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Unit outline_

LAWS6125: Taxation of Corporate Finance

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal evening] - Remote

This advanced unit will analyse the current law on the tax treatment of the principal forms of raising corporate finance from sources both in Australia and offshore, in Australian and foreign currencies, and of hedging the various exposures that a taxpayer may have from of its fund-raising and investments. The unit will consider the taxpayer's position both within and outside the TOFA regime. Common forms of innovative financial instruments will be examined, including debt, equity and hybrid instruments, forward and futures contracts, derivative instruments, and various asset-based forms of corporate financing. Selected non-resident withholding tax issues will be examined.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Law
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
None
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

It is assumed that students undertaking this unit have an understanding of Australian income taxation law commensurate with that which would be obtained from completing undergraduate study in Australian taxation law or five years working with Australian tax law in a law or accounting practice in an industry role or in the Australian Taxation Office. For students who do not have such knowledge or work experience they first should undertake LAWS6825 Introduction to Australian Business Tax and LAWS6030 Corporate Taxation before enrolling in this unit.

Available to study abroad and exchange students

No

Teaching staff

Coordinator Michael Dirkis, michael.dirkis@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s) Paul O'Donnell, p.odonnell@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Final exam (Take-home short release) Type D final exam Exam (optional)
Final exam
0% Formal exam period 2 hours
Outcomes assessed: LO4 LO1 LO2 LO3
Assignment Optional capstone essay
Optional capstone essay
0% Formal exam period
Due date: 15 Jun 2021 at 16:00
7,000 - 10,000 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Assignment 2000 word assignment
2000 word assignment
0% Week 12
Due date: 24 May 2021 at 16:00
2000 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO4 LO3 LO2
Type D final exam = Type D final exam ?

Assessment summary

2000 word assignment (30%): 2,000 word assignment problem question. To be released in Week 1 via Canvas and due at 4pm on 24 May 2021.

Optional final exam (70%): Duration of exam will be 2 hours plus 30 minutes reading time. The exam will be held during the University formal exam period. The exam will be scheduled by the Exams Office and the Law School is not responsible for exam timetabling. Please refer to Exams  https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/exams/timetables.html.  

Optional capstone essay (70%): For LLM students who are undertaking this unit towards the end of their degree, and need a capstone experience to complete their degree, involving producing a Research Paper.

The Research Paper will replace the final exam and will be worth 70%.

The Research Paper should be at least 7,000 words and up to 10,000 words in length and is due is due at 5pm on the date of the final exam.

If you wish to apply for capstone essay, please email the unit coordinator by Week 2.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

Work receiving a high distinction grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics:
• Completely answers the question.
• Contains striking originality of approach or analysis.
• Demonstrates exhaustive or innovative research (where independent research
required).
• Exceptionally well written, structured and expressed.
• Is otherwise exceptional in some way.

Distinction

75 - 84

Work receiving a distinction grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics:
• Completely answers the question.
• Achieves a critical and evaluative approach to the issues.
• Content and structure is well organised in support of the argument.
• Demonstrates extensive research and analysis to support a well-documented
argument.
• Generally well expressed and free from errors.
• Has a clear structure and is well articulated.

Credit

65 - 74

Work receiving a credit grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics:
• Covers main issues fairly well in answering the question.
• Contains no significant errors
• Demonstrates an attempted critical approach to the issues.
• Demonstrates reasonably sound research and analysis in addressing the key issues.
• Has a clear structure and reasonably clear expression.

Pass

50 - 64

Work receiving a pass grade will generally exhibit the following characteristics:
• Identifies the key issues, but does not follow through with a reasoned argument.
• Contains some significant errors.
• Displays satisfactory engagement with the key issues.
• Offers descriptive summary of material relevant to the question.
• Superficial use of material, and may display a tendency to paraphrase.
• Demonstrates little evidence of in-depth research or analysis.
• Adequate expression.
• Overall, demonstrates the minimum level of competence in the assessment and
satisfies the requirements to proceed to higher-level studies in the degree or subject
area.

Fail

0 - 49

Work may fail for any or all of the following reasons:
• Does not answer the question.
• Contains significant or numerous errors.
• Few or no identifiable arguments.
• Content that is inappropriate or irrelevant.
• Lack of research or analysis.
• Difficult or impossible to understand through poor grammar, expression or
structure.
• Overall, does not demonstrate the minimum level of competence in the
assessment.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

The late submission of a piece of assessment, which has not been granted an extension, will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment per calendar day or part thereof.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Introduction and debt based financing under TOFA - part 1 (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 02 Introduction and debt based financing under TOFA - part 2 (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 03 Debt based financing outside TOFA (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 04 Equity based funding outside TOFA (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 05 Taxation issues for offshore funding (Chris Colley) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 06 Asset-based financing - part 1 (Matt Shanahan) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 07 Asset-based financing - part 2 (Matt Shanahan) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 08 Swaps and derivatives (excluding use in hedging) (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 09 Funding and trading in FX (Ian Fullerton) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 10 Hedging financial assets and liabilities - part 1 (Ian Fullerton) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 11 Hedging financial assets and liabilities - part 2 (Ian Fullerton) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 12 Discussion of assignment topics - part 1 (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 13 Discussion of assignment topics - part 2 (Paul O'Donnell) Lecture (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: All students are required to attend 70% of classes (or as otherwise specified by the Unit Coordinator) to satisfy the pass requirements for each unit of study. Attendance requirements may be satisfied by online attendance as specified by the Unit Coordinator. Failure to meet this requirement may result in a student being precluded from sitting the final assessment.

Word count penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will exclude bibliography; footnote numbers; footnote citation; cover page and include body text; headings and sub-headings; quotations; anything other than numbers and citations in footnotes.

Referencing: The Sydney Law School expects you to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, although you should confirm this with your lecturer, and a link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476376

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

References to relevant reading materials will be provided in the PowerPoint presentation / paper accompanying each lecture.

Participants are a required to have (and bring to class) a copy of the current complete income tax legislation.

 

Cases, rulings and additional statutory materials

Most Australian cases can now be accessed via Austlii: http://www.austlii.edu.au  

Tax rulings and other administrative materials are available from the ATO’s legal database: http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/index.htm

Statutory material (including the explanatory memorandum to a bill) can be found at Comlaw: http://www.comlaw.gov.au

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. understand the policies underlying detailed rules in tax of corporate finance.
  • LO2. understand the detailed rules in tax of corporate finance.
  • LO3. identify and apply complex statutory and general tax law rules to complex corporate financing arrangements.
  • LO4. clearly and accurately communicate analysis of the tax consequences arising from various corporate financing arrangements

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.