Gil Levy, CTA is a Tax Partner with MGI Sydney.
How long have you been a member of The Tax Institute?
I've been a member since 1974, I think … it seems a long time ago! I was president from 2003 to 2004.
How did the Institute evolve during your time as president?
Externally at the time I was president there was talk about regulation of the profession, which has since turned into the Tax Agent Services Act in recent times. That’s been going now for about ten years. We were concerned about becoming a recognised professional association so that members could become tax agents.
A lot of time and effort was put into what we needed to do to change the way the organisation operated so it could qualify. That brings you to structured education, exams and qualifications.
After I ceased my term as president we set up an examinations board and study group, the start of what became the structured education program and has extended most excitingly to the Chartered Tax Adviser qualification.
Do you have a message for the Institute on it’s 70th anniversary?
Congratulations on making it! There’s not many organisations these days that would last in its basic format and its message for that long. I think I've seen the Institute grow in significance over the time I've been a member.
In the 70s, it was a boy’s club that used to go up to Terrigal and talk about tax and have a bit of a party. It’s now recognised as the premier body for professionals involved in taxation and I think it’s essential for anyone in this industry to be involved with the Institute.
It’s a peculiar organisation in a sense that professionals who compete come together and talk about everything they’re doing. That’s a practical trait of the Institute that I find very attractive.
In 2013, The Tax Institute is celebrating 70 years of supporting the tax profession.
The Tax Institute is Australia’s leading professional association in tax. Its 13,000 members include tax agents, accountants and lawyers as well as tax practitioners in corporations, government and academia.
