Chartered Accountants look to Inland Revenue to improve

8 November 2013

Chartered Accountants look to Inland Revenue to improve its service delivery

The annual IR Satisfaction Survey, commissioned by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) and Tax Management New Zealand, has found that Chartered Accountants in public practice are less satisfied with the overall level of service provided by Inland Revenue (IR) than they have been in previous years.

The survey asked NZICA members working in public practice and corporates to rate different aspects of the service provided by IR.

For those working in public practice, satisfaction with the overall service provided by IR has declined gradually since the annual survey was first undertaken in 2010.

NZICA has shared the survey results with IR and regularly engages with IR on ways to respond to NZICA members’ concerns and enhance its service delivery. NZICA’s engagement with IR will increase as the Department embarks on its ambitious Business Transformation project.
NZICA public practice members are dissatisfied with IR’s telephone service with 40% of survey respondents rating their experience of phoning IR as fair or poor. The highest levels of dissatisfaction relate to the time taken to answer enquiries and the consistency of the information provided.

According to Peter Vial, NZICA’s General Manager – Tax: “The survey findings are consistent with the direct feedback we receive from our members about IR’s telephone service. We believe the level of telephone service is affecting our members’ rating of their overall experience with Inland Revenue.”

There has also been a decline in NZICA members’ perception of the speed, accuracy and consistency of Inland Revenue processing. Mr Vial says that NZICA members would like IR processing to be faster and to be kept better informed about the status of tax returns and reviews.

When looking at the audit area, results are encouraging. According to Chris Cunniffe, CEO of Tax Management New Zealand, IR has continued to improve its performance rating in the audit area.

“IR’s auditors rated well in terms of their manners and courtesy and their availability but less positively in terms of their consideration of taxpayers’ views and their response times.”

Mr Cunniffe says Chartered Accountants would like IR to be more disciplined about providing taxpayers with estimates of the time required for an audit and about delivering against those estimates.

Respondents were happy with the information provided by IR, including on its website, with 40% rating their overall experience in seeking or receiving general information as excellent or very good.

Survey Notes
The independent IR Satisfaction Survey was conducted independently by Colmar Brunton between 16 and 25 October 2013 and has a margin of error of ±5.2%.

Year on year comparisons relate to CAs in public practice as this is the segment of respondents that has remained consistent from 2010 to 2013.

About NZICA
NZICA is New Zealand’s largest professional body and represents more than 33,000 members in New Zealand and over 90 other countries. We act in the public interest through regulating the profession and promoting quality, integrity and expertise. Our members hold one of three prestigious professional accountancy designations: Chartered Accountant (CA), Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) or Accounting Technician (AT).

ENDS

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