An Evaluation of Communication Barriers Between Tax Practitioners and Their Clients

Abstract

Because tax practitioners must serve two competing interests—those of their clients and the Internal Revenue Service—they are faced with the challenge of overcoming communication barriers in their relationships with these groups. The purpose of this study was to identify those barriers perceived by tax practitioners to be the most serious in inhibiting effective communication between them and their clients. A survey eliciting the seriousness of 29 communication barriers was conducted with tax practitioners in international and national accounting firms. Several communication barriers were perceived to be the most serious in affecting communication between tax practitioners and their clients.