EY unleashes TaxChat self assessment service
Big Four firm EY has launched TaxChat, a digital, on-demand self assessment tax platform for consumers.
You might also be interested in
Replies (11)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
Why would Ernst&Young be rummaging around the bins doing this work?
Has audit become too dificult?
Agreed, why? Seems very at odds with their brand (corporate audit, advisory and financial crime at expensive rates is how I visualise EY). I don't see them as a B2C outfit (at all) but suppose many £329's add up and if you can do that work largely through AI and a cheap offshore center for when the human touch is required, then it could be highly profitable and it only needs one of their partners to make the case and be willing to pick up the ball.
Think it's a great idea and one that's easily replicable for accountants willing to embrace the 21st century.
But I don't see how the EY offering is any different to any service offered by small accountancy firms already. I have many clients that simply email me their information or upload it via Dropbox, and I have next to no contact with them throughout the year, I just haven't given the service a fancy name and big marketing push. The main difference of course is that EY will either outsource the work to another country or will get very junior staff working on it, as opposed to UK-based partners and/or experienced UK-qualified staff. I really don't see how a small client that is attracted by a £329 EY price tag will get any benefit of having EY printed on their accounts.
Very interesting!
Just tried to register on the app to see what they would charge me, but it won't let me register as there are no countries to pick from on the relevant drop down menu.
£329 seems very cheap for EY to be picking these types of returns up. I wonder what would happen if the new client starts asking tax planning questions? What would they charge for answering those?
Will also be interesting to know what the charge would be if the client makes EIS investments and needs someone to keep track of deferred gains for example?
Good luck to them I say.
I think KPMG tried a similar venture at this type of work but subsequently abandoned it. The Big accountancy firms fee structure is too high. How do their MLR fit into this venture? I am aware that KPMG used to charge 5K to pass their MLR and client engagement procedures [and that was over 10 years ago].
Ive got really clever digital journey* we have developed.
The website has a list of fixed fees, and clients use a telephone device to "speak" (using their actual voice) to the accountant (who also uses their actual voice) who asks key questions and confirms the price and emails out a quote inside of about 10 minutes.
Sounds like EY have developed an over engineered solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
*If you use this work it means its great.