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Our graduate tax apprenticeship programme in the innovation reliefs team will give you all the skills and support you need to unlock a future that’s packed with opportunities and new experiences. You’ll enjoy a fast-tracked business career that recognises your potential and rewards your ambition.
When you join our team, you’ll enjoy a powerful combination of on-the-job learning and structured training – not to mention an impressive client list to work with. You’ll discover a culture that nurtures individuality and an environment where everyone is supported to reach their potential. With us, you’ll always be moving forward.
What does our innovation reliefs team do?
Innovation reliefs is a national team who support companies in making the most from the UK Government’s R&D funding incentives. We are a core and integrated part of the wider corporate tax department at RSM.
But a career in tax isn’t just about numbers. It’s about working with people and businesses to really understand what they want to achieve, making sure tax doesn’t become an obstacle to their long-term goals and helping them support their businesses to succeed and grow. We advise companies of all sizes and from all sectors of business, helping them comply with the complex UK tax regime and also, in many cases, the tax regime of several overseas territories.
A key part of this role is that you will be part of our specialist innovation reliefs team which assists companies in the preparation of claims for research and development tax relief. This specialism is an important part of our tax practice returning double digit growth each year.
We work with companies across all sectors, most notably manufacturing, engineering, life sciences, software and digital technologies. We wish to attract graduates with a degree across science, engineering, technology or information technology (IT), e.g. computer science, to help in this area whilst having access to wider tax experience and qualifications.
Alongside innovation reliefs you will have the opportunity to get involved with compliance work to allow you to get to know your clients’ businesses well, and therefore we will expect you to spot opportunities for them to benefit from tax incentives or to avoid potentially costly pitfalls. Tax compliance and tax planning are an important part of all major corporate strategy and RSM can help them get this right.
What can you expect?
RSM’s graduate apprenticeship in innovation reliefs will give you a solid foundation in a broad range of tax issues. The variety of work we do and the range of clients we work with means you’ll have plenty of opportunity to discover a career path that fits your interests and long-term goals. With our support, you’ll have the space to grow professionally so you can confidently take on ever-more challenging tasks.
At RSM, you’ll gain hands-on experience, have access to on-the-job mentoring and build on your science or technology background to train towards a professional tax qualification. You will get the opportunity to work with our client’s technical experts, CTOs and chief engineers who are at the top of their field, and you will not be constrained to work in a narrow discipline.
When you join this team, you’ll work towards your ATT (The Association of Taxation Technicians) professional qualifications. We are committed to ensuring that the route through to qualification is the best for you as an individual and maximises your potential. Alongside your technical training, you will attend internal developmental training courses to ensure you have the professional and personal skills to become a trusted tax advisor.
As you come towards the end of your apprenticeship, you’ll have a deeper understanding of innovation reliefs and R&D tax relief. This will be reflected in the complexity of your client portfolio and your responsibilities, including mentoring more junior members of the team.
What we look for
Tax is a technically demanding discipline, so we look for graduates who are always up for a challenge and are quick to grasp new ideas. You’ll often need to explain complex technical information during client meetings and in written reports, so we’re looking for graduates with excellent verbal and written communication skills.
We also look for team players who enjoy interacting with others and are curious about how businesses work. You don’t have to be a maths genius, but you will need to be comfortable with numbers. At RSM, you’ll be helping a big range of clients - from wealthy individuals to major multinationals - so it’s important that you’re adaptable. If that sounds like you, we know you’ll enjoy being part of our team.
Flexible Working
At RSM we work hard to create an environment where our people can make a difference - to themselves, their career, their teams, and to the success of our firm and clients. We support all our people to work flexibly, to manage their family and other responsibilities alongside their work commitments; we believe this is key to achieving an inspiring and fulfilling working environment.
Diversity and Inclusion at RSM
At RSM, inclusion and diversity are central to our values. We have an authentic focus on intentional inclusion, enabling our people to feel they can bring their whole self to work and ensuring everyone feels supported, respected and confident to make a valuable contribution.
Our Recruitment Process
Please note, for those who perform well throughout our assessment process, should your first preference be unavailable, you could potentially be offered a role in another location or department. This would always be discussed with you in this instance.
RSM will only take one application into consideration per recruitment cycle. We do not accept multiple applications to different vacancies.
Minimum Qualifications
At RSM, we don't just look for good exam results. We think passion, personality and originality are just as important. You will need:
- 112 UCAS points across 3 A Levels or an equivalent level 3 qualification, or 104 UCAS points across 4 Scottish Highers/Advanced Highers or Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher Level);
- A predicted/obtained honours degree from a science, engineering, technology or information technology (IT) background, e.g. computer science.
Please note, RSM does not accept General Studies, AS levels or the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).
