Compare tax agents Etax, ITP and H&R Block on their quality of advice, application process, website navigation, turnaround time, customer service, value for money and overall satisfaction with Canstar Blue’s 2020 review & ratings.
See our Ratings Methodology.
Etax has taken out the top spot in Canstar Blue’s customer ratings for tax agents. It achieved five-star reviews for overall satisfaction and in most categories.
Doing your tax return is a dreaded task for some. It’s not always easy to figure out what you can claim, what you owe, the deductions you’re eligible for, what receipts you need and the list goes on. Thankfully, there are plenty of companies and professionals queuing up to help. But, who can you really trust? Not only can a good tax agent make your life a little less stressful, but they could also help you maximise your returns and get you that extra cash your savings account desperately needs.
Each year, Canstar Blue conducts a review of professional tax agents, to find out which are deemed to offer the best advice, service and value for money. In 2020, we’ve surveyed more than 700 Australians about their experiences with some of the biggest tax agencies in the country, with their opinions reflected by the star ratings table you see above.
Three of arguably the most prominent tax agents in Australia feature in our review, but it was Etax that topped the board for overall satisfaction and with a near-perfect score across other variables.
Here are the best tax agents in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review.
Etax topped our ratings with five-star reviews for its quality of advice, turnaround time, website navigation, ease of applying, value for money and overall satisfaction.
ITP managed to edge out Etax on customer service and also received full marks for turnaround time. It ended with a solid four-star rating for overall satisfaction, despite not receiving the minimum category sample size to be rated for website navigation.
H&R Block earned four stars in majority of the variables, but only three stars for value for money and overall satisfaction.
When you put your tax return in the hands of the professionals, you’ll rightly expect them to do a great job on all fronts. If they don’t, you should consider your options. It’s important to note that our review excludes the ATO and small local businesses.
In addition to identifying the best-rated tax agents, our research also revealed the main drivers of overall customer satisfaction for Aussies who use tax agents. These are:
While there are lots of reasons why you might want to employ the services of a professional tax agent, our research identified quality of advice as being the greatest driver of overall customer satisfaction. With such a tedious task at hand, getting the right recommendations and expertise from the get-go can certainly make the process less daunting and avoid costly mistakes down the track.
The second most important driver of satisfaction was value for money. And it makes sense – we all want the best tax return we can get, at the minimum expense of our own time and money. Here are some of the other key findings from our 2020 research, including why Aussies choose to use tax agents and whether or not they will use the same agent again next time!
As part of our research, we asked survey respondents what their main motivation for hiring a tax agent was. We found:
Whatever your reasons for hiring a tax agent, it’s important to do some research to find the right one for your needs and budget. Our research found that just 15% of respondents have tried multiple tax agents. Shopping around certainly wouldn’t hurt, although nearly half of respondents (46%) seemed happy with their tax agent and would recommend their person or service to a friend. Similarly, 51% of people surveyed plan to use the same agent again next time.
The day your tax return drops into your bank account is a great one. But, what are you going to do with the money? We asked our survey respondents the same question and these were their answers:
A further 6% spent their tax return on other things, or weren’t sure what they did with it. A good night out, maybe?
Whatever you plan to do with your bonus cash, make sure that you get the best deal you can from a tax agent. Take the time to compare quotes and ask your friends and family about their experiences. Failing to do so could mean you end up paying more than you need to, or don’t get the sort of customer service and advice you would like. With that in mind, we hope our tax agent review proves helpful the next time you’re shopping around.
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This report was written by Canstar Blue’s Home & Lifestyle Content Lead, Megan Birot. She’s an expert on household appliances, health & beauty products, as well as all things grocery and shopping. When she’s not writing up our research-based ratings reports, Megan spends her time helping consumers make better purchase decisions, whether it’s at the supermarket, other retailers, or online, highlighting the best deals and flagging anything you need to be aware of.
Picture credits: Solis Images/Shutterstock.com, fizkes/Shutterstock.com, Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com.
Canstar Blue surveyed 3,000 Australian adults across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group who have applied for a personal tax return through a professional tax agent in the last two years (this excludes the ATO and small local businesses) – in this case, 777 people.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.
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