Perceptions of large South African companies on the skills of tax graduates

Abstract

Today‘s changing business environment versus the change in curricula creates a potential shortfall in the competencies gained by the students who complete their degree course against the expectations of prospective future employers. The universities however endeavour to teach a tax syllabus that will equip the students with sufficient information and skills to be able to provide tax compliance on a corporate and personal level without much learning subsequent to university level. To some it would appear that the dominant guideline for universities as to what level of knowledge is required of graduates, is what is considered by regulatory bodies to be sufficient. It would follow then, that future employers may require a more technical and detailed knowledge of tax for their type of business than what the graduate would have been taught as a result of a curricula suited to professional bodies. In addition to a potential disconnect in theoretical knowledge, the dynamic working environment requires graduates to be adaptable and maintain a skill set that will aid them more than their theoretical knowledge. Using a questionnaire, data was obtained from the senior personnel employed in the tax departments of the top 30 listed companies of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (―JSE‖) in South Africa. The results showed that there is a variation between the current views and preferences of employers in respect of the theoretical tax knowledge of certain topics listed in the study, as well as in all the types of practical skills listed in the study.