Please refer to GIFP Coursework 1 Brief PDF file for context, summary and required of question. To critically evaluate and identify and discuss the potential issue as stated in the required section. In your analysis consider whether earnings management techniques, which can be thought of as tax avoidance, should be given the status of tax evasion which is effectively illegal. Please also refer to GIFP Coursework Extra Guidance PDF file as an aid to gather your thought process to write this essay. Please also have a look at the Coursework Presentation Guidelines PDF file for guidelines in terms of font size, numbering of pages and etc.

There is one requirement in this section. The response to the requirement should be submitted in no more than 4,000 words. Penalties apply for exceeding the word count. No formal penalties apply for using fewer than 4,000 words but in so doing you may be penalizing yourself as it is likely to be challenging to respond to the requirement in less than 4,000 words. This coursework assignment carries 25% of the total of 100% for this Module. It is an individual not a group-based assignment. The tasks/requirements are detailed in point 5 on page 4.

Please take careful note of the following points: You are permitted to upload your Coursework in the final submission area as many times as you like before the deadline. You will receive a similarity/originality score which represents what the Turnitin system identifies as work similar to another source. The originality score can take over 24 hours to generate, especially at busy times e.g. submission deadline. If you upload the wrong version of your Coursework, you are able to upload the correct version of your Coursework via the same submission area. You simply need to click on the 'submit paper' button again and submit your new version before the deadline.

In doing so, this will delete the previous version which you submitted and your new updated version will replace it. Therefore your Turnitin similarity score should not be affected. If there is a change in your Turnitin similarity score, it will be due to any changes you may have made to your Coursework. Please note, when the due date is reached, the version you have submitted last, will be considered as your final submission and it will be the version that is marked.

Once the due date has passed, it will not be possible for you to upload a different version of your assessment. Therefore, you must ensure you have submitted the correct version of your assessment which you wish to be marked, by the due date. No appendices (other than the list of references) are allowed. Figures, diagrams, tables will count as part of your word count. At the end of your response you should state your word count, excluding your list of references. Submitted coursework assignments are subject to a range of quality control and scrutiny checks including, as appropriate, double marking and/or moderation and/or scrutiny by the module’s Internal and/or External Examiners. Assessment criteria are referred to in point 4 on page 3/Appendix A on page 5.

Penalties for exceeding the word count - There are penalties for exceeding the specified word count. The maximum word limit for this coursework assignment is 4,000 words (excluding the list of references). You may use less than 4,000 words but in so doing you may be penalizing yourself as it is likely to be challenging to respond to the coursework brief. You MUST state an accurate word count (excluding the list of references) at the end of your work. If you do not state an accurate word count your mark will be reduced by 5 marks.

Diagrams and pictures and charts are not counted within the word count but any list(s) of words or any other form of narrative placed in Tables in the main text and will be included in the word count. If you submit more than 4,000 words the following penalties apply: up to 10% more than 4,000 words - your mark will be reduced by 5 marks; for more than 10% than 4,000 words you will receive zero marks for this work. Guidelines regarding criteria for achieving particular grade boundaries Appendix A details the criteria for achieving particular grades of marks, criteria being derived from the Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) at Masters level (Level 7). Meeting the specified criteria in each category results in the following range of marks being awarded in each respective category.

The assignment requires you to critically evaluate the issues. To reiterate, critical evaluation is not just setting out the points but explaining their significance and showing how and why they help you to answer the question that has been set. It is one matter to identify relevant materials and set out key points, it is another to assemble them in a way which makes sense. It is not uncommon for individual paragraphs to read well on a standalone basis but to lack an ongoing thread - a flow – which promotes a well-constructed assignment which makes it easier for the marker to award higher marks.