Rethinking the Future of Tax Education

• In Event: TlC

Abstract

On Dec. 22, 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into law, simplifying certain aspects of tax law by eliminating certain deductions such as exemptions and moving expenses. The new bill also poses an interesting problem for tax educators on how to structure the future of tax courses.

Although the content will change for tax courses, the skills needed to be a tax professional will not. Since 1996, the AICPA has provided guidance on tax education by proposing the Model Tax Curriculum (MTC), which has been updated in 1999, 2006, and most recently in 2012.

We surveyed tax educators about the adoption of the MTC at accounting programs in the United States, finding adoption rates to be low throughout the years. With the 2017 tax law change, we see an opportunity for the AICPA and tax educators to revisit the role of the MTC in improving tax education

Authors

• Marsha M Huber, Youngstown State University

• Raymond J Shaffer, Youngstown State University

• Gary Robson, Bloomsbury University