Fourteen young New Zealand tax professionals have submitted proposals showcasing new ideas in tax policy and administration as part of a competition organised by the Tax Policy Scholarships Charitable Trust (TPSCT).
A heavyweight judging panel comprising former Inland Revenue Deputy Commissioner Robin Oliver, TPSCT and former PricewaterhouseCoopers Chair John Shewan, former Secretary of Treasury John Whitehead, New Zealand Initiative Executive Director Oliver Hartwich, and former Bell Gully Tax Partner Joanne Hodge will now review the entries.
Four finalists will be announced on 13 July.
They will present to, and field questions from, the judges at Victoria University in Wellington on 8 October.
The winner will receive $10,000 and the other finalists $2000.
The competition was open to tax professionals under the age of 35 working in the public and private sector or academia in New Zealand.
About the TPSCT
The TPSCT was established by Tax Management NZ and its founder director Ian Kuperus to encourage future tax policy leaders and support leading tax policy thinking in New Zealand.
Previously, it sponsored a leading international tax policy thinker to visit New Zealand to engage in debate and discussion, and a New Zealand tax professional to undertake research and study.
The Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Affairs Department, Michael Keen, talked global tax policy issues with a select group of young tax professionals in Wellington and Auckland last year.
Professor Alan Auerbach of the University of California, Berkeley was the first visiting lecturer in 2013, while the IRD’s Carolyn Palmer was the inaugural scholarship recipient.
