Compliance Support Officer, HMRC, Manchester

Summary

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues; an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is one of the largest Government Departments and one of the country’s biggest organisations. Almost every individual and business in the UK is a direct customer of HMRC. We collect in excess of £500 billion a year in revenue from over 50 million customers across the UK.

We are an effective, efficient and impartial tax and payments authority with a vital purpose: To collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support.

You will be joining us at an exciting time, as we move through an organisational re-design and into a regional structure, helping us better deliver an innovative Vision, a more flexible structure and a customer-centric approach to meet the new challenges of avoidance.

About Customer Compliance Group and Counter Avoidance

HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group (CCG) plays a pivotal role in maximising the collection of the correct amount of money due from UK taxpayers, investigating breaches and offences against the tax system, and acting to identify and mitigate potential threats.

Counter Avoidance (CA) directorate is responsible for tackling marketed tax avoidance, one of the government’s key priorities. Since the directorate was formed in 2014, we have collected £billions for the Exchequer from settlements of marketed tax avoidance. We work alongside our own and HMRC’s Policy teams in ‘real-time’ to develop, draft and implement new legislation and new ways of working to respond quickly to tackle new and evolving forms of tax avoidance.

You will join one of the largest Civil Service departments and work in a fast paced and dynamic environment where they will support HMRC’s tax professionals in providing high quality services.

Job description

We now have several exciting opportunities to join our us as a Compliance Support Officer. The role will suit someone who enjoys working with and developing others and to deliver results. You will be part of a supportive team that values experience, knowledge, skills and development, and encourages innovation to drive forward continuous improvement within this particularly complex area of work.

The opportunity offers excellent professional and personal development opportunities and are varied and fast paced. You will have responsibility for supporting both the HMRC appeal process and our customers, these are challenging but ultimately, highly rewarding roles, requiring you to:

• Work flexibly and as part of a team, working with and maintaining good relationships with all colleagues and customers,

• Have determination to ensure completion of tasks and take responsibility for your own area of work and

• Have good communication skills and commitment to ensuring deadlines are met.

Responsibilities

The successful applicants’ duties will include the following:

• Scrutinise and group according to basis of appeal and scheme and evaluate the taxation arguments.

• Draft responses for the appeal review team to agree.

• Keep a track of and correspond with appellants as they go through the appeal process.

• Identify relevant documents and prepare tax bundles ready for tribunal and assist in the tribunal process both with appellant, tribunal and SOLS (HMRC Solicitors Office).

• Coordinate HMRC liaison with the tribunals, check and serve witness statements.

• Service of notices and other submissions to Tribunal and parties as well as preparing chronologies.

• Manage or support all aspects of the process from commencement of proceedings through to hearing and conclusion, ensuring legal deadlines are strictly adhered to.

We currently have 9 posts available in the following areas - Bristol (3 posts), Cardiff (1 post), Croydon (2 posts), Stratford (2 posts) and Manchester (1 post). You will only be considered for roles in the location that you have selected a preference for.

Essential Criteria

You are required to demonstrate experience of the following within your application:

• Excellent stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills with a track record in effective report writing and conveying key messages clearly and succinctly.

• Self-motivated and highly organised, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deliver to tight timelines with minimal direction.

• A positive approach to problem solving along with a collaborative approach, keen to work with others to achieve progress against shared objectives and ideas.

• Please also refer to the key Qualifications below.

Requirements and Qualifications

• Applications will be considered from candidates qualified to degree level in law with a minimum of 2.2 or who have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law or have achieved CILEx level 6.

If you have a lower degree classification (or do not hold a degree), we will consider your application if you can provide satisfactory evidence of an equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement. For example, if you can tell us that you have a

• Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE or the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
• An LLM or other postgraduate degree?
• Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)

• Applications will also be considered from candidates without the specified qualification providing they have experience in a paralegal position in a litigation environment. In your statement you should confirm if you have the specified qualification and give details of any experience.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in a tax compliance working environment would be preferable but is not essential.

Additional Information

• Travel and overnight stays may be required across the UK.

• Completion of e-Learning relating to policies. Attendance at various technical workshops as and when deemed necessary. There may also be the option of undertaking qualifications subject to business need and after you have become established in the post.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Delivering at Pace
Making Effective Decisions
Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

Delivering at Pace
Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension