Integrating ICT skills and tax software in tax education: A survey of Malaysian tax practitioners' perspectives

摘要

Purpose - This study aims to examine the ICT skills needed by a fresh accounting graduate whenrnfirst joining a tax firm; to find out usage of electronic tax (e-tax) applications in tax practice; to assessrnthe rating of senior tax practitioners on fresh graduates' ICT and e-tax applications skills; and to solicitrntax practitioners' opinion regarding integrating ICT skills and tax software into a tax course.rnDesign/methodology/approach - An online survey method was used to collect the data. An onlinernsurvey was distributed to 385 tax practitioners who worked in the accounting/tax firms thatrnparticipated in the university's internship programs. A total of 112 usable questionnaires werernanalyzed.rnFindings - The survey found that the three most important ICT skills with which fresh graduatesrnshould be familiar before graduating were spreadsheet software, word-processing software, andrne-mail. The result shows that the usage of e-tax applications is still not pervasive in tax practice.rnOverall, senior tax practitioners rated fresh accounting graduates' ICT skills as "average". Both seniorrn(75 percent) and junior (73.7 percent) tax practitioners agreed that ICT skills and tax software shouldrnbe integrated in the tax course offered by the universities.rnPractical implications - This study has provided insights to policy makers and tax educators tornrevamp the existing tax curriculum, and to introduce learning tax software in classes, and to placernmore emphasis in imparting ICT skills in tax education.rnOriginality/value - Scholarly study on tax education and ICT is scant. Little is known aboutrnwhether the existing tax education is adequate in meeting the needs of the employers in the job market.rnThis paper has emerged to fill a knowledge gap.