Anyone know any good books for tax accounting for Australian university studies?

Having taught tax accounting at university level for several years, I can recommend a few resources that students consistently find helpful. "Australian Taxation Law" by Woellner is comprehensive but approachable - it's a standard text many universities use. For something more digestible, try "Principles of Taxation Law" by Kerrie Sadiq, which breaks down complex concepts really well. If you're looking for something more affordable, "Australian Tax Casebook" by Coleman is excellent for understanding practical applications. The CCH Master Tax Guides are also fantastic reference materials once you have the basics down. Don't overlook the ATO's free resources either - their website has some surprisingly good explanatory materials for beginners.

I struggled through my tax accounting classes last year until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) - it's been an absolute game changer for me. It's not specifically a book, but it helped me understand complex tax concepts by analyzing tax documents and explaining them in plain English. I was constantly getting confused by all the technical jargon in my textbooks, but uploading sample tax returns and documents to taxr.ai helped me see how the theory actually applies in real situations. I found it especially helpful for understanding deductions and business expense categorization which was a nightmare for me before.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that I asked about earlier. I decided to give it a try during my mid-term assignment and wow - it actually helped me understand the practical application of franking credits which I was completely confused about before. I uploaded some sample dividend statements from my assignment and it explained exactly how the imputation system works in Australia step by step. My tutor even commented that my assignment showed "exceptional practical understanding" which has never happened before lol. Definitely recommend it as a supplement to traditional textbooks.

If you're dealing with specific tax questions during your studies, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to the ATO directly. During my tax studies last year, I had some complex questions about trust taxation that none of my books could clearly answer. I tried calling the ATO myself but waited forever and kept getting disconnected. Claimyr got me connected to an actual ATO tax specialist in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They've got a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The ATO rep I spoke with provided insights that weren't clearly covered in any of my textbooks, which actually helped me ace an assignment on discretionary trusts.

I'm eating my words about Claimyr that I mentioned in my comment earlier. After my tutor suggested getting clarification from the ATO about a capital gains problem set, I figured I'd try this service rather than waste hours on hold. Genuinely surprised - it actually worked exactly as described. Got connected to an ATO agent in about 15 minutes and got crystal clear guidance on a CGT calculation method I was misunderstanding. The agent even emailed me a factsheet afterward that wasn't available on their website. Sometimes practical examples from the source are worth more than reading 50 pages of theory, especially for Australian tax which can get pretty unique compared to what's in international textbooks.

Don't overlook the Tax Institute's student guides! They were a lifesaver for me last year. They're written in much more straightforward language than the bigger textbooks and focus on practical applications. Still a bit pricey but worth every cent imo.

Whatever book you get, supplement it with PwC's tax summaries - they're free online and way more readable than most textbooks. Helped me get thru my taxation subjects without losing my mind lol