Devil's in the detail : non-commercial business losses

When the theme for the 2008 Australasian Tax Teachers’ Conference was announced (The Devil’s in the Detail), the author immediately thought of the non-commercial losses provisions. These provisions are contained in Division 35 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) (‘ITAA 1997’) and restrict individuals from offsetting losses from non-commercial activities against other income.

Client view

Apart from learning substantive legal principles, practising lawyers need to develop certain professional skills, such as client interview skills. The challenge at Deakin University was to find a mechanism that was accessible to Deakin’s cohort of distance education students. ‘ClientView’ seeks to facilitate such through an esimulation. Through ClientView the student interviews their new client, Miranda Koh. The e-simulation ClientView is designed to be used in company law and taxation units. It has since been used as the model for further e-simulations in the Faculty of Business and Law. This article discusses the use of e-simulations in legal education and in particular the development and implementation of ClientView.