Dear Tax Practitioner,
We would appreciate your cooperation in completing this questionnaire. It should take approximately
20-25 minutes of your time. In most cases, you simply write in a number or tick a box.
The information you provide will help the Tax Office understand your experiences with the Tax Agent
Portal, which will help the Tax Office develop better policies, products and services for tax
practitioners.
Because of the subject matter of the questionnaire, there are a number of questions that
may require you to consult other members of staff. For example, several of the questions
ask about materials and information from the Tax Office which may be used only or
mainly by particular staff members.
We acknowledge that this may take a little extra time, but ask that you answer all
questions as accurately as possible.
Please read all the questions carefully and follow the instructions after each question. Please ignore
the numbers in brackets on the right hand side of the page, they are for our use only.
TNS Social Research is bound by the strict Code of Ethics of the Market Research Society of Australia
and National Privacy Principles. Your individual responses will be strictly confidential and only group
data will be reported to our client.
PLEASE RETURN THIS QUESTIONNAIRE TO
TNS SOCIAL RESEARCH
13 RICHARDSON ST, WEST PERTH WA 6005
USING THE REPLY PAID ENVELOPE PROVIDED BY
27 September 2005
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION, IT IS GREATLY
APPRECIATED!
Please note the time you started completing your survey, as we would like a record of the time it took
you to complete the survey. You will find an area to record this information on the last page of this
survey.
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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Section 1: Introduction
Q1a
Approximately how often do you use the Tax Agent Portal?

Only occasionally (or never) ................................................................
Fairly regularly ..........................................................................................
1
GO TO Q1b
2
PLEASE READ
INSTRUCTION
BELOW
IF YOU USE THE TAX AGENT PORTAL OCCASIONALLY OR NEVER
If there is someone else in the practice who you know is more familiar with the Tax
Agent Portal could you please pass this questionnaire on to them to complete if they
are available. If there is no one available who is familiar with the Tax Agent Portal,
please do not complete the questionnaire but return it in the enclosed envelope. Thank
you for your time.
Q1b How often do you use the Tax Agent Portal?
Please tick one box.




Q1c

Weekly .................................................................................................
Monthly ..............................................................................................
Less than monthly ............................................................................
Daily ......................................................................................................
1
2
3
4
We are interested in the number of people who exercise different roles in
your practice.
Please write the appropriate number in each box










Partners ...............................................................................................
Professional staff – mid to senior ...............................................
Professional staff - junior ..............................................................
Support staff – eg clerical / admin .............................................
Bookkeepers .....................................................................................
Special advisers .................................................................................
Tax consultants .................................................................................
IT consultant.......................................................................................
Sole Practitioner................................................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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Other (please specify)

Total Staff ..................................................................................................
__________________________________________ ...................................
Q1d
96
8
Which of the following is the main role you hold in your practice?
Please tick ONE box


Partner .................................................................................................
Professional staff – mid to senior ...............................................
Professional staff - junior ..............................................................
Support staff – eg clerical / admin .............................................
Bookkeeper .......................................................................................
Special adviser ...................................................................................
Tax consultant ...................................................................................
IT consultant.......................................................................................

Other (please specify)








Sole Practitioner................................................................................
__________________________________________ ...................................
Q1e

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
96
Approximately how many staff in your practice use the Tax Agent Portal?

Please write the appropriate number in the box
Section 2: Rating Portal Functions
Q2
Overall how useful is the Tax Agent Portal to you and your practice? Please
answer on a scale of 1 - 5 where 1 means ‘not very useful’ and 5 means ‘very
useful’. You can select any number between 1 and 5.
Please indicate by ticking ONE box only
Not very
useful

Tax Agent Portal .................................

1 ..........
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005

2 ..........
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3 ............

Very
useful
Don’t
know

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4 ...............
5 ............
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70224
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Q3a
Which of the current Tax Agent Portal functions do you consider are most in
need of improvement?
Please list three functions
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Q3b
Of the following Tax Agent Portal functions, which have you used?
Please tick one box for each function below
Q3c
Of the Portal functions that you have used, how useful did you find each of
them? Please answer on a scale of 1-5 where 1 means ‘not very useful’ and 5
means ‘very useful’. You can select any number between 1 and 5.
Please tick one box for each of the functions that you use.
Q3b
Not
Q3c
Used
Used

 ........ 
Client accounts - View ..........................  ........ 

Client accounts – Request account

Client directory ........................................
refund or transfer ...................................



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

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On demand reports – Income
lodgment status (current + 3
2 .............
 ........ 
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
Very useful Don’t
know
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 ........ 
     
 ........ 
Messaging .................................................  ........ 
     
    ..  
1
2 .............
On demand reports – Outstanding
activity statements (current + 3
previous years) ........................................

1
 ........ 
Add client/delete client ........................  ........ 
Client activity statement - View.........  ........ 
Client activity statement - Lodge......  ........ 
Client activity statement - Revise .....  ........ 
Client reports ...........................................  ........ 
Lodgment status income taxing .......  ........ 
previous years) ........................................

2 .............
Client details – View or update
registration details .................................

1
Not
very useful
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
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70224
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Q3b
Not




Q3d
Q3c
Used
Used
 ........ 
Tools and calculators ............................  ........ 
Call centre wait times ............................  ........ 
Link to Compliance Toolkit .................  ........ 
Online forms.............................................
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
1
2 .............
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1.......
1.......
1.......
1.......
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2 .......
2 .......
2 .......
2 .......
Very useful Don’t
know
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3 .......
3 .......
3 .......
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4.......
4.......
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



How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
answer using the scale below
Please tick ONE box for each statement

It is easy to find the information I
need in the Tax Agent Portal .......................

It is easy to print from within the Tax
Agent Portal .......................................................

It is easy to enter information into
the Tax Agent Portal .......................................

The Tax Agent Portal is readily
available when I need it .................................

5 .......
5 .......
5 .......




9
9
9
9
Please
It is easy to navigate within the Tax
screens .................................................................

5 .......
Strongly Slightly
No
Slightly Strongly
disagree disagree opinion agree
agree
Agent Portal, eg move between

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1
1
1
1
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3 ............
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3 ............
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4 ............
4 ............
4 ............
4 ............
4 ............
5
5
5
5
5
I am happy with the position of
buttons and data entry fields on the
Tax Agent Portal screens ...............................
Q3e
Not
very useful
1
2
3 ............
4 ............
5
Of the following methods to access client data such as client lists and client
account information, which do you use most frequently?
Please number methods from 1 to 3 where 1 is most frequently and 3 is least
frequently. If you don’t use that method at all, please put an ‘X’ in the box.



ELS (reports) ......................................................................................
Tax Agent Portal ...............................................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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70224
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
Via the telephone .............................................................................

3
Section 3:
Costs and Benefits Associated
With Tax Agent Portal Use
Q4a
We are interested in the costs that your practice may have incurred, if any, as a
direct result of using the Tax Agent Portal. Have your expenses increased in
relation to…
Please tick one box per response
Yes






Q4b
No
Don’t know
 ........ ................
ISP costs for internet usage...................................................  ........ ................ 
New or upgraded computers ...............................................  ........ ................ 
Additional IT storage capacity..............................................  ........ ................ 
Upgrade of security software ...............................................  ........ ................ 
Staff training ...............................................................................  ........ ................ 
Broadband connection ...........................................................
1
2
9
1
2
9
1
2
9
1
2
9
1
2
9
1
2
9
Were there any other costs that have occurred as a direct result of using the Tax
Agent Portal? If so, what were they?
Yes other costs (please specify) ............................................................................................

1
________________________________________________________________________________________
No ....................................................................................................................................................
Q5a

2
We are also interested in the savings that your practice may have experienced, if
any, as a direct result of using the Tax Agent Portal. Have your expenses
decreased in relation to…
Please tick one box per response
Yes


No
Don’t know
 ........ ................
Administration costs ................................................................  ........ ................ 
Phone/Fax costs.........................................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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2
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70224
-7-



 ........ ................
Time staff spend contacting clients ....................................  ........ ................ 
Time spent on individual client files ...................................  ........ ................ 
Time staff spend contacting the ATO ................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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2
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1
2
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70224
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Q5b
Were there any other savings that have occurred as a direct result of using the
Tax Agent Portal? If so, what were they?
Yes other savings (please specify)........................................................................................

1
________________________________________________________________________________________
No ....................................................................................................................................................
Q6
2
As a result of using the Tax Agent Portal, has the amount of time that you spend
contacting the Tax Office in the following ways increased, decreased or stayed
the same?
Please tick ONE box per contact method





Increased

By fax ............................................................................... 
By written correspondence ..................................... 
In person at an ATO access centre ....................... 
By email .......................................................................... 
By phone ........................................................................
Section 4:
Q7a

Stayed Decreased Unsure
the same
1..................
1..................
1..................
1..................
1..................
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2 ..................
2 ..................
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3 ...............
3 ...............
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3 ...............
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
9
9
9
9
9
Activity Statement Lodgment
How do you lodge your clients’ Activity Statements?
Please tick ALL that apply

Paper ............................................................................................................................ 
Electronic Lodgment Service (ELS)..................................................................... 
Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI) ................................................................ 
Tax Agent Portal ....................................................................................................... 
Client lodges their own .......................................................................................... 
Other (please specify)

I never lodge clients’ activity statements ........................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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GO TO Q8
1
2
3
3
3
3
70224
-9-
Q7b
If you ticked ‘Paper’ please outline the reasons for using paper.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Q7c
How do you prefer to lodge your clients’ Activity Statements?
Please tick ONE box only




Q8

Electronic Lodgment Service (ELS) ................................................. 
Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI) ............................................. 
Tax Agent Portal .................................................................................... 
Paper .........................................................................................................
1
2
3
4
How often do you use the Tax Agent Portal when you lodge your own or your
clients’ Activity Statement?
Please tick ONE box only





Q9a

Most of the time ................................................................................... 
Some of the time .................................................................................. 
Hardly ever .............................................................................................. 
Never used .............................................................................................. 
Every time ................................................................................................
1
2
3
4
5
GO TO Q10
How much did you need to modify existing work processes to use the Tax Agent
Portal to lodge Activity Statements?
Please tick ONE box only




Some changes were made ................................................................ 
Major changes were made ................................................................ 
No changes were made ......................................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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70224
- 10 -
Q9b
How much did you need to modify or update existing practice software to use the
Tax Agent Portal to lodge Activity Statements?
Please tick ONE box only




Some changes were made ................................................................ 
Major changes were made ................................................................ 
No changes were made ......................................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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2
3
70224
- 11 -
Section 5:
Digital Certificates
Q10 The Tax Office is implementing digital certificate (PKI) authentication and signing
for secure online services. Are you aware of digital certificates?



No ...................................................................................................... 
Yes .....................................................................................................
1
GO TO Q13
2
Q11a Has your practice registered for and installed digital certificates?




No ...................................................................................................... 
Don’t know / not sure ................................................................ 
Yes .....................................................................................................
1
2
GO TO Q12
2
GO TO Q13
Q11b How easy did your practice find the following aspects of the digital certificate
registration and installation process? Please answer on a scale of 1 - 5 where 1
means ‘not very easy’ and 5 means ‘very easy’. You can select any number
between 1 and 5.
Please tick one box for each statement
Not very
easy

Finding information about
Very
easy
Don’t
know








Digital certificate installation ......... 











Finding assistance during





digital certificates ...............................

1 ..........
Registering for digital
certificates ............................................
1 ..........
1 ..........
digital certificate installation..........

1 ..........
2 ..........
2 ..........
2 ..........
2 ..........
3 ............
3 ............
3 ............
3 ............
4 ...............
4 ...............
4 ...............
4 ...............
5 ............
5 ............
5 ............
5 ............
9
9
9
9
Q11c Did your practice use internal IT staff or external IT consultants to implement
digital certificates?
Please tick one box per response
Yes
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
No
Don’t
know
70224
- 12 -



Q12
 .............. ........
External IT consultant .........................................................................  ..............  ........ 
Both ...........................................................................................................  ..............  ........ 
In house IT staff ....................................................................................
1
2
9
1
2
9
1
2
9
GO TO Q13
What are the major reasons that your practice has not started using digital
certificates for authentication?
Please tick ALL appropriate boxes






Process appears too difficult ...................................................................... 
Not enough information or assistance for process............................ 
Intend to do so in the future ...................................................................... 
Other (please specify) .................................................................................... 
Do not have enough work time to complete set up process .........
1
2
3
4
5
___________________________________________________________________________
Q13
Currently the Tax Agent Portal allows you to control staff access to different
information via the Online Access Manager. For example, you can let some staff
see Activity Statements but restrict others. How useful is this feature to you?
Please indicate by ticking ONE box only







Quite useful ............................................................................................ 
Neither ...................................................................................................... 
Not very useful ...................................................................................... 
Not at all useful ..................................................................................... 
Don’t know .............................................................................................. 
Very useful ................................................................................................
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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2
3
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Section 6: Tax Agent Portal Help and
Assistance
Q14a Of the following services or products that are available to provide assistance,
which have you used?
Please tick one box for each service or product below
Q14b For only the support services and products that you have used how useful did
you find each of them? Please answer on a scale of 1 - 5 where 1 means ‘not
very useful’ and 5 means ‘very useful’. You can select any number between 1 and
5.
Q14a
Not
Q14b
Used
Used

Tax Agent Portal Help function –
Not
very useful
Very useful
Don’t
know
 ......
     
 ......
     
 ......
     
 ......
     
 ......
     

 ......
Tax Agent Portal Feedback form ......  ......
     
     

Tax Agent Portal training products
specific Word search .............................

Tax Agent Portal Help function –
Search A-Z index link ............................

Tax Agent Portal Help ‘How do I’
lessons ........................................................

Telephone – Portal and website
assistance 13 72 86 (FKC 33) .............

Telephone - technical difficulties
13 72 86 (FKC 351) ................................

1
1
1
1
1
available on ato.gov.au - online
overviews ...................................................
2................
2................
2................
1
2................
1
2................
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2..... .....
2 ...
...
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9
9
9
9
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9
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9
 ......
     
 ......
     
1
2................
1.......
2 .......
3 .......
4.......
5 .......
9
Tax Agent Portal training products
available on ato.gov.au - online
demonstrations (animated) ...............

2 .......................
Telephone - digital certificates
13 72 86 (FKC 35) ..................................

2................
1
2................
1.......
2 .......
3 .......
4.......
5 .......
9
Tax Agent Portal training from a Tax
Office speaker or relationship
manager .....................................................
 ......
1
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
2................
     
1.......
2 .......
3 .......
4.......
5 .......
9
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TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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Section 7: Updates and New Functions
Q15
How useful do you find each of these ways to be notified about updates and
changes to the Tax Agent Portal? Please answer on a scale of 1 - 5 where 1
means ‘not very useful’ and 5 means ‘very useful’.
Please tick ONE box for each notification method
Not very
useful

Printed
educational













Satellite Seminars............................... 
eLink (E-mail) ....................................... 















Agent Newsletter) ..............................
Alerts on the Tax Agent Portal
Home page ..........................................


1 ..........
1 ..........
A visit from a tax office speaker
or relationship manager ..................

Don’t
know
material
from the Tax Office (e.g. Tax

Very
useful
1 ..........
1 ..........
1 ..........
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
2 ..........
2 ..........
2 ..........
2 ..........
2 ..........
3 ............
3 ............
3 ............
3 ............
3 ............
4 ...............
4 ...............
4 ...............
4 ...............
4 ...............
5 ............
5 ............
5 ............
5 ............
5 ............
9
9
9
9
9
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Section 8: Future Enhancements
Q16
This is a list of potential enhancements to the Tax Agent Portal. How useful
would you find each of these potential enhancements if they were to become
available.
Please answer on a scale of one to ten, where 1 is not at all useful and 10 is
extremely useful. You can select any number between 1 and 10.
Please tick ONE box for each potential enhancement
Not at all
useful
 Real time processing.........
 “Where’s My Refund”
facility .....................................
Extremely Don’t
useful know
         

         

         

         

         

         

         

1 .......
1 ...........
2 ....
2 .......
3 ....
3 .......
4 ....
4 ......
5
......
5 ..........
6 ....
6 ......
7 .......
7...........
8 .......
8...........
9....
9......
10 ........
10.............
99
99
 Ability to access
Business Portal from
the Tax Agent Portal .........
1 ...........
2 .......
3 .......
4 ......
5 ..........
6 ......
7...........
8...........
9......
10.............
99
 Ability to view Activity
Statements prepared
by client on Business
Portal ......................................
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 Ability to switch
between Tax Agent
Portal and the
Australian Business
Register ..................................
 Ability to view Notice
of Assessment online ........
1 .......
1 .......
2 ....
2 ....
3 ....
3 ....
4 ....
4 ....
5
5
......
......
6 ....
6 ....
7 .......
7 .......
8 .......
8 .......
9....
9....
10 ........
10 ........
99
99
 Ability to lodge
Reasonable Benefit
Limits (RBL) reporting
forms via the Tax Agent
Portal ......................................
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
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Not at all
useful
Extremely Don’t
useful know
 Integration between
practice management
software and Tax Agent
Portal ......................................
         

         

         

         

         

         

         

1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 Ability to update client
details for Fringe
Benefits Tax ..........................
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 Ability to update client
details for Pay as You
Go Withholding ..................
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 Ability to update client
details for Pay as You
Go Instalments ....................
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 Ability to add or cancel
a business role (eg FBT,
LCT, WET) ..............................
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 More topics available
for the Secure
Messaging Facility..............
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
 Online form for
Lodgment deferrals
(eg. for those cases
where automatic
acceptance of
lodgment deferral is
not met) ................................
Q17
1 .......
2 ....
3 ....
4 ....
5
......
6 ....
7 .......
8 .......
9....
10 ........
99
Is there anything else you can suggest that would help you when using the Tax
Agent Portal, or any new features that you would like to see on the Tax Agent
Portal?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________________
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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Q18
Where do you access the Tax Agent Portal from?
Please tick ALL that apply






Client’s Office .......................................................................................................................... 
Home.......................................................................................................................................... 
Mobile computing platform (Laptop) ............................................................................ 
Other (please specify) .........................................................................................................
Office ..........................................................................................................................................
1
2
3
4
5\
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Q19a Is anyone in your practice an approved auditor of a self managed superannuation
fund?
Please tick ONE box only



No ............................................................................................................... 
Yes ..............................................................................................................
1
GO TO Q20
2
Q19b Has anyone in your practice ever used the Tax Agent Portal to lodge an auditor
contravention report?
Please tick ONE box only



No ......................................................................................................................... 
Yes ........................................................................................................................
1
2
If No, why not?
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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Q20
In the space provided below, please write in the postcode relating to your office
location. If your practice has more than one office location, please answer this
question in relation to the location where you mainly work.
“Australian Government Statistical Clearing House Approval Number 01534-02”.
Could you please provide an estimate of the time taken to complete this
survey
Include
minutes

The time actually spent reading the instructions, working on the questions
and obtaining the information.

The time spent by all employees in collecting and providing this information.
TNS Social Research –TAX AGENT RESEARCH – TAX AGENT PORTAL 2005
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