Tax Graduate Programme 2026 – St Albans

Tax offers a fast‑paced career. Every time the law changes or there’s a new budget, tax advisors need to get up to speed quickly and adapt their strategies. It’s a job in which you’ll always be learning and adapting to provide the best quality advice. Tax also provides a stable and lucrative career path with fast progression and rewarding work. At Mercer & Hole, all our tax staff work hard to stay up to date with the latest legislation and strategies which is how we provide exceptional service to our clients and maintain our status as a Top 50 firm.

We pride ourselves on learning and development for our trainees and have lots of structures in place to support you on your journey with us, for example trainee away days, a dedicated training manager and buddy as well as study leave to name just a few. Training and development also doesn’t stop when you qualify – we are committed to continually developing our staff regardless of whether you’re a trainee or a director using our ‘People Passport’ so you are guaranteed a great investment in your future!

What will I be doing as a tax graduate? Our tax graduate programme is designed to support your learning and development. You will work as part of the private client and/or corporate tax team while studying the ACA‑CTA or ATT‑CTA qualification. You will spend time at college which is a good bridge between studying for your degree and entering the world of work. The variety of clients we work with provides you with a well‑rounded experience, and the structure of our teams allows you the opportunity to gain knowledge from and exposure to senior managers and partners throughout your training and beyond.

• Year 1: You will have the opportunity to bring your problem‑solving skills from higher education to help prepare tax returns from the outset and really get stuck into working with the team, speaking to HMRC, drafting emails to clients and completing basic sets of accounts. You will also analyse information provided by clients and use your investigative skills to find out further information to fill in any gaps.
• Year 2: You will build on your experience gained in your first year of the tax graduate programme and learn new skills such as managing a small client portfolio and applying technical knowledge in more complex areas of tax such as EIS relief, capital allowances and research & development relief. You will also have the opportunity to mentor new trainees while still being supported to achieve your goals.
• Years 3 and 4: Having built a good base level of knowledge from the first two years as a tax graduate, you will now start to identify planning opportunities for clients with your manager and assist with giving advice. You’ll also be able to complete personal, partnership and corporate tax computations and returns to an excellent standard. You will have the initial review of junior trainees’ work and ensure it is presented to managers in a complete state. You’ll have the opportunity to proactively manage client relationships and share technical research with your team at ‘sharing knowledge’ sessions.

At the end of your fourth year, you should complete your professional qualification and start to prepare for a role as an Assistant Manager. If you think this is something you would be interested in, then do apply! As part of our culture, we take the time to review each application individually to reflect our values. We really want to attract and retain individuals who share our Values Together – The firm with the family feel. Express gratitude. Smile. Be humble and confident. Have fun. Resilient – Change is imminent, and business is imperfect. Be open minded & agile. Assume positive intent and exercise the power of positive thinking. Each individual matters and will be heard and respected. Honesty, integrity, empathy and kindness are fundamental. Supportive – We support what is important to you and show kindness in our behaviour to each other. We encourage each other to realise our potential. We strive to be the best, innovate and always do exceptional work. That’s who we are and what our clients deserve.

Mercer & Hole is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Our people are our most valuable asset. We bring our life experiences, knowledge, creativity, and talents together at Mercer & Hole making it a unique place to work where all can safely thrive.

Minimum 2:2 honours degree and 112 UCAS points, which must comprise of at least 3 A-Levels or equivalent i.e. BTEC (excluding EPQ's).