Roles in tax in industry are seen as high profile and highly value-adding. Other than most of the FTSE 250, top law firms and financial services companies, corporate tax is usually outsourced. Roles and general division of work will be driven by the size and structure of the team and due to the typical size of businesses with in-house tax functions, there can be international exposure. Roles tend to be broken down in to four main types of position:

• Tax advisor
• Tax accountant
• Tax consultant
• Tax manager

These roles usually sit in head office functions and are visible to all of the operating entities throughout a business. They provide excellent insight and exposure in to the business you are working in and provide the opportunity to get involved in work ranging from day-to-day calculations and advisory through to high level business strategy. Roles tend to have regular involvement with financial and commercial department heads, as well as group finance.

Entry points usually incorporate elements of reporting, compliance and tax accounting. This is the best way to get to know the business structure and how it feeds in to the group. You can quickly move on to more ad hoc or project based advisory work involving tax planning for corporate initiatives such as projects and even corporate finance deals.

Is it for you?
Entrants will usually be either tax trained ACAs or will have entered a tax department during their time in industry. Salaries are often among the best in commerce & industry. You will need to be innovative and challenge-oriented as tax strategy and planning is highly demanding in businesses where there is constant change and initiatives. Due to the high level of interaction with non-tax and non-finance people, excellent communication skills are prerequisite.

Career prospects.
Career prospects are excellent and can lead to very senior positions within large corporate organisations. Opportunities can be international, more planning or project focused. You can also specialise by sector or tax discipline. Longer term career objectives can include tax director, group tax director or director of tax and treasury.