Abstract Tax clients and their return preparers have different perceptions about the importance of tax service elements. This study explores those differences and relates the differences to clients' judgments of tax service quality. Exchange theory and perception gap analysis are used to examine the evaluation of tax return preparation services. A survey was administered to tax clients and to tax professionals employed by three international accounting firms, and the survey results were evaluated using structural equation analysis. The results revealed that tax preparers' perceptions of what clients expect from a quality tax service differ significantly from clients' expectations. Significant differences were found in the areas of reducing audit likelihood and in improving communication between tax preparers and clients. The survey also indicated that the greatest discrepancies between clients' expectations and the service actually received were related to tax savings strategies.
Anne L. Christensen (Tue,) studied this question.