Root Canals and Cleaning Dog-Doo: What Australians Would Rather Do Than Their Taxes

The New York Public Library/Unsplash

A new survey of over 1,000 Australians has highlighted the stress and barriers they face during tax time, with almost one in three finding the end of the financial year and tax submission time to be stressful, and a fifth preferring to pick up their pooches poop than complete their tax return.

When asked to choose, the majority of Australians would prefer to participate in other activities such as scooping up canine poop (19 percent), making small talk with an unpleasant neighbour (18 percent), sitting in the middle seat on a long-haul flight (17 percent), and getting a filling at the dentist (16 percent).

Tax time can be an incredibly demanding period, often causing a great deal of stress, Rachel Clements, Director of Psychological Services, Centre for Corporate Health, said.

“During this time, sharing your worries with family and friends can provide solace, and discussing your concerns can offer valuable insights and help put things into perspective,” Clements said.

16 percent of Australians said they would rather get a root canal than do their taxes. Ben Chasteen/Epoch Times

Whether you’re a tradie, hairdresser, or fast-paced startup, small Australian businesses have had a tough few years, according to Damien Greathead, an accountant and advisor lead at Intuit QuickBooks Australia.

“Tax time can add significant stress and mental load,” Greathead said.

“Working with an accountant or bookkeeper can help small business owners reduce stress and get time back in their day to focus on unwinding with some comedy, seeing friends and family, or pursuing their hobbies.”

While most Australians do not enjoy working on their tax returns, three in ten said they enjoy it, and two-thirds find it easy. Of those, 39 percent said it is because their accountant or tax consultant does everything for them.

However, 32 percent of Australians said they struggled to complete their tax returns.

Main Obstacles

Women are more likely to have a lack of knowledge and understanding of the correct process (62 percent) and are more likely to not know where to start (29 percent) compared to men.

Despite this, men are more likely to struggle and be stressed by the tax submission process (37 percent compared to 28 percent).

A man uses a computer. Bench Accounting/Unsplash

The main barrier for those who find the process challenging is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the correct process (51 percent), highlighting a need for more financial literacy.

39 percent said they had a lack of motivation to complete it, and 36 percent attributed it to their lack of organisation.

This comes amid news that small Australian businesses will be facing a price surge in their electricity bills of between 14.7 to 28.9 percent in the coming months.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) said that they recognised that this was a challenging time but that consumers had options.

“No one wants to see rising prices, and we recognise this is a difficult time. That’s why it’s important for consumers to shop around for a better deal,” AER chair Clare Savage said in a statement.

The federal government also said that it could have been worse.

“These are big increases, but as the regulator made clear, without the intervention of the Albanese government, they would have been much bigger,” Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.

The survey of 1,018 Australian adults was commissioned by Intuit QuickBooks and undertaken between the 8th to 10th of May 2023.