GST compliance is proving an expensive drain on Australian business, but a $2 billion industry was being created in its wake.
The 2002 Dun & Bradstreet outsourcing barometer survey has revealed that 40 per cent of Australian companies now outsource their tax administration. Before the GST just 25 per cent were outsourcing tax compliance and administration.
D&B Australia & New Zealand CEO Christine Christian said while the number of executives completely comfortable with the new tax system had risen to 27 per cent in the February survey, compared with 19 per cent in November, the reliance on tax advisers had jumped.
“Taxation outsourcing has boomed since July 2000 in the wake of the introduction of the new taxation system,” she said.
“It would seem that companies either came to grips with the new system quite early on, or they are paying a third party professional to handle it for them.”
Total outsourcing revenue has grown by $300 million, or 15 per cent per annum, over the past four years. The GST has caused the Australian outsourcing market to outstrip growth experienced in other parts of the world.
