Written Assessment
Worth 15%
Due Friday 30th October @ 11.59 pm
Henry told us in his guide to the Institutional Framework of Taxation in Australia that the Australian Taxation System is one of the most complex in the world and is made up of approximately 125 taxes including taxes such as Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Fringe Benefits Tax and Goods and Services Tax just to name a few. He also mentioned that there are many different organisations that play different and varied roles within this system to ensure its integrity and all Australians are equally treated with equity.
The Australian Taxation System is embedded in the way of life for all Australian taxpayers, we pay tax on our income, we pay tax when we purchase goods and use services, we pay tax when we sell assets and this is just to name a few but in return the Government provides services and benefits e.g. hospitals, schools, defence, and financial assistance to those in need etc.
Yet it seems that some taxpayers do not want to pay their fair share of tax whether it be by utilising legal loopholes in taxation legislation or entering into blatant tax evasion methods, but they still want to benefit from the services provided by Governments …
The assessment requires you to review this topical area of taxation which has been playing out in the media for a number of years and is based on the concept that some taxpayers whether Australian or multinationals are not paying their fair share of tax and the effect it has on Governments and other taxpayers.
Part One
Review Australian newspapers such as the West Australian, Financial Review, The Australian, Sunday Times and various others for articles on the area mentioned above. You need to find 10 articles which will be handed in with your assignment. The articles should be from 2014 or 2015 only. If you do not have access to Australian Newspapers for examples you are an overseas student or have financial issues then you may use the Factiva Database within the Curtin Library. A factsheet on how to use this database in attached.
Part Two
After reading newspapers and looking for articles on taxpayers not complying with meeting their taxation obligation, you should have started to develop your own view on this.
Some views may be that it is unfair that taxpayers do this and they should be penalised and that action should be taken by Governments against them whereby an opposing view is that if legal loopholes exist then it is the failure of the Government and the taxpayers are not doing anything illegal ….. what will your view be?
The requirements of the assignment for part two is to produce a 1000 to 1500 word essay on your opinion of this topic which should be based on your findings from the Australian newspapers you have collected and any other research you may want to undertake, please do not just provide a detailed summary of the articles you have included in Part 1
Essay Structure

Criteria for Marking Assignments
This gives you an idea of what we are looking for when marking the assessments
Cover Page
Unit Title, assignment number, due date
Lecturers name, Student name and ID
Contact Address and Email Address
Structure
Introduction to assignment
Content of body (detailed)
Conclusion to assignment
Appropriate sentence structure
Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
Appropriate use of language
Paragraph sizes appropriate
Font size readability
Appropriate line spacing
Appropriate headings and sub-headings
Pagination
Consistent format
Content
Evidence of appropriate reading on the areas required
Shows an understanding of the topics
Shows conceptual understanding of the issued involved in the assignment
Shows ability to analyse the issues involved in the assignment
Shows ability to convey to marker an understanding of the issues
Shows an understanding of the legal issues involved
Shows an ability to think broadly
Includes understanding of relevant legislation, rulings, etc
Includes all relevant documentation and attachments that is required within the assignment to back up theory
Referencing
Refers to sections of legislation (where appropriate)
Refers to legal cases (where appropriate)
Uses correct method of citing legislation and cases
References appropriate and current
Uses references to identify sources of information and acknowledges such sources
Bibliography at the end indicating materials read/used

Assignment Submission Process
Please read the submission process carefully. Students should understand that compliance with instructions in relation to an assessment task is critical. Students MUST be aware that non-compliance with these instructions can result in a mark of ZERO.
All assignments must be submitted by 5pm (western standard time) on the Friday of the week the assignment is due.
Students will also be required to submit their assignment to Blackboard. The assignment will automatically be submitted to the plagiarism detection programme, Turnitin.
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is an electronic text matching system that compares text in a student’s assignment against electronic text on the Internet, in published works, on commercial databases, and in assignments previously submitted to Turnitin by students in universities all over the world, including assignments obtained from 'paper mills' (Internet sites which sell student papers).
Students and Turnitin
Turnitin is a fantastic resource to assist students with their referencing. Students are given the option to submit a draft assignment into Turnitin (via Blackboard) to retrieve an originality report of their assignment. The originality report is a tool to help locate potential sources of unoriginal work in submitted documents by highlighting similarities between the submitted text and the data in the Turinitin database.
Submitting a draft assignment and reviewing the originality reports provides students with the opportunity to ensure their assignment is referenced appropriately, and to make any necessary changes.
Please note that the similarity percentage that an originality report generates is not a measure of plagiarism, provided students have referenced the relevant primary sources which they obtained their information and ideas from correctly.
Submitting a draft assignment to view originality report
1. Log into the Taxation 231 Blackboard site. Open the ‘Assessment’ folder.
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2. Click on the ‘Written Assessment: Revision 1’ link.
3. i. Complete the relevant information in the boxes provided.
ii. Ensure the draft assignment complies with the Turnitin requirements.
iii. Locate the draft assignment through the ‘Browse’ option.
ix. Submit the draft assignment by clicking the ‘Upload’ button.
4. Confirm the document you submitted is the correct document and click ‘Submit’.
5. Click ‘go to portfolio’.
6. Click the ‘similarity’ percentage or ‘View’ button to view the originality report.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Submitting assignment (final version)
? Follow the instructions provided above for submitting a draft assignment.
? PLEASE NOTE: Students can only submit a final assignment once. Students must take time and care when submitting their assignment.
Factiva Instructions
Using Factiva
Step 1. Go to the Curtin Library page and select Databases A-Z
Curtin Home Library Find books and resources Databases A-Z
Step 2. Select Factiva
Step 3. Once you are in the Database – set up your search.
i) Select your keywords in the Free Text Search (we recommend Tax* OR FBT OR GST)
ii) Select the Date (e.g. in the last day, in the last week, in the last 3 months)
iii) Select your sources (e.g. The Australian, the West Australian, The Australian Financial Review)
iv) Select the area where you want to search for text (e.g. Full Article or Headline and Lead paragraph)
v) Click search
Please note there is also a short video demonstration on the Blackboard on the use of Factiva