The Taxpayers' Charter: Does the Australian Tax Office comply and who benefits?

Abstract

This paper presents initial findings on the Taxpayers’ Charter from the ‘Community Hopes, Fears and Actions Survey’. The performance of the Australian Taxation Office (Tax Office) is high on most of the standards. Where it is low, there is the possibility of remedial action through making public the Tax Office's serious commitment to evaluating its own performance on the standards and improving performance where necessary. This paper also shows that when the public perceives the Tax Office adhering to the principles of the Charter, they also perceive the Tax Office as having qualities that are necessary for effective governance. The trustworthiness and legitimacy ascribed to the Tax Office are highest when the Tax Office is evaluated positively in terms of the principles of the Taxpayers’ Charter.