A Recap of 2019 Deloitte Tax Championship

2019 Deloitte Tax Championship came to a successful conclusion at the St. Regis Chengdu on October 27. This year’s competition invited 72 universities from 32 cities around the Greater China Region and finally 60 universities joined the competition after successfully teaming up. Below is a list of the participating teams (listed in alphabetical order):

The competition was divided into three phases: preliminary contest (online), second round contest, and the final national competition.

The preliminary online competition was held on July 7 and in format of multiple-choice questions, testing students' knowledge of PRC tax and related practices, as well as their logical thinking capability.

The second round competition was held on August 31 in Deloitte Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei offices simultaneously, with the format of case analysis report and brief presentation. A total of 30 teams advanced to the second round. Students were required to analyze a simulated business case, submit written reports, and deliver short speeches on given topics, applying their knowledge of international tax, English proficiency, and knowledge of advanced technology.

The national final held from October 26 to 27 in Chengdu was case study presentation competition. On the evening of October 25, the 13 final teams were invited to a welcome dinner where they had a chance to communicate and mingle with Deloitte tax professionals. The semi-final competition was held on October 26, Saturday. In the morning, the 13 finalists went through group discussions on a given simulated business case and delivered slide decks. In the afternoon, they were divided into 3 groups by drawing lots to present to respective judge panels. The judges then scored and ranked them as merit teams, outstanding teams, and the top 3 finalists. On October 27, Sunday, the top 3 finalists underwent another round of group discussions and delivered presentation reports for a simulated business case relating to the semi-final one. Thereafter they had a dress rehearsal under the guide of their respective mentors, followed by presentation and Q&A session before the judge panel one after another according to the draw result, to decide the champion, 1st runner up, and 2nd runner up team.

At the following championship award luncheon ceremony held on noon of October 27, Deloitte China Tax Managing Partner Eunice Kuo recognized the performance of participating teams. She said, "International tax is the highlight among the questions of this year's Championship, as we aim to help the participants to expand their horizons through case simulation. It is also our commitment to infuse energy and agility into tax professional education in China, as well as to expand the scope of curriculum in all directions. We hope the Championship will be a platform for university students to apply their tax knowledge and receive professional tax training. Deloitte is always open to qualified multidisciplinary students, who can join our best-in-class tax team and improve their skills through collaboration to drive the upgrading of China's tax services sector."

The top honor of the 2019 Deloitte Tax Championship went to Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. The first runner-up was National Chengchi University and the second runner-up was Fu Jen Catholic University. The outstanding teams were Sichuan University, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics/team 2, and Nanjing University of Finance and Economics. The merit teams were Shandong University, Peking University, University of International Business and Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics/team 1, University of Hong Kong, and University of Macau.

Click to explore more photos.