Episode 37: The Importance of Tax and Tax Agents, with Robyn Jacobson (Part 1)
In episode 37, you will hear Part 1 of Sam’s brilliant conversation with Robyn Jacobson, the Senior Advocate of The Tax Institute. She is well known in tax training circles, having been a professional tax trainer for 23 years and a regular conference and webinar presenter. With nearly three decades in the profession, Robyn’s public practice background preceded her training roles with Webb Martin, her own business, Cyntax, and TaxBanter.
Robyn is a Chartered Tax Adviser of The Tax Institute, a Fellow of both CA ANZ and CPA Australia, and a Registered Tax Agent. Based in Melbourne, she is involved in a number of Tax Institute committees and is the immediate past Chair of CPA Australia’s Victorian Public Practice Committee. Robyn regularly consults with The Treasury, the ATO and the professional bodies on technical issues including as a member of the ATO’s Tax Practitioner Stewardship Group.
Robyn is an avid advocate, social media commentator, columnist, blogger and podcaster and is regularly quoted in the media. Robyn was recognised in the Women In Finance Awards 2019 as the Winner of Thought Leader of the Year and was named in the global Top 50 Women in Accounting 2019. She was recently recognised in the Australian Accounting Awards 2020 as the Winner of both Thought Leader of the Year and the Accountants Daily Excellence Award.
In this episode Sam and Robyn chat about their mutual passion for the accounting industry, the important role tax agents play in our world generally and why they have absolutely been the unsung heroes of this pandemic. Plus Robyn shares not only some really amazing stats about the role of accountants in our society, but also the best analogy Sam’s heard about Job Keeper.
Connect with Robyn via The Tax Institute
Listen to an excerpt
What we cover in this episode
Robyn’s background and her passion for the industry
Why we must make sure the community understands the important role we play
Some real stats on the role tax agents and accountants play in our world
How tax professionals have been the unsung heroes of the pandemic response
The scale of the assistance packages and what we can do to help businesses
Zombie companies, limping businesses and the pros and cons of JobKeeper
How to explain JobKeeper in the best analogy Sam has ever heard
The difficult conversations about JobKeeper between accountants and clients
The skills we need going forwards, including digital and communication skills
Robyn’s role as a communicator, turning highly technical things into easy to understand information
The reason the industry must be adapting to new technology and increasing digital skills going forward
Quotes
“I would start by saying tax touches everything in our world. It builds roads, it ensures the community have parks and playgrounds, it looks after our vulnerable citizens. So it's important for us to be active and transparent about communicating what taxes actually do for people, and the role of the profession plays in making that happen.” ~ Robyn
“If we talk about the complexity of the system, it's so difficult to navigate your way through now that seeking advice from an agent is not just encouraged, it's almost essential.” ~ Robyn
“Because the government chose to deliver this [stimulus] assistance through the tax system, the tax professionals have been the unsung heroes in all of this. We talk about the health professionals at the front line and I don't take anything away from what they are doing. But the other group of heroes in this pandemic are the professionals who have worked, not just long hours [but] relentless hours since the end of March.” ~ Robyn
“I think the new normal is disruption. We have to really get agile…We don't know what's going to happen, but we know something's going to happen.” ~ Sam
“The accountants are often the holistic advisor. They have a grasp on nearly every aspect of their client's business, whether it be the investment decisions they're making, the business decisions, their personal lives, estate planning. So there are a whole range of things which accounts get involved in and understand [about] their clients lives and decision making processes.” ~ Robyn
“The ability to adapt to these new technologies and environments and adopt the new technologies is really, really important.” ~ Robyn
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