| Speed | Most people can do their tax online in just 15 minutes. | Visiting an accountant’s office calls for 1 hour or more. Time spent travelling or in an accountant’s waiting room can make this even longer.
| The basic printed Tax Pack is over 130 pages. Many people find this slow and hard to understand. | Time includes downloading and installing, then running the program and entering your details page-by-page. Imitates the Tax Pack, which is time consuming for some people. |
| Simplicity | The Etax online tax return is incredibly fast & easy.
| Often requires appointments to be made, time off from work and a lot of confusing questions – that’s not easy.
Did you forget a document at home? Oops – that means more time & trouble. | Easy is not a word we hear many taxpayers use when discussing the ATO's printed Tax Pack! | Installation and downloading adds complication, and the computer-specific software is restrictive for many users. |
| Convenience | Do your tax online using any computer, anywhere.
At home, at work, in a cafe – even overseas – no problems. | You have to travel to their office, with all of your personal documents. | You have to collect the paper booklet, complete the details at home, then submit by post or in person. | ATO software installed on only one computer. Personal details saved inside the program. Repeat for each tax year.
New computer = difficult.
Mac or iPad = impossible.
Access away from home = impossible. |
| Confidence | Know that your online tax return is done correctly:
Qualified accountants check your return. | Many popular tax agent offices do not employ qualified accountants to serve clients.
| You are largely on your own. | You are largely on your own. |
Service &
Support | Troubles? Get instant online or phone support.
| Available during your appointment, but support is not usually offered before or after your meeting. | The ATO has a phone number, but you do not get access to an accountant who's 'on your side'. | The ATO has a phone number, but you do not get access to an accountant who's 'on your side'. |
| Price | Professional -grade service at very low fees, with fee-from-refund option. | The cost of visiting an accountant can exceed several hundred dollars, commonly with big add-on costs. | No initial cost, but without an accountant's advice many taxpayers over-pay their taxes. | No initial cost, but without an accountant's advice many taxpayers over-pay their taxes. |