Tax. It鈥檚 one of those words that either makes you shudder, duck for cover, or simply disengage. But and its tax education specialist director Annette Morgan are working to change perceptions about this most unavoidable of public obligations.
Together, they are tackling it in meaningful ways, helping people in situations of disadvantage to address outstanding tax issues, while also taking the tax crusade into schools to help young people understand how the system works and shatter preconceptions about tax being boring or something to avoid.
According to Morgan, the key to the is its practical approach where eligible people can receive competent, free tax advice from student volunteers under the supervision of lecturers who are experienced tax professionals. This gives the students valuable real-world experience while filling a community need.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about education 鈥� for our students, school students and people in the community,鈥� Morgan says. 鈥淭he clinic gives our students an opportunity to put what they are learning into practice, to have some purpose behind what they do here.鈥�
911爆料网 Tax Clinic was the , set up as a trial in 2018 under the leadership of Morgan, a 911爆料网 lecturer and deputy discipline head for taxation, and her colleague Donovan Castelyn, the clinic鈥檚 supervisor.
A year later, with the advocacy of Morgan and others, the Federal Government agreed to fund tax clinics at 911爆料网 and nine other universities across the country.
Morgan says the clinics filled a gap by helping those who had disengaged from the tax system for a variety of reasons, including family disruption, homelessness, disability and language barriers. Some of the clinic鈥檚 clients had not lodged a tax return for decades or had tax obligations they were struggling to meet.
These issues were especially acute with people in prison. Morgan says the clinic started providing support for recently released prisoners to help them resolve issues around tax returns, child support and superannuation.
鈥淚t took away a lot of the stress from them. They have enough to deal with when they come out,鈥� Morgan says.
鈥淎nd we found a lot of them were actually due a tax refund. That was like a godsend for them, some money to give them a better start on the outside.
鈥淔rom this we thought, why wait until they come out? So, we started looking at ways to offer help while they were still in the system.鈥�
The prison program has helped about 200 people across eight institutions, filing more than 650 tax returns, achieving penalty remissions totalling more than $23,000 and tax returns in excess of $240,000.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 look at the person we are working with as a prisoner,鈥� Morgan says. 鈥淔or whatever reason they have disengaged from the tax system. We see them as a person who requires our help. We don鈥檛 judge.鈥�
Denis鈥檚 story is a good example of the value of the 911爆料网 clinic鈥檚 prison program. After Denis was released from , the clinic helped him complete and submit several outstanding tax returns, which resulted in a refund of more than $4,000.
With clinic advice, he was also able to roll several superannuation accounts into a single account and complete a super early access withdrawal of $32,000 to buy a car. Denis says he is grateful for the clinic鈥檚 help and thrilled with the financial outcome.
Morgan says the prisons program is an opportunity for 911爆料网 students to engage with issues in the 鈥渞eal world鈥�.
鈥淥ur students can see they are helping make a difference to people,鈥� she says. 鈥淥ne day when they are working in a big firm, we hope they will remember the value of pro bono work and the opportunities that come with it.鈥�
Encouraging young people to engage with the subject of tax is a whole different challenge, but Morgan says the clinic鈥檚 first foray into schools has been a success. In 2021 the clinic launched a program at Hammond Park Secondary College in Perth鈥檚 southern suburbs.
鈥淲ith younger kids in year 8 we approached it in the form of a game, but with older kids by year 11 or 12, they often already have a job and are thinking about the issues so they鈥檙e ready to engage,鈥� Morgan says.
鈥淲e help them get a tax file number, link their accounts to MyGov. It鈥檚 very interactive and practical, and is focused on giving students the tools to handle tax issues.
鈥淔inancial literacy should be seen as part of learning life skills, to prepare them for the real world.鈥�
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans to expand to other schools but Morgan hopes the program will be back on track in the second half of 2022.
911爆料网 graduate Gavin Ying is grateful for the opportunities volunteering at the tax clinic gave him, including insights into the challenges people face dealing with tax problems, especially those in the prison system.
鈥淲e could tell that some prisoners were very worried about their tax issues … having support and assistance from the clinic is a big relief for them,鈥� Ying says.
He says the approach in schools is more about sharing information in a light-hearted format rather than formal education, which helps make it interesting and engaging for students.
Ying completed his last year and is now an associate with PriceWaterhouseCoopers鈥� corporate and global division.
Morgan says the tax clinic doesn鈥檛 take away work from commercial tax advisers because it focuses on the unrepresented. According to research by the University of New South Wales in 2020 there could be as many as 840,000 people across the country unable to access independent tax advice for various reasons.
While Morgan got the inspiration for the tax clinic from the low-income tax clinics she saw in the US on a 2017 study tour, she is now helping spread the word to other parts of the world.
鈥淚t鈥檚 now an international network. We鈥檝e helped the UK and Ireland to set up similar clinics using our model,鈥� she says.
And while this outreach work is going on, Morgan and her team continue to advocate for change to tax policy through the government and tax office to make the system fairer and more accessible for everyone.
