Anna is a tax accountant with over 35 years’ experience. She is a long-standing member and volunteer of The Tax Institute. Anna has served on the Local Tax Club Sydney committee since 2022, joined the Sydney Tax Discussion Group in early 2025 and recently joined the National Taxation of Individuals Technical Committee.
How did you get started in tax?
I started my journey about 36 years ago. In 1990, I started working for a Chartered Accountant, a sole practitioner in Liverpool. I started as a personal assistant and really that was, for me, a natural progression into my career in tax.
I then enrolled at university in 1998 and studied Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting). I continued to work full-time and studied part-time at university and got my degree and progressed from there. And, you know, working in a smaller practice is not for the faint-hearted but it’s unique and rewarding.
What were some of the rewards of starting your career in a small business?
The reward, I felt, was having that instant connection and direct contact with the clients. I found that a lot of the clients who prefer smaller to medium sized practices do so for a reason: because they want to be able to be in direct contact with their accountant and tax advisor, who they are working closely with.
You find that when they contact you on a regular basis, you already have that in-depth knowledge of their business and have built a rapport with them.
How did you find out about The Tax Institute?
I remember at the time, in my early days, the principal practitioner who started his practice in 1977, was involved with The Tax Institute from his university days in the early 1970s.
Interestingly, I was given some very, very wise advice earlier on by him when I started progressing in my career. The one thing he said to me was, ‘if you only had to choose one association to be affiliated with, consider it to be the Tax Institute’.
I didn’t actually realise how transformative that advice would be for me at the time. I have found The Tax Institute to have profound commitment to its members, and it’s really been a help for me in my work.
How has being part of The Tax Institute community helped you over the years?
I noticed that they were always at the forefront of delivering quality and technical tax information and support to their members. But I think my turning point was when COVID hit as well as the rollout of the tax measures, and no one was prepared. No one was prepared for what was a monumental and unexpected burden on the tax community. We as tax professionals were tasked with the burden of navigating and helping our clients get through this. There were a lot of clients in distress, which took a mental and physical toll on myself as well.
One thing I noticed through that whole period, was that The Tax Institute was probably the most prominent as far as providing meaningful assistance and delivering relevant tax information, more so than any other of the associations, in my opinion.
It was at that time when I was still trying to catch my breath, and it was a bit of a crossroad in my career, I received a call from one of the members of The Tax Institute, who reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to be involved in any of the volunteer committees, and from those particular volunteer committees, you can then progress to some technical committees as well.
My initial default answer was going to be ‘no’, because I thought I just didn’t have the time and I’m too tired. But then I remembered how committed The Tax Institute was in helping us get through the challenging time during COVID. So, I thought I would give it a go and give something back if I could. I joined the Local Tax Club Planning Committee. And from there, I’ve joined the Sydney Tax Discussion Group, which meets once a month and has been so valuable to my development, meeting with other tax practitioners where we have open discussions and share knowledge.
I have also now been appointed to the Taxation of Individuals Technical Committee. Getting involved in these committees has actually been a privilege because the members on these committees have just been humble, kind and genuinely committed to performing their role and seeing the positive impact on the tax community has been incredibly encouraging.
Which Tax Institute event or program has been your favourite so far, and what made it stand out?
It’s hard because I’m equally committed to the Local Tax Club and the Sydney Tax Discussion Group, yet they are different.
The discussion group is a really supportive, nurturing environment, where we get together once a month with other members that are working in a similar environment. We discuss any issues in practice, and then we’ll discuss specific and relevant tax topics. It’s a genuinely supportive environment.
The Local Tax Club brings specialist tax topics to its members on a monthly basis and that’s incredibly important because I see the amount of work involved that we do behind the scenes. What I also found validating in this role is that when I contact potential tax presenters, they were all eager to give back. They were all so respectful and didn’t hesitate to volunteer their time. Each committee and group has a specific role and being actively involved has been enriching for me.
Tell me about your experience with the CTA program, your journey there and what it meant for you?
I considered enrolling at the beginning of 2020, and then COVID hit, so I put it aside. So, it wasn’t until the dust settled and I got involved with some of the committees in 2022, that I then decided to look at the program again in 2023.
The program has relatable topics and strong technical subjects. The subject coordinators and moderators were inspiring tax experts who were either running their own practices, tax lawyers or university lecturers, and they were just giving up their time to guide us through the program. The collective source of information that we were able to tap into was so motivating.
It was a wonderful experience, and everyone was supportive of each other. Each of the students were just happy to help one another and open to contacting each other if we needed to. Coordinators were open to us contacting them as well, if we needed any further clarification on anything.
What advice would you have for people who are considering the CTA program and can’t make up their mind?
Oh, definitely do it. It just adds another level of expertise, and the subjects are extremely relevant if you’re working in the tax realm. It really is a valuable program.
If you had any advice for your younger self or the next generation beginning of their career, what would that be?
I would advise them to seek out support and get involved in committees and discussion groups that I’ve gotten involved in. I wish I’d done that sooner, and that probably would have been helpful when I was going through those incredibly busy and stressful times.
If anything, I would probably say to my younger self that, you know, sure, I did become a member of The Tax Institute much earlier on, but I didn’t get actively involved like I have now. So, I think that would be beneficial for my younger self.
How would you sum up your experience with The Tax Institute?
Everyone I encounter on my journey in tax with The Tax Institute has been humble and kind. They genuinely care; it is real, and it’s just a pleasure to be dealing with everyone at The Tax Institute.