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Nelson Tech Firm Wins Top National Award

Wednesday 2 March 2016, 12:23PM

By Impact PR

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NELSON

A rapidly growing Nelson tech firm has been recognised as the country’s leading personal taxation agent, winning a service excellence award in a nationwide survey.

Locally owned mytax.co.nz which employs more than 40 Nelson staff is an IRD approved, online tax agent service which helps Kiwis recover outstanding refunds.  

The Hardy Street based business won the Canstar Blue Consumer Satisfaction Award – Personal Tax Agent for 2016 award with a near perfect score of 5-star ratings across the board.

As well as revealing the top taxation agency, the survey showed that around two thirds (63%) of us regularly receive a tax refund when we apply for one.

MyTax chief executive Lester Binns says that for many Kiwis approaching the IRD can be a daunting prospect, but organisations such as his were created to streamline the process by developing a web based application system.

His company now provides services for more than 350,000 customers throughout the country.

“Part of the success of our business comes from simplifying a process which is unfamiliar to most of us. While many of us are often owed money, more than four out of every ten (43%) New Zealanders do not realise what qualifies them to receive a refund.”

“If our clients have earned wages or a salary in New Zealand during the past five years, we are able to check if they’re owed a tax refund by utilising our accounting systems which are linked to the IRD,” says Binns.

“Often we find that our clients have overpaid their tax and part of our role is to help them get their money back.”

Binns says in his experience around 48 percent of those who receive a refund are likely to treat themselves to luxury items rather than save or invest the money.

“The largest refund we have recovered on behalf of a client through our mytax.co.nz website was $48,000.”

The survey also showed that when it comes to choosing their tax refund provider, consumers are driven by value for money, in terms of is it worth what they paid for the service (36%), ease of application (21%) and the quality of advice provided (15%).