Course

Taxation at Death and Estate Planning

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Accounting
Course code
ACCT 4670
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
30
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course outlines the special taxation rules that arise at death. The course covers income tax compliance as well as estate planning with the intent to minimize tax on the estate of the deceased taxpayer. Reference will be made to latest budgetary pronouncements, legislative changes, new case law and CRA administrative positions.
Course content

1. Taxation rules at death applicable to the following:

  • Income in Year of Death and Income Deemed to Arise
  • Deemed Disposition of Assets
  • Wills
  • Intestacy
  • Spousal Claims
  • Special Assets
  • Charitable Donations
  • Special Rules and Elections
  • Insurance
  • Valuation Issues
  • Tax Filings, Payments, Assessments
  • Non-Residents
  • Foreign Assets

2. Post-mortem Tax Planning

3. Taxation of Estates

4. Estate Planning Pre-death

Learning activities

Lectures, seminars and case analysis. All methods of instruction apply to in class, hybrid and/or online modes of learning.

Means of assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.

Assignments and Case Analysis 30%
Term Project and Presentation 10%
In-class Participation in Case Analysis             10%
Mid-Term Examination                                           20%
Comprehensive Final Examamination                          30%
Total 100%

Students must write both the midterm examinations and the final examinations to pass the course.

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the successful student should be able to:

  1. Calculate the taxation of income arising and deemed to arise in the year of death;
  2. Determine the tax treatment of capital property at death;
  3. Evaluate the income tax implications of an intestate estate;
  4. Analyze issues involved in spousal claims;
  5. Analyze special rules and elections applying at death;
  6. Determine tax filings, payments, and assessments that may arise as a consequence of death;
  7. Analyze the tax implications of death of a non-resident of Canada;
  8. Evaluate the tax implications of foreign assets;
  9. Evaluate taxation of estates;
  10. Create post-mortem tax planning and estate planning pre-death.
Textbook materials

Taxation at Death: A Practitioner's Guide. By: Grace Chow and Michael Cadesky. Carswell-Thomson Reuters Canada

OR other textbooks as approved by the Accounting department.

Requisites

Prerequisites

ACCT 3370 

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution Transfer details for ACCT 4670
Athabasca University (AU) AU TAXX 4XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) DOUG ACCT 4570 (3) & DOUG ACCT 4670 (3) = CAMO ACCT 475 (3) & CAMO ACCT 4XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO ACCT 4XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU BFIN 4XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) No credit
Coquitlam College (COQU) No credit
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) No credit
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit
University Canada West (UCW) UCW ACCT 4XX (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC COM 2XX (1.5)

Course Offerings

Fall 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
30
Currently enrolled
22
Remaining seats:
8
On waitlist
0
Building
Online
Room
ONLINE
Times:
Start Time
18:30
-
End Time
21:20
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N4308
Times:
Start Time
18:30
-
End Time
21:20
Section notes

ACCT 4670 051 - This is a hybrid course which incorporates both face-to-face and online instructions. The class will meet live on the New Westminster campus on select weeks.