What can you expect from a career in tax?

Interested in a tax manager career? Or fancy another related role?

Here’s a look at some of the careers in tax you could do as a graduate.

We’ll cover:

• Why choose a career in tax
• Different areas
• Day-to-day work
• Work-life balance
• What types of firms can you work for?
• Skills you’ll need in tax
• Average salary
• How to get into tax
• Other career paths working in tax can lead to

Any person or company that’s earning money will need to think about tax. Because of that, there will always be a need for tax professionals, which can make it a stable career choice for grads.

Lots of businesses and individuals want to save money on their tax bills by ensuring they’re making the most out of all legal allowances. Many will also need someone to help fill in forms for them. That’s where tax professionals come in.

People employ tax firms to:

• Help them understand tax law in simple terms
• Find creative ways to save money
• Do the calculations
• Complete forms

Sound like tasks you’d enjoy? If so, a career in tax might suit you.

There are various graduate tax roles that you could begin your career in.

Tax has two main parts: compliance and consultancy.

Compliance is about ensuring the taxpayer is following the rules.

One key compliance job is to complete your client’s tax return according to the current regulations and file it on time.

Depending on your specialism, you might do calculations, accounting and paperwork for things like setting up family trusts or estate planning (ie. managing a person’s assets, like wills and inheritance).

At the beginning of your career, expect to focus on compliance while you learn the ropes.

Consultancy is the problem-solving side of the tax business.

Tax advisers make sure their clients’ finances are tax-efficient (simply put, they find ways for their clients to pay the minimum tax possible). It means knowing tax regulations inside out and being able to take advantage of all the available tax structures, tax breaks and loopholes. As a qualified tax adviser, you’ll likely focus on consultancy.

There are three main tax areas:

• Corporate tax – Managing tax for companies or corporations. There are specialisms within it too, such as transfer pricing (a technique to shift tax liabilities to other countries).
• Personal tax – Managing tax for individuals. Specialisms include estate planning and supporting high-net-worth individuals.
• Indirect tax – Managing tax on goods and services, such as VAT on products. It’s a different type of tax from the tax paid on personal income or company profits.

Some tax roles focus on one area, while other tax advisers support a mix of businesses and individuals.

Your day-to-day work in tax will depend on your exact role, seniority, specialism and employer.

However, some typical tasks include:

• Filling in or checking a client’s tax return
• Reviewing changes in tax legislation
• Collating information on a client’s tax position to prepare for a meeting
• Corresponding with HMRC to sort out any queries about a client’s taxes
• Meeting with a client to explain their options for tax efficiency
• Explaining to a high-net-worth individual how their country of residence affects their tax
• Setting up a family trust or planning the best way for someone to leave their estate

A tax manager career will typically offer a good work-life balance. Usually, working in tax is a nine to five job. You might work remotely, in an office or a hybrid mix.

You’ll need to put in extra hours during your first few years, though. During this time, you’ll work towards professional qualifications alongside working your job. As a result, you’ll need to spend some of your free time studying.

It’s also worth remembering that the tax specialism has busy periods, particularly in January when tax returns are due. During critical times, expect to work some evenings and weekends.

With experience, you can freelance as a tax adviser. If you become self-employed, you’ll pick the hours that suit you, which can boost your work-life balance.

There are several types of organisations that employ tax professionals, including:

Accountancy firms usually offer their clients full accountancy services, including audit, risk management, corporate finance and tax.

The largest firms also offer consultancy services and are called the Big Four:

• Deloitte
• EY
• KPMG
• PwC

You could also work for smaller accountancy firms.

Often boutique and specialist, some firms focus entirely on tax advice. They cater to companies, individuals or both.

Some companies have in-house tax professionals to manage their taxes. Depending on the company’s size, the tax department could be one person, twenty or hundreds.

In addition, some individual clients (like high-net-worth individuals) will pay freelance tax advisers for their services.

Like the sound of a career in tax so far? Here are some of the skills that will impress employers.

We’ll run through the key skills you’ll need to excel in tax. Plus, we’ll explain how to improve them and show employers that you’ve got them.

When you work in tax, you need to explain complex regulations in a way non-specialists can understand. Clear written and verbal communication skills are essential.

• Look for relevant opportunities while you’re at university. Joining a debating society, the student council or an improv group are all great ways to practise communication.
• Improve your writing skills by volunteering to contribute to a student newsletter. Alternatively, you could create your own publication, like a film review blog.
• Get a part-time job where communication is key. For example, you could take on a telephone job on campus calling alumni for donations. Roles like that will develop your verbal communication skills and grow your confidence.

• Take your time when filling out your job application. Make sure your answers are clear and well-structured. The same goes for your CV and cover letter.
• In your interview, speak clearly and confidently. If you have to do a presentation as part of the recruitment process, read up on our guide to presenting.

You don’t need to be a maths genius to work in tax. Plenty of humanities grads go on to careers in tax. However, you do need to be comfortable with numbers.

• Practise in everyday life. You use numeracy all the time without realising. For example, you use it when budgeting food, rent and bills – especially if you split costs with housemates. Creating budgeting spreadsheets is good practice for adding up business expenses.
• To take things up a notch, you could volunteer to be a treasurer of a club or society. That’s excellent budgeting and numeracy experience.

• Include examples on your CV. Have you worked in a job that required handling cash and counting change? If so, say so.
• If you’re faced with a numerical question during the interview, take a deep breath and think through how to approach it before you dive in.

If you think you’ll face a numerical reasoning test during the application process, check out our numerical assessment advice.

To be successful in tax, you’ll need time management skills to prioritise tasks, meet deadlines and plan your workload.

• During your degree, you’ll need to juggle different pieces of work and revision for several modules. Try out techniques and tools to manage your time.
• If you take on other responsibilities outside of uni, like working part-time or playing in a sports team, you’ll have even more chances to practise time management.

• Get your application in well before the deadline.
• Be on time for your interview.
• If you’re assigned an in-tray or e-tray exercise, tackle it methodically. You’ll be best placed to show your time management skills if you practise in advance. For help here, read our guide to in-tray exercises.

Commercial awareness shows you’re interested in your chosen sector and you'll keep up with changes.

• Read online articles about tax changes and listen to podcasts discussing the subject.
• Act on what you discover. If you hear something talked about, research it and dig into the topic. For example, if tax changes are proposed, perhaps you could suggest discussing the pros and cons in an upcoming debating society session.

• Research the company before you apply. What’s different about it? What attracts you? What paths does it offer grads? Finding out what the company does and thinking about how you’ll fit in is a great starting point.
• By the interview stage, you should have an excellent grasp of the company you’re applying to work for. Ideally, you’ll be able to comfortably discuss the organisation. A confident conversation will show the interviewer that you’ve done your research.
• Avoid asking your interviewer any questions that you could have found out online. Be sure to read the employer’s website and socials before you attend the interview. Plus, re-read the job ad to make sure you know what you’re getting into.

In tax, you’ll sometimes need to get creative. For example, if you want to reduce the tax a client pays, there are many methods you could recommend, such as trusts and tax-free investments. You’ll need to use your problem-solving skills to find a solution.

• Get involved in anything where you’ll take on responsibility. The more you try to do, the more problems you’ll run across! The positive side of that? The more opportunities you’ll have to fix things.

• Weave in relevant examples within your CV and come to your interview ready to discuss additional scenarios. Think about times when you’ve hit a snag – maybe a funding shortfall for a trip, a member of a project group calling in sick or two colleagues at your part-time job arguing. What did you do to fix it? Talk about your actions and the difference you made.
• If you’re given a problem-solving task, think carefully, take your time and feel empowered to get creative. Innovative ideas tend to impress employers, providing they still meet the brief.

In tax law, the regulations say exactly what they mean – and you need to interpret them the correct way. That means paying attention to every word. There’s no room for error here.

• Volunteer for tasks such as proofreading for a university publication or keeping records for a student society.
• Test yourself – and push yourself. For example, try practising error-spotting exercises like those that may come up at assessment centres.

• Proofread your application thoroughly – weed out every typo and punctuation error. It’s an employer’s first impression of you, so take care of it.
• When your interviewer asks you a question, make sure you’re clear on what they’re asking you. If you’re unsure, ask for more detail. It’s better to seek clarification than answer about something unrelated.
• Take your time with any interview or assessment centre exercises. If someone asks you to spot the error in a document or a data set, approach it calmly. You’ve got this!

You’ll face complex tasks during your career in tax. You need to be able to break them down into sections you can tackle methodically. To do that, you’ll need organisational skills.

• Take on managerial responsibilities at a part-time job, such as setting up shift rotas or allocating tasks.
• Why not get involved in organising an event for a student society?
• Use apps and other tech to keep yourself organised. It’s even better if you practise with tools that you might come across at work, such as using Excel to keep your personal spending in check.

• Show up to your interview on time and with everything you need. Make sure you’ve got a notebook and pen and are ready to jot down anything important. If you’re unsure about anything before the day (such as how to access the office without a key pass), ask in advance so that you can arrive confidently.
• If you’re asked to solve a problem at an interview, explain your thought process. Even if your answer isn’t perfect, it allows your interviewer to see your methodical way of thinking.

How much you’ll earn working in tax will depend on your role, seniority, experience, employer and location. For example, you’ll likely earn more as a senior tax professional in a large firm in London than you would working in a junior role for a smaller organisation elsewhere.

As a rough guide, salaries for tax trainees range from around £23,800 to £40,000. You’ll usually earn less if your training is part of an apprenticeship scheme.

Once you qualify as a chartered tax adviser (CTA), you’ll likely earn somewhere between £35,000 and £65,000.

Tax managers can earn more, with many having a salary between £50,000 and £80,000. It’s also not unusual for a senior tax manager to earn £100,000 (potentially up to £200,00 in London).

You could progress even further and have a higher salary if you become a partner in a firm.

A visit to one of the Big Four accountancy firms is a good first move towards starting a tax career – even if you don’t plan to work for a large firm. Try to win yourself a place on one of their introductory programmes. You’ll need to apply in the first term of your first year at uni. But don’t worry if you’re further along in your studies. There are lots of other ways to get into tax.

A tax internship will also get you off to a great start. Again, check out the Big Four and look at smaller tax firms.

Make sure you check out our Bright Network events too. Take advantage of opportunities to network and learn more about available opportunities, whether in person or virtual.

The more events you attend and experience you gain, the better idea you’ll get of the kind of work you could do within tax. Plus, it’ll look great on your CV, which will hopefully help you secure a place on the tax graduate scheme you want.

If you decide that a tax career is no longer the right fit, you can use the business experience you’ll have gained to move into a business consultancy role.

It’s quite hard to move sideways into a different accountancy role, but it’s still doable. You’ll have to be prepared to re-qualify or take a pay cut, though.

Alternatively, you could switch things up by leaving a tax firm to become a freelance tax professional. As a freelancer, you’re likely to oversee individuals’ personal taxes or those of smaller companies. You’ll continue your tax career but can set your own hours and work from home, which will give you more flexibility.

Tax is an area of accountancy that offers plenty of opportunities for grads. As long as businesses and individuals need to pay tax, they’ll need people to help them deal with it. As a result, the job security is high.

While numeracy is a valuable skill for the sector, you’ll use your communication skills more than you may realise. Day-to-day, you’ll need to navigate tax law to find creative ways to boost your clients’ tax efficiency. You’ll also have to explain complex regulations in simple terms.

If you’re comfortable with numbers but also know the value of communication, organisation and problem-solving, tax might be the right accounting specialism for you.