I did a summer internship in the audit department of KPMG Galway during college and also managed to spend a few weeks in the tax department. This is where I saw first-hand what a tax career entails and the kind of work tax professionals do, on a day to day basis. I was fully decided on a career in tax after this summer.

I applied for my current job through a recruitment agency. I had two interviews as well as a psychometric test. The interviews focused on my skills background, as well as some technical knowledge. The psychometric test was focused on numeric and analytical skills and was conducted by a third party.

Each working day is very different and that keeps the role interesting and challenging.
8 30 am: Arrive to the office and catch up on any emails I may have received the previous evening.
9 30 am – 10 30 am: Conference call with our legal director and Pernod Ricard USA on the US tax consequences of a new project.
10 30 - 11 am: Assist the financial accountant with the tax accounting for a group company’s financial statements.
11 am – Midday: Meeting with Financial Controller and CFO on the liquidation of a group company and the tax implications.
Midday – 1pm: Call with our professional VAT advisers in preparation for an upcoming VAT audit.
2 pm – 4 pm: Working on Corporate Tax computations and researching a VAT query I received from a colleague in the marketing department.
4 – 5 pm: Call with the Paris tax team on the Irish Tax implications of a group restructuring project and prepare slides for the next morning’s month end meeting.
So you see the day varies between desk based work / research and calls, meetings etc.

I have sole responsibility for managing the Corporate Tax and VAT obligations of the group, as well as its domestic and international tax strategy and planning. I advise on all aspects of tax law and liaise with tax and law firms and the Revenue Commissioners. Other additional responsibilities include, pension accounting and management and reporting of overhead costs.

Tax law is always changing, so it’s really important that I keep up to speed on these changes!

Tax professionals can add real value to a business and can be critical in shaping major decisions. I really enjoy seeing the value that I can add to the business. The tax analysis is critical in so many business decisions and in a lot of cases drives the decision.

I don’t have any major complaints, but sometimes there can be a lot of demands on my time that mean I must juggle what is the most important task at hand.

I have very good tax technical skills, but I also have good communication and presentation skills which are crucial to my role.

My undergraduate degree really gave me a good insight in to what tax involved, and steered me in the direction of deciding that it was something I felt I would enjoy as a career.

I studied Commerce & French in NUIG, specialising in Accounting and Tax. My 3rd year was an Erasmus which I spent in Marseille. After my undergraduate degree I completed a Masters in Accounting, also in NUIG. I am also a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA).

I really developed my communication skills – communicating effectively with the various stakeholders in the business is critical for a tax professional and the ability to explain complex issues to a tax ‘layman’ is very important. Also, teamwork was really important at college– as a tax professional I am frequently working as part of various teams.

Definitely successfully completing the AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification, as it acted as a springboard to allow me take up my current role with Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard.

I am a good team player and a hard worker who is focused. These are important qualities in my job.

Thankfully in my current job, I am able to balance my work life commitments. When I trained with KPMG, they gave me more than adequate study leave when I was pursuing the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification which was great. It can be difficult to go to lectures some evenings after work and at the weekends but if you can’t make it they’re also available online to catch up on in your own time.

I would strongly recommend a career in tax to any students who are considering it. Tax professionals are in high demand from employers and can add real value to any business. It is a challenging and rewarding career which can place you at the heart of business decision making. It can also be an excellent springboard to other careers in finance.

Just recently a new Chief Financial Officer was appointed to Irish Distillers who was formerly the Pernod Ricard Group tax director! Also do your research about the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification – from my own experience, the course is very practical and relevant to my day to day job. It provides a structured framework for achieving the knowledge of tax law and skills required to be a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA).

You need to have good communication skills, enjoy working on a team and enjoy challenging and diverse work!

My training firm (KPMG) required me to complete the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification. The Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification is the most widely recognised and best regarded tax qualification in Ireland.

I would really recommend a summer internship – my own experience on the summer internship programme in KPMG really helped me shape my career decisions.

I am a Tax Consultant with Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard.