High Tax Rates Blamed For Exodus Of Accounting Professionals From Australia

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

19 October 2004

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants is calling on the Australian government to address structural problems in the country’s economy, particularly high rates of taxation, to remedy a growing shortage of qualified accountants.

Drawing attention to the issue in ACCA’s latest research report ‘The world's your oyster: employment trends for accountants in Australia’, Richard Francis, Head of ACCA's Australia and New Zealand Centre asked:

“Why is there a skill shortage for accountants? There should be plenty of trained accountants in Australia, given the thousands of accounting graduates universities produce each year.”

Francis believes that the answer lies in the unattractiveness of Australia in terms of pay and tax rates compared to other countries.

“This skill shortage has come about because talented financial professionals are leaving the country in increasing numbers, looking to take advantage of the better tax and wage rates and housing prices other economies provide,” he commented.

The ACCA regional chief went on to urge the government to reconsider the country’s top marginal tax rate before the quality of the Australian work force is “seriously compromised.”

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