[1] The Tax Institute was founded in July 1943 by a Sydney accountant named Harold Irving.

The Institute provides resources and education to its members, and participates in formulating tax policy with the government.

[3] Executives from the institute head up the Australian Tax Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation that researches tax reform at the federal, state and local government levels.

[4] The Tax Institute provides input to the Board of Taxation, a non-statutory government advisory body charged with contributing a business and broader community perspective to improving the design of taxation laws and their operation.

[5] In March 2010 The Tax Institute and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia jointly submitted an extensive review of the government's consolidation regime to the Board of Taxation.