Tax Manager

This is a broad, hands-on tax role with responsibility for managing the Group's tax compliance and reporting requirements while supporting continued growth, transformation, acquisitions and changes to the corporate structure.

The successful candidate will act as the organisation's principal in-house tax specialist, working closely with senior finance stakeholders, operational teams, external advisers and HMRC.

This is not purely a compliance position.

Alongside taking ownership of the day-to-day tax agenda, you will have the opportunity to improve processes, enhance tax forecasting, support corporate activity and help develop the organisation's approach to digital tax reporting.

Key Responsibilities

• Corporation Tax & Reporting
• Prepare corporation tax calculations and returns for the Group and its trading subsidiaries, including oversight of i XBRL tagging.
• Prepare current and deferred tax charges and disclosures for Group and subsidiary statutory accounts.
• Support the external audit process in relation to tax balances and disclosures.
• Maintain an effective tax compliance calendar, ensuring filing and payment obligations are met accurately and on time.
• Work closely with the wider Financial Reporting team to ensure the accuracy and integrity of information used for tax reporting.
• M&A readiness and hive up strategy expert
• VAT
• Compile quarterly VAT returns, including reconciliation of VAT control accounts.
• Manage partial exemption calculations and the annual adjustment.
• Take ownership of the organisation's partial exemption methodology, ensuring it remains appropriate as the Group evolves.
• Liaise with HMRC where changes or revisions to the methodology are required.
• Partner with relevant operational and finance teams to ensure VAT is appropriately applied and recovered.
• Corporate Activity & Group Structure
• Provide tax input and due diligence in support of corporate transactions and acquisition activity.
• Support the integration of newly acquired businesses into existing tax and financial reporting processes.
• Advise on the tax implications of corporate restructuring and changes to the legal entity structure.
• Support intra-group transfers, mergers, entity rationalisation and other structural changes.
• Maintain accurate tax records relating to the Group's legal entities, corporation tax relationships, VAT groups and HMRC registrations.
• HMRC & External Advisers
• Manage day-to-day communication with HMRC regarding the Group's tax affairs.
• Maintain appropriate registrations and payment arrangements as the Group structure changes.
• Work closely with external tax advisers on more complex matters and changes in tax legislation.
• Exercise appropriate judgement over which matters can be managed internally and where specialist external advice is required.
• Planning, Forecasting & Transformation
• Develop and improve tax forecasting as part of the wider budgeting and forecasting process.
• Support the continued development and digitalisation of tax reporting and compliance.
• Help prepare the organisation for evolving Making Tax Digital requirements.
• Coordinate relevant tax relief claims where applicable.
• Identify opportunities to improve tax processes, controls and reporting.
• Provide tax input into wider finance and business transformation projects.
• Business Partnering
• Act as the key point of contact for tax matters across the organisation.
• Explain complex tax issues clearly to senior stakeholders and colleagues without specialist tax knowledge.
• Work collaboratively with teams across Finance and the wider business.
• Support senior finance colleagues with budgeting, reporting and other ad-hoc financial analysis where required.
• Contribute to the coaching and development of colleagues within the Financial Reporting team.

Qualifications

• Qualified CTA, ACA or equivalent professional qualification.
• Commitment to maintaining and developing technical knowledge through continued professional development.

Essential Experience We are looking for someone with strong hands-on UK tax experience who can operate confidently as an in-house tax specialist.

• You Should Be Able To Demonstrate
• Hands-on responsibility for UK corporation tax compliance within a Group environment.
• Experience preparing corporation tax computations and returns rather than solely reviewing work prepared by external advisers.
• Preparation of current and deferred tax figures and disclosures for statutory accounts.
• Experience supporting external audit in relation to tax.
• Strong practical knowledge of VAT within a partly exempt organisation.
• Experience operating a partial exemption methodology and completing annual adjustments.
• Direct interaction with HMRC regarding corporate tax affairs.
• Exposure to the tax implications of corporate transactions, acquisitions, restructuring or changes to legal entity structures.

Skills & Attributes

• Strong technical knowledge combined with a pragmatic and commercially minded approach.
• Comfortable operating as a key in-house tax specialist with a high degree of autonomy.
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail, with a strong track record of meeting compliance and payment deadlines.
• Ability to communicate complex tax matters clearly to non-tax specialists and senior stakeholders.
• Strong Excel skills, including the ability to build tax forecasting and VAT/partial exemption models.
• Comfortable working within a growing and changing organisation.
• Able to work effectively with incomplete or inconsistent information when integrating newly acquired businesses.
• Proactive approach to improving processes, controls and reporting.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Desirable Experience Exposure to any of the following would be advantageous
• A bespoke partial exemption methodology agreed with HMRC.
• Experience within financial services or another partly exempt sector.
• Acquisition and post-acquisition integration.
• Research and development tax relief claims.
• i XBRL tagging.
• Making Tax Digital.
• Employment taxes.
• Coaching or developing junior finance colleagues.

Background We are open to candidates coming from either practice or an in-house tax environment.

For candidates coming directly from practice, it will be important to demonstrate sufficiently hands-on experience of preparing corporation tax computations and returns, alongside the ability and desire to take ownership of the tax agenda within a commercial organisation.

For candidates already working in-house, experience within a growing, multi-entity or acquisitive environment would be particularly relevant.

The organisation will provide access to external tax advisers for specialist matters and will support continued professional development where required.

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