Crippling workloads and intense pressure from clients throughout the pandemic had little impact on service levels from accountants, with trust in the profession remaining exceptionally high, according to new findings from the Tax Practitioners Board.
The Tax Practitioners Board’s biannual survey of 12,000 consumers has found that 88 per cent of respondents continue to have a high trust level in their tax practitioner, on par with figures from the year before.
The survey, which was conducted in November last year, also found that two out of three rated their experience with their tax practitioner as excellent.
CPA Australia senior manager of tax policy Elinor Kasapidis said the results were an affirmation of the professionalism and standards of practitioners in a turbulent year marked by bushfires, floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Tax practitioners should take great pride in these results,” Ms Kasapidis said. “They are a strong acknowledgment of the critical, frontline role they — and, indeed, many professional accountants — played and continue to play in supporting individuals and businesses during the pandemic.
“During the most difficult of years, when practitioners managed sky-rocketing workloads while helping increasingly financially and emotionally distressed clients, consumers’ trust and confidence remained very high. This shows that practitioners maintained excellent service levels despite the pressures they were under.
“With around 12,000 consumers surveyed each time, this research gives a really clear picture of what people think about tax practitioners. And the answer is, they hold them in very high esteem.”
The TPB’s biannual survey first commenced in September 2019, with consumers randomly selected for a voluntary response.
Tax practitioners are also surveyed as part of the research, with 5 per cent of the entire tax practitioner population selected every six months. The TPB notes that a tax practitioner may expect to receive a survey once every 10 years, on average.
Findings from practitioners reveal that four out of five understand the role of the TPB, while 85 per cent believe the regulator is effective at ensuring that tax practitioners are registered.
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