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An International Meeting of 2005 Annual MeetingAugust 7–10, 2005
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Effective Learning Strategies Forum
Monday, August 8, 2005
Session 1
Teaching Tax Provisions with the Support of Tax Memoranda DecisionsPresenter:
Diane A. Riordan, James Madison UniversityDescription: Why is reality television such a success? Perhaps it is because the events of every day living are very interesting? In this session I demonstrate how to use the routine events described in tax court memoranda decisions to build a portfolio of case readings. The assigned cases are chosen to elaborate each of the steps in the tax computation, and these elaborations act as cues in the student's memory. The method enhances learning by using a combination of the student's reading and mathematical skills. The casualty loss deduction is used in the example below.
Example of Reading Portfolio Assignment:
Computing the Casualty Loss Deduction
| Decision Steps | Illustrative Cases: | |
| Step 1. | Meet basic requirements. Issue: Has property suffered damage? [Neighbor harassment] |
Torre v. Comm., TC Memo 2001-218 |
| Issue: Does the event meet the test of being sudden or unexpected? [Pond scum] |
Barnes v. Comm., 87 AFTR 2d 2001-2551 | |
| Step 2. | Determine use of property. Issue: Is the property business or personal use property? [Rental sign] |
Palos v. Comm., TC Memo 2000-56 |
| Step 3. | Determine lesser of fair market value or adjusted basis. Issue: What is the basis of the property? |
Cziraki v. Comm., 87 AFTR 2d 2001-308 |
| Issue: Has the taxpayer compared the decline in fair market value to the basis
of the property? [Dividing lane] |
Lafavre (2000) TC Memo 2000-297 | |
| Step 4. | Subtract $100 per loss event. Issue: Is the damage above the threshold amount of $100? [Dog's bathroom habits] |
Torre v. Comm., supra |
| Step 5. | Apply threshold. Issue: Does the value of the casualty exceed 10% of adjusted gross income? |
Barnes v. Comm., supra |
Reading Portfolio
Note: More than one case may illustrate a particular point. The purpose of assigning at least one case is to demonstrate that all the points in the algorithm are covered by the content of the reading portfolio.