ACC311 Business and Personal Taxation

The academic task in this coursework assignment focuses on the components of a national tax system that should together create a consensual attitude amongst tax-paying individuals that each person is being treated fairly.  Alongside this national consensus there should be an unremitting objective for the tax administration function to ensure that collection and control services deliver robust value-for-money efficiencies in operational activities.

In order to gain maximum credit, candidates are encouraged to review the proceedings from a national academic debate chaired by Professor J Mirrlees (2010), referenced “Dimensions of Tax Design, Oxford, OUP” available as a free download from the IFS website and to use other reference sources available through the Mountbatten Library facility such as textbooks, “Economics of Taxation” by James & Nobes, “Taxation – Policy & Practice” by Lymer & Oats and “Taxation Finance Act 2019” by Melville. The Institute of Fiscal Studies website also contains a wealth of material on the topic area.

“Would a 50% rate on incomes above £150,000 raise revenues?”(Browne & Phillips, 2017)

“One way of assessing the coherence of recent policy is to look at the marginal rate schedule faced by taxpayers.” (Johnson, 2014)

“Reality Check: Are lower earners bearing the tax burden?...... The burden in terms of the tax take is falling on middle and low earners.” (McDonnell, 2017)

“Are you caught by the 60% income trap…..or…..the child benefit trap?”(Wright, 2018)

Assessment criteria

The written submission for this assignment will be assessed on the basis of:

1) A review of the economic philosophy of Adam Smith’s canons of taxation as a guide for fairness and efficiency in taxation systems with respect to income taxation.  (20% marks)                                                                                                                                                         

2) A classification of taxes by types as direct or indirect and also by impact on taxpayers due to being proportional, progressive or regressive.              

3) Considering contemporary developments and your research findings, critically evaluate if you believe taxation of income in the UK is a well-designed and effective tax system?  The conclusion should include any recommendations which can be offered to policy makers which may be based on evidence of how other countries deal with the issues you have identified.

Learning Outcomes

This assessment will enable students to demonstrate in full or in part the learning outcomes identified in the unit descriptors.

Late Submissions

i.If this assessment is submitted late i.e. within 5 working days of the submission deadline, the mark will be capped at 40% if a pass mark is achieved;

ii.If this assessment is submitted later than 5 working days after the submission deadline, the work will be regarded as a non-submission and will be awarded a zero;

iii.If this assessment is being submitted as a referred piece of work then it must be submitted by the deadline date; any Refer assessment submitted late will be regarded as a non-submission and will be awarded a zero.