http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/324 MAY 2020 PASCO Tue, 05 May 2026 05:05:35 GMT 2026-05-05T05:05:35Z http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/520 ADVANCED TAXATION (PAPER 3.3) INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG EXAMINER’S GENERAL COMMENTS The Advanced Taxation Paper is final level paper (Professional) which is supposed to ensure that candidates develop knowledge and skill set in tax administration and practice and also ability to apply knowledge to practical issues to achieve benefit for their entities. The level of difficulty of the paper was appropriate for the final level standard and candidates who sat for the examination would attest to that fact. The spread of the questions along the syllabus was quite impressive and appeared to reward hard work, scholarship and intensive research. A candidate who concentrated on only a limited area of the syllabus, was sure to have some challenges with the paper. In fairness, the paper was quite good and appropriate for the final level and of high standard. One noticeable feature is that most candidates did not give a lot of examples in their solutions. It must be noted that examples help bring out concepts which are not properly explained. Candidates are therefore encouraged to use examples where relevant to elucidate the points being made in their solutions so as to maximize marks. On the whole, the Institute must be commended for maintaining high standards and integrity over the years in terms of the tax paper. STANDARD OF THE PAPER The questions administered as always assumed the usual characteristics known at the final level in line with the syllabus content. The marks allocated to each question were good and appropriate for the volume required. The spread of the questions covered the entire syllabus and were of a high standard akin to any final level taxation paper at any professional level. Some of the questions required practical application which was in order and what the paper sought to achieve. The additional good part of the paper was that it required report writing which was good for a final level paper. This would help cure paucity of writing by candidates and prepare them for the future job market. The paper tested the knowledge, skill and application of the candidates. Some of the candidates gave good account of themselves while others continued to struggle and showed poor academic strength. The only little low point about the paper was the fact that it did not test much of applications as previous diets did. The questions were more of the recall type and ended up punishing candidates who did not read much and dwelled on technicalities and picking issues out of narratives. The question four which was examination of accounts should have tested, additionally, the rationale for the treatment of certain transactions in a particular way by candidates as a further prove that candidates were on top of the issues, just so the Institute is sure their candidates were practicallyPage 2 of 23 oriented materials ready to face the job market in the future with dexterity. This, however, did not take away the fact that on the whole standard of the paper was high. The clarity of the question was also quite impressive and worth commenting. There was no ambiguity that really came up in any of the questions. The paper quality was good and the type setting was also impressive and made reading interesting and rewarding. The paper was more importantly, free from material error and conveyed the thoughts of the examiners which came out quite well judging from the responses of candidates who prepared well for the paper in their solutions. Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/520 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG EXAMINER’S GENERAL COMMENTS The Advanced Taxation Paper is final level paper (Professional) which is supposed to ensure that candidates develop knowledge and skill set in tax administration and practice and also ability to apply knowledge to practical issues to achieve benefit for their entities. The level of difficulty of the paper was appropriate for the final level standard and candidates who sat for the examination would attest to that fact. The spread of the questions along the syllabus was quite impressive and appeared to reward hard work, scholarship and intensive research. A candidate who concentrated on only a limited area of the syllabus, was sure to have some challenges with the paper. In fairness, the paper was quite good and appropriate for the final level and of high standard. One noticeable feature is that most candidates did not give a lot of examples in their solutions. It must be noted that examples help bring out concepts which are not properly explained. Candidates are therefore encouraged to use examples where relevant to elucidate the points being made in their solutions so as to maximize marks. On the whole, the Institute must be commended for maintaining high standards and integrity over the years in terms of the tax paper. http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/519 STRATEGIC CASE STUDY (PAPER 3.4) INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG GENERAL COMMENTS AND STANDARD OF THE PAPER The standard of the paper was good and the questions were clear. The coverage was broad. The paper was a slight improvement over the maiden paper which was done in November 2019. Marks allocation followed the weightings in the syllabus and was fairly allocated to each sub-question. PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATES The overall performance was average. Most candidates did well in Section A of the paper which was based on the pre-seen portion of the case study. Most of the candidates performed poorly in Section B which contributed to the overall low percentage pass rate in the paper. Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/519 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG GENERAL COMMENTS AND STANDARD OF THE PAPER The standard of the paper was good and the questions were clear. The coverage was broad. The paper was a slight improvement over the maiden paper which was done in November 2019. Marks allocation followed the weightings in the syllabus and was fairly allocated to each sub-question. http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/518 ADVANCED AUDIT & ASSURANCE (PAPER 3.2) INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG STANDARD OF THE PAPER The paper covered all sections of the syllabus. However, section C of the syllabus covered 39%instead of 25%. This resulted in section D of the syllabus covering 11% instead of 25%. The level of difficulty of the questions was reasonable. PERFORMANCE OF THE CANDIDATES The performance with regards to pass rate in this paper was 57.45% while that of November 2019 was 66.52%. Answers provided represented the efforts of the individual candidates. The general performance was encouraging. In certain cases it appeared that candidates did not take their time to understand the requirements of the question, resulting in candidates providing answers to certain questions that completely deviated from the requirement. Some candidates did not take their time to write, making reading difficult for markers. Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/518 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG STANDARD OF THE PAPER The paper covered all sections of the syllabus. However, section C of the syllabus covered 39%instead of 25%. This resulted in section D of the syllabus covering 11% instead of 25%. The level of difficulty of the questions was reasonable. http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/517 PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION (PAPER 2.6) INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG EXAMINER’S GENERAL COMMENTS The candidates’ performance in this paper was very good and encouraging as more than 45% of the candidates who wrote the paper passed. The candidates have now been learning the subject based on the law and principles. Previous diets indicated that candidates were learning with questions instead of principles of taxation. There were clear general understanding of the questions and more also the questions included instructions to candidates that were specific and clear. Most of the candidates performed excellently probably because the instructions and requirements in the questions were clear enough. Fortunately, this is the second diet for the paper and candidates would have the opportunity to make amends by learning the rudiments of the paper. Candidates are advised, however, to read more on the tax laws. This is so because the Principles of Taxation is built on general knowledge on how the law works and more importantly how the law is explained and applied. STANDARD OF THE PAPER The questions were excellent for part two. All the questions did reflect the Principles of Taxation syllabus of which the candidates were expected to have a fair knowledge to pass. The questions fairly covered the entire syllabus and the expectations were that any average student who wrote the paper should pass. Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/517 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT GHANA, ICAG EXAMINER’S GENERAL COMMENTS The candidates’ performance in this paper was very good and encouraging as more than 45% of the candidates who wrote the paper passed. The candidates have now been learning the subject based on the law and principles. Previous diets indicated that candidates were learning with questions instead of principles of taxation. There were clear general understanding of the questions and more also the questions included instructions to candidates that were specific and clear. Most of the candidates performed excellently probably because the instructions and requirements in the questions were clear enough. Fortunately, this is the second diet for the paper and candidates would have the opportunity to make amends by learning the rudiments of the paper. Candidates are advised, however, to read more on the tax laws. This is so because the Principles of Taxation is built on general knowledge on how the law works and more importantly how the law is explained and applied.