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The information from institute of Chartered Accountant

Baby Bonus
Feedback from ICAA members indicates that many tax practitioners who prepare personal tax returns believe the work required to claim the Baby Bonus is so onerous that they refuse to do that part of the tax return and leave it for the client to decide if they are eligible. This leaves many individuals claiming amounts they are not entitled to or, worse still, not claiming amounts they are entitled to.

As a result of these “disconnects” it is logical to ask whether the tax system is the best platform to deliver initiatives that at their core are not about revenue collection? The regular experiences we hear about from our members suggest that there is a strong case emerging to support the view that the answer is no. Alternatively there is at least a case to argue that the tax system should not be so readily regarded as the automatic choice as the delivery platform.

It has been recognised that we have a tax system already struggling to meet its core role of revenue collection. Further, almost all of the additional responsibility for social and economic initiatives implemented through the Australian Taxation System falls on the tax practitioner. This is the case with the examples evidenced above. ICAA members constantly indicate that they are unable to keep up with all the detailed changes to the legislation relating to the “core role” of the taxation system, being revenue collection, let alone the other roles built around social and economic initiatives. Adding the implementation of social policy to the administration of the Australian Taxation System only adds to the already overwhelming burden on tax practitioners.

Investigate the possibility of providing social and economic initiatives through systems other than the taxation system, allowing the taxation system to effectively and efficiently perform its core role of revenue collection.

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