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Taxation Compliance Officer

Clerical and Administrative WorkersUsually a certificate or some on-the-job experience

What the work is

Inspects and assesses taxation returns to ensure compliance with government legislation, and investigates suspected breaches of taxation legislation.

Would you enjoy the work?

These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.

  • Conducts taxation return audits to verify the accuracy and completeness of reported income and deductions, and to ensure compliance with government legislation
  • Investigates suspected breaches of taxation legislation, gathers evidence, and calculates and assesses tax liabilities and penalties for non-compliance
  • Prepares reports and recommendations based on findings from audits and investigations
  • Provides advice to taxpayers on tax compliance and obligations
  • Collaborates with government agencies and law enforcement authorities in cases of suspected tax evasion or fraud

Try it

A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional government service office that assesses claims and checks tax returns. They are fictional.

The kind of days you could have

Good days

  • A person leaves an interview knowing exactly what they are entitled to and what happens next
  • You find the one missing page that turns a rejected claim into an approved one
  • A tidy queue where every case has a clear note about what was decided and why

Hard days

  • Someone is upset, and you cannot give them the answer they hoped for
  • A pile of cases, each with a person behind it, and not enough hours to look at them all
  • Rules that change, with the news arriving after the first people have already been affected

Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.

Work a mission

Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.

Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 591232, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.