australia Taxation

Study guide: Third Edition

Australia Taxation is designed to provide you with an awareness of the key provisions of the relevant taxation legislation and enable you to apply the relevant legislative concepts to determine taxation consequences. It is important to consider the taxation impact on individuals, partnerships, companies, trusts and superannuation funds.

A professional accountant is required to possess fundamental tax law knowledge and skills. Australia Taxation introduces fundamental concepts of income tax law, and provides an in-depth understanding of relevant Australian tax laws and their application in the areas of income tax law for individuals and simple business structures, capital gains tax, goods and services tax, and fringe benefits tax.

This subject also covers the tax administration system, and the ethical and professional obligations a tax (financial) adviser and a registered tax agent must comply with under the requirements of the Tax Practitioners Board and as a member of a professional accounting organisation.

On completion of this subject, you should be able to:

• understand the key administrative components of the Australia taxation system and the basic principles of Australia income tax, fringe benefit tax and goods and services taxation legislation
• analyse, discuss and resolve issues relating to the determination of assessable income and allowable deductions
• explain taxation law that relates to the taxation of individuals, companies, partnerships, trusts and superannuation funds
• analyse events and apply the relevant legislation to determine tax liability.

The Australian Taxation subject reflects legislation in place as at 1 January 2020. Notably the content of this subject excludes any tax-related legislation introduced in response to the economic consequences of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Exam questions will be based upon the 2019–20 tax year and the FBT year ending 31 March 2020.

Exam structure

The Australia Taxation exam consists of multiple-choice questions and extended response questions.

Subject content

The "weighting" column in the following table provides an indication of the emphasis placed on each module in the exam, while the "proportion of study time" column is a guide for you to allocate your study time for each module.

For further information, see the subject outline (PDF)