TABL5522 Goods and Services Tax: Design and Structure - 2018

​ASSIGNMENT 1

Due Date: Submit via Moodle by Monday, 9 April 2018 (23:59 AEST*)

Weighting: 10%

Length: 750 words (plus or minus 10%

Prepare a Research Plan and an Annotated Reading List (includes Bibliography) for your research paper. Your Research Plan should identify the key issues and outline the structure for your research paper (but do not write out an answer).

You may select one of the prescribed topics available in Moodle, or devise your own research topic (see below).

Please note that an example of an Annotated Reading List (Bibliography) has been placed on Moodle under Course Materials and further details are provided below. You are only required to annotate 3 or 4 of the total references. You can include cases and legislation in your list.

Please note that the word limit of 750 words (plus or minus 10%) words is for the total of the Plan and the Annotated Bibliography.

The Plan should indicate the focus of your research paper: in other words broadly what you intend to say.

Devise your own topic

Instead of choosing a topic from the list available in Moodle, you are encouraged to devise your own topic. If you devise your own topic, the prior agreement of the lecturer will be required.  Approval will not be granted if the topic overlaps substantially with work that you have submitted for another course.  You should e-mail your request to Neil Warren at n.warren@unsw.edu.au. You must ensure that you have made your request for approval and submitted a synopsis by Monday, 12 March 2018.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Due Date: Submit via Moodle by Monday, 14 May 2018 (23:59 AEST*)

Weighting: 50%

Length: 3500 words (plus or minus 10%)

Write and submit a research paper on the topic you identified for the first assignment.

Note that you may wish to depart from your original plan either because you have changed your views or because of suggestions made on your first assignment. That is acceptable, but if in doubt, you should discuss the matter with your lecturer.

GUIDELINES

The following guidelines have been developed to assist you to plan and complete your assessment.

1. Planning the research

Be aware that the session is very short and that there is no flexibility in the date for submission. Once you have chosen the topic you should be in a position to identify the key issues that you will wish to focus upon in your paper. Be modest and circumscribed in the goals you set yourself. It is better to make good progress on narrow fronts than to produce vast and vague conjecture on a broad range of fronts.

You will need to conduct a literature search at an early stage of the session in order to identify the materials available to you. Having identified and reviewed the material you will be able to consolidate the issues, and you can then prepare your annotated bibliography and plan.

2. Presentation

You will probably find the writing of the final paper to be the easiest part of the process. The research paper should be organised, well-structured and make use of plenty of spacing and headings. The number of words should be clearly stated at the end of the paper. All quotations should be fully referenced, and acknowledgment must be made of any work or material which is not your own. Beware of ‘overdoing’ quotes—they should be used sparingly and only where their inclusion adds value to the exposition.

Each paper should commence with a short (less than one page) abstract, include a page of contents and conclude with a full bibliography. The word limit will not include the bibliography.

Refer to the section called ‘Assignment Submission and Preparation’ for more in-depth guidelines on presenting and submitting your research paper.

EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR RESEARCH PAPER

An important note on word limits

Assignments are exercises in filtering material and communicating it succinctly. Quantity is not to be confused with quality. Your lecturer will uniformly apply this principle in their assessment of assignments.

Most word processing packages can indicate word lengths, or otherwise some manual check must be done in the drafting process. Indicate the actual number of words of your assignment in the space indicated on your assignment cover sheet.

The following criteria will be used to grade your assignments:

• knowledge of the subject area and an ability to locate your chosen area of research within an appropriate context
• independent research
• clarity and strength of analysis
• analysis which is supported by authority
• ability to cut through the undergrowth and penetrate to key issues
• effective organisation and communication of material
• clarity and strength of analysis—this will include evidence of your understanding of the issues involved
• critical approach to material presented and evidence of original and independent thought
• quality of judgement and balance in filtering the complex material you are dealing with
• quality of research and bibliography.
• correct referencing and bibliographic style in accordance with the prescribed citation and style guide.

You are required to read beyond the course materials and references to do the assignment. Research papers must not be merely descriptive. They must present a point of view.

​Late Submission and Penalties

An assignment is not considered to be late if it has been submitted via Moodle on or before the due time and date. Posted, faxed or e-mailed assignments will NOT be marked and should not be sent.

If you submit an assignment after the due date, please be aware that the following penalties will be applied.

• Where assignments are up to one week (i.e. 1–5 working days) late: 10% of the maximum marks available for the assessment item will be deducted.
• Where assignments are more than one week late and up to two weeks (i.e. 6–10 working days) late: 20% of the maximum marks available for the assessment item will be deducted.
• Where assignments are more than two weeks (i.e. 11 or more working days) late: the assignment can be perused, but no marks will be awarded. Assignments will be recorded only as having been submitted.

Please note that the penalties are applied to the maximum marks available for the assignment, not the actual mark awarded. For example, a student is due to submit an assignment by 14 May 2018.  The assignment is in fact submitted on 28 May 2018 (10 working days late).

The penalty for lateness will be 20% of the maximum marks for the assessment. If the student's mark before the imposition of the penalty was a credit mark of 65%, after taking the penalty into account this mark will fall to 45%—a failure.

If illness or other verified circumstances beyond your control have a significant effect on your ability to submit an assignment by the due date, the normal penalty may be remitted. Doctor's reasons must be sufficiently detailed and specifically address the effect of the medical condition on your ability to complete assignments. For information on applying for penalty remissions through myUNSW Special Consideration portal, please visit: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/about/schools/taxation-business-law/student-support/penalty-remissions  

General points

The School's Administration Team supervises all penalty remission requests. Lecturers are not permitted to grant penalty remissions and you should not approach lecturers for this purpose.

• You should not anticipate that a Penalty Remission will be granted, and should endeavour to submit all assignments as soon as possible.
• If you require academic assistance contact your lecturer or the School's Administration Team (tbl@unsw.edu.au) during the period that you are preparing assignments.
• You have only 13 weeks in the Semester, during which time all assignments must be completed. You also need to prepare for the final examination in all courses. Therefore, your time management is very important.

The following is very important:

If your assignment is up to one week (i.e. 1–5 working days) late, your penalty remission request must clearly show that you are seeking a one week penalty remission and you must clearly state your reasons and provide all relevant documentation. If your reasons are judged insufficient you will receive no remission of penalty.

If your assignment is more than one week late but less than two weeks (i.e. 6–10 working days) late, your penalty remission request should indicate whether you are seeking a 10% or a 20% remission. You must clearly show why the penalty remission you are seeking is valid and provide all relevant documentation. If you have requested remission of a 20% penalty and your reasons are judged insufficient, you may receive either a 10% remission or no remission depending on the judged validity of your request. If you requested 10% and your reasons are judged insufficient you will receive no remission of penalty.