Tax

Tax, in the case of professional services firms (e.g. the Big 4), refers to corporate tax.

The corporate tax department will perform the following roles:

• Giving tax advice to companies ('Tax consultancy')
• Auditing a company's tax return
• Supporting other departments within the firm who require specialist tax advice as part of a larger project, e.g. an external audit.

Training

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Generally speaking, graduates entering tax will sit the ICAEW ACA or equivalent accounting qualification. Some will follow this up with the CIOT CTA (Chartered Tax Advisor), a specialist tax qualification, should they intend to continue their career in tax after completing the ACA.

Students sitting typical accounting exams such as the ICAEW ACA will often sit the Taxation module first as this is necessary to build up technical knowledge for client work.

Graduates working in a tax department will also be required to take additional in-house courses on taxation and tax models in order to develop the higher skills necessary for the job which are not provided during the standard training course.

What will I do in my first year in tax?

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Graduates will spend a substantial amount of time training and studying for exams.

Client work will include:

• Checking and documenting tax returns, which includes testing any information that a company has provided to complete its tax return.
• Running tax models and scenarios using Excel and specialist tax software
• General admin work, such as proof reading and writing reports and letters.

Unlike audit, you will be based primarily in your office and will not be required to travel to clients. Although all professional services work is deadline driven, tax consultants may find their hours to be better than those in other service lines, although overtime will still be necessary.