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.