Published 19 March 2024
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
CARIBBEAN ORGANISATION OF TAX ADMINISTRATORS (COTA) SEVENTH COTA ESSAY COMPETITION 2024
7th-cota-conference-competition-press-release-revised-March-5-2023-002-002
The COTA Essay Competition is a core element of the public education component of the organisation’s work programme aimed at stimulating broad interest in taxation matters in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In particular, the Competition is aimed at encouraging youths to become knowledgeable about the tax administration function as potential taxpayers and future decision-makers in the private and public spheres, as well as to engender an interest in this field as a career choice. The Seventh COTA Essay Competition 2024 is therefore intended to encourage students to become familiar with the activities of their country’s tax collection authority and to share their views on how tax administrators can adapt their functions to enhance performance in a rapidly changing national and global environment.
- 2024 Essay Topic
The world is experiencing unprecedented change driven primarily by technological advances which have transformed the way people live and work. The emergence and adoption of new technologies and their application in the operations of tax departments/authorities has dramatically changed the tax administration function over the past decade. The disruption and ongoing economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic has resulted in tax administrations not only greatly accelerating digitalization but also continuing to explore innovative technological solutions such as digital payments and artificial intelligence (AI) along with strategies for more cooperative relationships with taxpayers to enhance their performance.
Accordingly, the topic for the Seventh COTA Essay Competition 2024 is as follows –
“How can Tax Administrators adapt to the challenges of the rapidly changing global environment?” - Prizes
The prizes for the Seventh COTA Essay Competition 2024 are set out below.
Awardee Prizes
First Prize…………………………… US$1,000.00 and Trophy
Second Prize…………………….. US$ 700.00
Third Prize…………………………. US$ 500.00
The schools attended by the Winners will also receive a prize.
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CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIAT
COTA SEVENTH ESSAY COMPETITION 2024
(Attachment to Savingram No. 96/2024) - Criteria for Participation
Competing Students in the Seventh COTA Essay Competition 2024 should be between the ages
of 14 – 16 years old. Essays should be between 1000-1200 words and must be prepared on letter-sized paper using Times New Roman (font size 12) with 1.5 line spacing, fully justified.
Each Competing school may submit a maximum of three (3) essays prepared by students in
Grades 9 – 11 (Forms 3 to 5). Each entry must contain the name of the Member State and the
School as well as the name, age and grade (form) of the Competing Student on the first page of
the submission.
Schools are required to submit Essays to the Commissioner/Comptroller of the Inland Revenue/Tax Administration Department/Authority in the respective Member State on or before 12 April 2024. - Evaluation Scheme
Credit will be given to essays that –
demonstrate reasonable knowledge and understanding of the country’s tax
administration function, tax structure, development priorities as well as the
impact of global changes;
reflect logical presentation of facts as well as sound argumentation; and
reflect the use of proper grammar and punctuation.
Ingenuity of ideas and the use of examples or illustrations will be rewarded.
The marking system for the Competition will be based on the following schema:
Evaluation Criteria Marks
Knowledge and understanding of the country’s
tax structure and the challenges confronting
the tax authority as a result of a rapidly
changing global environment……………………………………………………..25
Relevance and depth of research………………………………………………..25
Quality of argumentation……………………………………………………………..25
Ingenuity of ideas examples/illustrations…………………………………..20
Use of proper grammar and punctuation………………………………….10
2
TOTAL
100
CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIAT
COTA SEVENTH ESSAY COMPETITION 2024
(Attachment to Savingram No. 96/2024)
Coordination of Essay Competition
Overall coordination of the Essay Competition will be undertaken by the CARICOM Secretariat in
collaboration with the participating Inland Revenue/Tax Administration Department/Authority in
each Member State. The latter would be responsible for the coordination of the Competition at
the national level.
In this regard, the participating Inland Revenue/Tax Administration
Department in each Member State would be responsible for publicizing the Competition and for
direct communication with the Ministry of Education and Secondary schools in the respective
Member State.
The Head of each participating Inland Revenue/Tax Administration
Department/Authority will also be responsible for adjudicating the winning essays at the
national level and for forwarding same to the CARICOM Secretariat for final determination of
the regional winners.
Entries at Regional Level
Participating Inland Revenue/Tax Administration Departments/Authorities are invited to submit
no more than 3 of their best Essays to the CARICOM Secretariat by 17 May 2024, preferably via
mail, in sealed envelopes marked SEVENTH COTA ESSAY COMPETITION 2024. Entries could also
be submitted by email to [email protected] – the Subject of the email should clearly indicate
SEVENTH COTA ESSAY COMPETITION 2024.
The names of regional winners will be published by the CARICOM Secretariat in July 2024.
Caribbean Community Secretariat
6 February 2024
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