The fifth Deloitte Tax Championship receives an overwhelming response from the academia and the number of participants hits a record high of 270 students from 24 Chinese cities this year.  Amongst 50 teams of university students participated in the group competition recently held in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei, 11 teams have successfully earned a ticket to the national final competition to be held on 16 October 2008 in Xiamen, China.

The 11 teams putting their skills to final test are:

Huazhong University of Science and Technology (華中科技大學)
Jinan University (暨南大學)
Macau University of Science and Technology (澳門科技大學)
Nanjing Audit University (南京審計學院)
Nanjing University (南京大學)
Nankai University (南開大學)
National Chengchi University (國立政治大學)
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (上海財經大學)
Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (西南財經大學)
The University of Hong Kong (香港大學)
Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (中南財經政法大學)

The Deloitte Tax Championship is a nationwide competition for undergraduates and postgraduates. University students are provided with a tax case study and are required to identify key issues and to provide solutions.

Mr Alan Tsoi, Chairman of the Deloitte Tax Championship Organising Committee said, “The Deloitte Tax Championship challenges students’ ability to apply their classroom knowledge to solve real business situations. The group competition is a close match and we expect another round of keen and exciting competition at the national final.  We are happy to see the overall quality of the students and their knowledge in taxation improved each year, which is the objective of the Tax Championship.”

Mr Joseph Tse, Tax Managing Partner of Deloitte China said, “This is the fifth year that the Deloitte Tax Championship is held and we are pleased to see the number of participating teams at the group competition has increased from 27 teams in 2004 to a record high number of 50 entries in 2008. The Championship is one of our initiatives to nurture talent for the taxation field and it brings out the best tax talent in universities across the Strait. The positive response and enthusiasm of the participants at the group competitions are also very encouraging.

Teachers appreciate that Deloitte has devoted significant investment of time, effort and resources to support the Tax Championship. They said the competition arouses students' interest in taxation and inspires them to explore the taxation field.

One of the participants said he was grateful for the opportunity to participate in Deloitte Tax Championship. Besides the experience on thought exchange and discussion with students from different cities, he also felt that the competition had given him invaluable insights on taxation field and opportunities to apply his knowledge to real business situations.

The Deloitte Tax Championship is organised by Deloitte Tax Research Foundation, which aims at promoting education, research and innovation in the field of taxation through an array of national and local programmes.

11 teams of university students have to analyse a simulated business case and present their solutions to a judging panel comprising senior tax officials, Deloitte clients and Deloitte tax partners in the final national competition.

In addition to the undergraduate case study competition, an essay competition is open to all postgraduates.  This year, 21 postgraduates from 13 universities have submitted their essays either to comment on China tax system or to discuss the challenges and opportunities for enterprises under the new tax environment. Eight merit papers will be shortlisted in the first stage and candidates are invited to make a presentation in front of the judges on the national competition day to compete for three best essay honours.