It's been a busy time for tax students. Months of hard work will be tested today as 11 teams from across China slug it out for the crown in this year's Deloitte Tax Championship.
The first round on September 1 saw 47 teams whittled down to 11. Today's final is in Guangzhou. Eight of the teams are from mainland universities, the rest come from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. 'We'd been talking about organising a tax competition for years,' said Alan Tsoi, tax principal at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and chairman of this year's competition organising committee. 'So we looked into it and decided it would be appropriate for China because of the size of the country and the level of tax education.'
Participation in the competition is by invitation only to ensure standards are high and consistent, and to ensure the competition remains manageable.
In the competition's first year, 2004, 27 schools were invited to participate. This year, 47 schools were invited and Mr Tsoi said the number was expected to increase each year.
The aims of the competition are straightforward, according to Mr Tsoi. 'We had several objectives when we started, we wanted to develop analytical and presentation skills, as well as develop tax education on the mainland. And the case-study format gives students the chance to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life scenarios.
'We also wanted to promote tax as a career. Lots of students don't know that you can make a career out of tax. They study business and accounting but don't know about tax. And it's not a boring career, it's a very rewarding career.'
