How This Saïd MBA Grad Is Helping Destroy Tax Jargon
“If you could deduct a dollar for every word of jargon on your tax return, chances are, you would owe a lot less tax.”
Those words, published in the New York Times, could realistically have been written in 2016. But this notion of an incredibly common public nuisance was published in 1984. And more than 30 years later, not much has changed.
The typical annotation surrounding tax jargon is littered with brash profanities, and for good reason: filing taxes can be nauseatingly frustrating, and the endlessly wordiness that comes with it only makes it worse. Luckily, that mired pessimism is pretty universally shared, and some—like University of Oxford Saïd Business School MBA ‘16 graduate Connie Cha—are actually helping.
This week, Cha launched Taxforward, a simplified tax self-assessment system that allows U.K. residents to more easily understand how to file in what Cha calls “the new economy.”
Speaking with the Saïd Business School, Cha illuminated what led her to the project. Trained as an actress, Cha graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before joining the business school. And like so many, when she first had to file her own taxes she “was completely in the dark about how to complete it.”
After joining Deloitte as a member of the consumer business audit team, she began to more thoroughly understand the tax system. But those initial difficulties made a lasting impression. Cha earned her chartered accountancy qualification (ACA) at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. And after beginning her pursuit of an MBA at Saïd, she refined what eventually became Taxforward.
With her entrepreneurship project team, Cha found herself looking into what could be considered an non-traditional market: the freelance and sharing economy. A trained actress herself, Cha was deftly familiar with creative types who were working more independently than as traditional full-time employees—something she found increasingly common even among larger employers.
“There has been a shift in how organizations are structuring their operations for cost-efficiency,” she says. “Big corporations, such as Deloitte, are taking on independent contractors alongside employees, and individuals are building their livelihood through a company vehicle rather than a typical employment contract.”
Working with her entrepreneurship project mentor, retail marketing associate professor and deputy dean Jonathan Reynolds, and the Oxford alumni network, Cha continued refining Taxforward after completing her MBA. The completed effort, crafted in a pleasant, clean design, allows U.K. users to quickly file their returns for a nominal flat rate competitively smaller than most accountants charge.
“To stand out we want to give users a feeling of empowerment that they can do it themselves,” she says. “In short, we want to be the tax partner to the new economy.”
If the project is successful, it’s not hard to imagine expansion into international markets. Or at least until other ventures capitalize on Cha’s ingenuity. Head over to Taxforward now to take a look at the recently launched product.
LBS’s Reload Greece Conference Offers Insights on Economic Recovery
London Business School (LBS) published an article offering insights into how the Greek economy might bounce back at its recent Reload Greece conference, co-presented by LBS and SEESOX, Oxford’s European Studies Centre.
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Saïd and Global Shapers Award Two Scholarships
Two members of the Global Shapers Community have been selected to receive scholarships to attend Saïd Business School in order to pursue MBA degrees, according to a press release from the school. The Global Shapers Community, a World Economic Forum initiative, consists of a network of hubs developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their achievements, potential and their drive to make a contribution to their community. The scholarships are designed to give extraordinary students a chance to learn more about market-oriented practices to achieve real-world impact. Continue reading…
Oxford MBAs Embark on Global Business Treks
Teams of MBA students from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, are exploring the vibrant business environments of international cities through the annual business treks. The students are visiting Kenya, Colombia, the U.S, Switzerland, India, Rwanda, Brazil, and Dubai to gain insight into the culture and opportunities of the different regions. The treks are an opportunity for students interested in working in these countries to access professional and personal resources and connect with Oxford alumni based in the region.
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Saïd Business School to launch Oxford Polaris Digital Academy Executive Education Programme
Polaris Consulting & Services, Ltd – an innovator in digital transformation for enterprises around the world and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford announce the launch of a new executive education programme called the Oxford Polaris Digital Academy.
The collaboration will educate executives across industries on how to thrive in today’s complex world of digital transformation. Saïd Business School will help assess, discuss and debate key challenges facing leaders and the impact this will have on international business.
The era of digital transformation, arguably as significant as the industrial revolution, is affecting nearly every aspect of an enterprise in every industry. How products are conceived, sold, and supported is undergoing a sea change as a result of the confluence of new digital capabilities, most notably the SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud) technologies.
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Oxford MBA Students Worked on Experimental Release of Thom Yorke’s Solo Album
Thom Yorke’s decision to release his latest album via BitTorrent caused a notable stir in the music world. What isn’t well known though is that Oxford MBA students consulted with Radiohead’s management team on the experimental release that uses BitTorrent to allow customers to buy the album directly from the artist. The idea of artists using BitTorrent to market and sell their music is controversial as the platform is infamous in the music industry for allowing fans to share music for free.
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