Information for Professor Nellen's Classes

San José State University

Table of Contents

Administrative Matters

• Information about the SJSU MST Program

• SJSU MST Mission & Learning Objectives

• SJSU Academic Integrity Policy and Information - all students should read this 

• Map for Off-Campus MST classrooms in San Jose (5201 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara)

• Buy your text online at Spartan Shops (or purchase it in person at the Spartan Bookstore on the main campus) Note: To find the book at the Spartan Shops website, go to Textbooks, and then select the appropriate MBA term (not fall, spring or summer). If you go to the bookstore in person, look for the off-campus MBA program to find the MST textbooks.  The textbooks are likely also available at Roberts Bookstore on 10th Street.  If you want an e-book, check the publisher's website, be sure you have the right title, edition, ISBN (not all texts are available this way though).

• Information on becoming a CPA in CA or using MST courses as CE

• Information from the AICPA on careers in taxation

How to Access RIA, CCH, BNA and IRS Tax Research Tools

• CCH and BNA - need to access through the King Library website:

  • The database website asks for your name, library card or student ID and PIN.

  • If you do not have a pin, then follow these instructions here.

  • If you have any difficulty accessing CCH or BNA, contact (408) 808-2470 for assistance.

• RIA Checkpoint

  • How to obtain an RIA Checkpoint user id and passcode usable for the duration of your class - Click on this URL (http://ria.thomson.com/cploginids) and enter the requested information.  You must do this from an SJSU computer - at the King Library or ask Professor Nellen to assist you with this. Once you've provided the requested information, the user id and passcode will be e-mailed to you.  Thereafter, you can access RIA Checkpoint from any computer with Internet access (the URL for that is http://www.checkpoint.riag.com).  If your access expires while you are still in the MST program, email Sun Chou to ask her to renew your RIA Checkpoint account (sun.chou@sjsu.edu).

  • Quick reference guide

• CCH IntelliConnect   (see instructions above about the library database access)

  • Quick tour/tutorial

  • Training Guide (no need to print; but instead refer to it as you use CCH)

  • Quick Start Guide

  • User Guides - various guides on how to do international research, create tables, and more

• BNA Tax Management Portfolions - Federal and Multistate (see instructions above about the library database access)

• To access other library databases including Lexis Nexus - click here.

• IRS - use the search and advanced search features (and the search tips) or try IRS Tax Map - MST students - you cannot find everything you need on the IRS website, you'll need to use a commercial tax research tool (see above)

How to Get Free Student Membership in AICPA and CalCPA

• For students who are not yet CPAs

• Cal CPA student membership - here

• AICPA - To sign up for the student membership, visit this link: http://www.thiswaytocpa.com/ .  Click the Sign Up link at the top of the page. At the bottom of the registration page, there is a box that will give you reduced fee AICPA membership as a student.  Once you have completed the registration, you should receive a member number in about five business days via email. You then register for a member account on www.CPA2Biz.com to place orders with the member discount.

Tips for Academic Success

• Remember - graduate level study is supposed to be challenging!

• Time Management Tips (from Professor Nellen)

• Tips for Good Grades (provided by an SJSU student)

• Comply with SJSU's Academic Integrity Policy

Business 223F, Tax Accounting Methods and Periods  [Spring 2013]

• Syllabus

• Desire2Learn:  Instructions       Log-in page

• Web sources for primary authority

• Academic Integrity

Business 225K, Advanced Individual Taxes [Fall 2012]

• Syllabus and Reading materials + link to Desire2Learn, online presentations and more

• Desire2Learn:  Instructions       Log-in page

• Web sources for primary authority

• Academic Integrity

Business 223A, Tax Research & Decision-making (MST)  [Spring 2013] 

• Syllabus Spring 2013

• Desire2Learn:  Instructions       Log-in page

• Turnitin.com - see syllabus for access code and which assignments to submit

• Tax Principles Worksheet Blank (doc)

• Academic Integrity + Plagiarism Tutorial (print out of your score is due at first class meeting)
         (if you do not have a student ID yet, use 123456789)

• Writing tips

  • Be sure to see the tips and writing examples on Desire2Learn

  • Writing Skills for the Tax Professional (from Georgia State University)

  • How to Paraphrase (from Purdue)

  • How to Paraphrase without Plagiarizing (from Colorado State Univ)

  • Easy grammar tips from Grammar Girl

• RIA Checkpoint

  • Terminology used in RIA Citator + words of advice from Professor Nellen on using citators

• CCH IntelliConnect  (see access instructions)

  • User Guide

• BNA Tax Management Portfolions - Federal and Multistate (see access instructions)

• To access other library databases including Lexis Nexus and Academic Search Premier - click here.

• To access e-journals (includes several tax journals) - click here

• Tax and Accounting Sites Directory  (lots of great links provided by Professor Dennis Schmidt)

• Law Dictionary from FindLaw

• Tax Links:

Search various gov't websites	http://usa.gov
Gov't Printing Office	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html
Congressional bills	http://thomas.loc.gov
House Ways & Means	http://www.house.gov/ways_means/
Senate Finance Committee	http://www.senate.gov/~finance/
House Committee on Rules  (another source for committee reports)	http://www.rules.house.gov/
Joint Committee on Taxation	http://www.jct.gov/
Congressional Budget Office tax reports	http://www.cbo.gov/byclasscat.cfm?cat=33
Treasury Department	http://www.ustreas.gov/
Treasury Tax Policy Reports	http://www.treas.gov/taxpolicy/documents.html
Retrieve regulations	http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html#26cfr
IRS Search tips from the IRS	http://www.irs.gov/ http://www.irs.gov/help/search_help.html
IRS Glossary of Tax Terms	http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/student/glossary.jsp
IRS Electronic Reading Room (links to most IRS documents)	http://www.irs.gov/uac/Electronic-Reading-Room
Internal Revenue Bulletins	http://www.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/internalRevenueBulletins.html
AODs from IRS website	http://www.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/actionsOnDecisions.html
Chief Counsel Notices	http://www.irs.gov/foia/lists/0,,id=97652,00.html
LB&I Industry Directives	http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporations/Large-Business-and-International-%28LB&I%29-Industry-Director-Guidance
IRS Letter Rulings	http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/writtenDeterminations.html
IRS Written Determinations	http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/writtenDeterminations.html
IRS Information Letters	http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/informationLetters.html
IRS Coordinated Issue Papers	http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Coordinated-Issue-Papers---LB&I
IRS Legal Advice Issued by Field Attorneys	http://www.irs.gov/uac/Legal-Advice-Issued-by-Field-Attorneys
IRS Audit Technique Guides (formerly MSSPs)	http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=108149,00.html http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-mssp/
IRS Advance Notices of revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, etc.	http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/
Excerpts from Internal Revenue Manual (IRM)	http://www.irs.gov/irm/index.html
Circular 230	http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/pcir230.pdf
Tax practitioner video and audio presentations	http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/IRS-Live
Government documents including federal register, GAO reports, and federal budget	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/multidb.html      and http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action
Dept. of Justice - Tax Division	http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2009.htm
U.S. Tax Court (recent opinions + other info)	http://ustaxcourt.gov/
Franchise Tax Board	http://www.ftb.ca.gov/
Calif. State Board of Equalization	http://www.boe.ca.gov/
California legislative proposals and legislation	http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html
California Revenue & Taxation Code	http://leginfo.public.ca.gov/calaw.html
State Tax Agency Links	http://www.aicpa.org/yellow/yptsgus.htm
State Info Relevant to Accountants	http://www.aicpa.org/states/info/index.htm
Links to state legislatures	http://thomas.loc.gov/home/state-legislatures.html
Links to municipal codes	http://www.municode.com/Resources/OnlineLibrary.asp
Tax Analysts	http://www.tax.org/
AICPA's Statements on Standards for Tax Services and Interpretation (SSTS)	http://www.aicpa.org/download/tax/SSTSfinal.pdf

 

Business 223E, Business & Tax Aspects of High Tech Companies  [Summer 2012]

• Web links (contains links that should be useful for your group project and for reference for the class)

• Desire2Learn:  Instructions       Log-in page

• Web sources for primary authority

• Academic Integrity

Business 220G, Tax Factors of Business Decisions (MSA)  [Fall 2007] 

• Syllabus

• Academic Integrity

• Taxation Basics

• Principles of Good Tax Policy

• AICPA's Statements on Standards for Tax Services (SSTS) 

• Sports Income Rulings (for 10/2 you will be assigned just one of these sections to read and briefly summarize)

• Corporate AMT: 

  • Form 4626 (print and bring to class for 10/9/07)

  • Instructions (skim)

• Form 1120 Schedule M-3 (print and bring to class for 10/9/07)

• Worker classification (for 10/19)

• Corporate tax rules chart (for homework due 10/19)

• To access RIA Checkpoint - click here

• Writing Tips 

• Easy grammar tips from Grammar Girl

• Sample research memo on educational expenses

• 10 concepts to help you understand the federal income tax system (optional)

• Web sources for primary authority

• Tips for Academic Success

Reports Professor Nellen Sometimes Make Reference to in Class

• CRS Report on brief overview to history of federal taxation

• GAO Report on Alternative Filing Systems (10/96)

• GAO Report on Estimated Sales and Use Tax Loss from E-Commerce (6/00)

• AICPA, Tax Policy Concept Statement: Guiding Principles of Good Tax Policy: A Framework for Evaluating Tax
  Proposals, March 2001

Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism

University Policy: Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University’s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work.  Here are some key points from that policy, but you are highly encouraged to read the entire policy as well.  The SJSU Academic Integrity Policy can be found at  http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S07-2.htm.

• Faculty are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct & Ethical Development - there are no exceptions. This means that if your paper includes text that is not your own, it is not in quotes and/or there is no reference, you have committed an act of plagiarism and your professor will be required to report that infraction of the university's academic integrity policy to the Office of Judicial Affairs. If you share homework or test answers with a classmate - that is cheating and must be reported and sanctions given.  You are engaged in academic work - there is NO phone a friend, poll the audience, copying, asking someone else (besides your instructor).  Do the right thing - all of your own work!
• The policy defines plagiarism as follows:  "At SJSU plagiarism is the act of representing the work of another as one's own without giving appropriate credit, regardless of how that work was obtained, and/or submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at SJSU includes but is not limited to:
  • The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts of, and/or the specific substance of another's work, without giving appropriate credit, and/or representing the product as one's own work;
  • Representing another’s artistic/scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, paintings, drawing, sculptures, or similar works as one's own."
• The policy also defines cheating. It includes "Copying, in part or in whole, from another’s test or other evaluation instrument including homework assignments, worksheets, lab reports, essays, summaries, quizzes, etc."  An example would be using a classmate's paper (from your current course or a prior course) to obtain  your answer rather than doing the work yourself. Another example would be working with a classmate to complete an assignment on which you were to present your individual effort.  Cheating would also be using a student paper from a prior semester to get answers to a current assignment that was similar or identical. Also aiding anyone in cheating is a violation of the academic integrity policy.

Additional Information from Professor Nellen

• Read this paper prepared by Professor Nellen to help with your MST work.

Instructions for Accessing the Plagiarism Tutorial Provided by the SJSU Library (tutorial only required for 223A students): 

1. Go to the tutorial pages at http://tutorials.sjlibrary.org/   (see link to plagiarism tutorial on right side of this page)

2. Select the plagiarism tutorial 

3. Click on First Time Students option and enter the requested information (if you don't have a student ID yet, use 123456789)

4. Begin the tutorial.

When in doubt - ask your professor.

Updated    December 29, 2012

To reach Professor Annette Nellen

Return to Professor Nellen's Web Page