Direct Tax Specialist

Summary
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.

About the Customer Compliance Group and Counter Avoidance
HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group (CCG) is larger than most government department with c.25,000 colleagues in locations across the UK. It is at the heart of our transformation and is responsible for delivering the department’s high-profile and reputation-critical compliance activities. CCG has unparalleled scale, breadth, and impact within HMRC and is also involved in critical cross-Government initiatives and priorities.
Tax evasion and avoidance, fraud and organised crime are among HMRC’s most high-profile issues.

Counter-Avoidance (C-A) is an expanding directorate of 1300 staff within HMRC, responsible for tackling marketed tax avoidance, one of the government’s key priorities. Since the directorate was formed in 2014, we have collected billions of pounds 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.

Job description
We now have exciting opportunities for Technical Specialists, that will suit someone who enjoys the challenge of complex and varied technical work, wants to develop their Tax Professionalism knowledge and skills, and enhance their Tax Professional career.

As a Technical Specialist you will have a key role working within a supportive team of other technical specialists and leading colleagues to improve capability to achieve successful delivery of business performance as changes occur, playing a big part in our efforts to close the tax gap, ensuring vital public services are funded. What’s more, in this high-profile role you’ll be recognised as a senior leader, with scope to help shape our strategic direction.

As a Technical Specialist, you will play a role in the way we operate across the whole business area. Responsibilities will include:

• Develop and lead the technical challenges and operational strategy for groups or promoters of avoidance schemes.

• Take the lead in interpreting data in conjunction with examining returns, accounts, computations, and other documents to understand how avoidance schemes operate and identify potential risk.

• Carry out quality compliance checks, establishing facts using an investigative approach and statutory powers, making timely use of information to maintain progress and reaching resolution with HMRC’s published settlement strategy.

• Collaborate and engage with HMRC specialists and other agencies including preparing and communicating before independent Tribunals, drafting technical papers and submissions to solicitors and other stakeholders where appropriate.

Essential Criteria

Applicants must have completed one of the below.

• TSP or predecessor qualification (TPDP, IDP, ITS2, CPT, FT2);

• Chartered Tax Adviser

• AIIT (including Paper 4*)

• CCAB or a Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies membership qualification e.g. Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW), Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS), Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountancy (CIPFA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountancy (CIPFA)

• Post Graduate legal qualification
And be able to demonstrate from the Tax Competency Framework

• Application of Tax Knowledge (Level 3)

• Application of Powers (Level 2)