Overview

The tax department in Reading is a small, well balanced team, with a fast growing Indirect Tax practice and as a new Indirect Tax trainee you can expect to be involved in a wide variety of tasks covering both VAT compliance and VAT advisory. The Reading team is part of BDO’s Southern Indirect Tax Group and has grown at a rapid pace over the last couple of years. To continue to grow the team needs high calibre additional resource at trainee level. The team would fully support technical and personal development but you would be encouraged to carry out your own research from the outset. You will also work with other staff at all grades both within the Reading team and the wider regional team. You will have regular client contact and would be expected to liaise with Indirect Tax experts throughout the world, as increasingly Indirect Tax problems are international in nature.
The role supports qualification for CTA (Chartered Tax Advisor) as the work is legal and opinion based and involves relatively little accounting. The wide range of client issues that you will be involved in provides an excellent training ground. Historically, BDO’s tax trainees have performed very well in their studies, with pass rates significantly above the national average. Although the numbers of Indirect Tax trainee places are very limited, Southern Indirect Tax Group graduates have won three prizes in CTA or equivalent qualifications in the past 2 years.
A career in indirect tax requires excellent intellectual skills and a strong common sense business approach. An ability with spreadsheets can be advantageous but most important is a good team working ethic and an interest in problem solving. A Indirect Tax career is similar to that in other Taxes, but with a greater emphasis on advisory work from day one. The role of a Indirect Tax trainee is varied and challenging. There is no daily routine. For the future there are roles at all levels in Practice from Junior to Partner, with genuine opportunities to progress on merit. There are also equivalent roles in industry.

Responsibilities

The VAT team advise a wide variety of clients from owner managed businesses to multi-national corporations. Their work is predominantly advisory with a relatively small amount of compliance and typical VAT work includes:
• Advising businesses on the impact of VAT on different business models and structures
• Advising business on the impact of overseas VAT on supply chains
• Dispute resolution where HMRC have taken a contrary view of the VAT treatment applied by a business. This can involve negotiations with the HMRC or litigation.
• Advice on VAT structuring to achieve an advantageous position commercially
• Some compliance work – usually carrying out risk reviews or pulling together VAT return figures for international clients

Requirements

2:1 Degree discipline
280 UCAS Points or equivalent- Excluding General Studies
Grade B and above in GCSE Maths and English or equivalent

Joining

September 2013