Group Tax Accountant - West Midlands in Bilston

Group Tax Accountant - West Midlands

About Us

Stonegate Group is the UK's largest operator of pubs, bars, and late-night venues, including Slug & Lettuce, Be At One, and Popworld, to name a few. We're proud of our diverse portfolio and deeply committed to creating an inclusive culture that embraces individuality in all its forms—including neurodiversity. By fostering an environment where everyone feels welcome, valued, and supported, we reflect the vibrant communities we serve and empower our people to thrive..

Role Description:

The successful candidate will be involved in the tax compliance, tax accounting and tax advisory work for the different business units within the Group. Key responsibilities will include ensuring we pay and account for the correct level of corporation tax, VAT, Machine Gaming Duty (MGD), employment taxes and stamp taxes.

Reporting to the Group Tax Manager, this role is critical to the Group's use of internal resource to produce its tax accounting and reporting information, and to provide advice across the Group where required. The job holder will also ensure the Group is fully compliant with the latest tax and VAT legislation through cross department communication and process audit. The role will also support the Group in managing its tax position efficiently. The role will include use of AI-powered tools and systems to handle large datasets and to improve ways of working. The successful candidate will act as one of the main points of contact for tax and VAT queries, both internally and externally.

Key Responsibilities:

Whilst the role reports to the Group Tax Manager, the successful candidate will be expected to gain a complete understanding of the Group's tax and VAT accounting processes and controls. This will allow them to assist in completion of all areas within the remit of the Group tax function, the main responsibilities of the role being:

1. Corporation Tax

• Production and submission of corporation tax computations, including the large volume of analysis required to prepare those computations
• Calculation of tax accounting provisions for Group and statutory accounts, including deferred tax on chargeable gains (contingent tax accounting), fixed assets and effective tax rate forecasting
• Production of accurate payment on account forecasts for the Group's subsidiaries
• Chargeable gains calculation for property disposals, including rollover relief claims
• Preparation of Corporate Interest Restriction calculations and returns
• Preparation of capital allowances claims, including deferred revenue expenditure claims
• Auditing and reviewing capital allowances categorisation of capital projects to ensure the company is following the correct legislation and making the most beneficial claims
• Ensure the Group holds procedure notes and control documents for all key areas of corporation tax

2. VAT

• Act as one of the main contacts for VAT queries, internally and between the Group and HMRC
• Produce quarterly VAT returns for the VAT registrations prepared in-house, including different partial exemption calculations, and periodically review VAT returns prepared by the Group's managed investment partners
• Audit VAT coding of expenditure, particularly property expenditure, and ensure best practice for recovery of VAT on costs across all different business units in the Group
• Ensure compliance with Making Tax Digital including review and reconciliation of VAT entries
• Ensure the Group holds procedure notes and control documents for all key areas of VAT accounting

3. Employment taxes

• Act as one of the main contacts for employment tax queries, internally and between the Group and HMRC
• Prepare benefit in kind calculations and P11Ds for managed pub businesses, particularly in relation to the provision of living accommodation
• Prepare annual PAYE settlement agreement and Taxed Award Scheme calculations for the Group's subsidiaries and report and pay to HMRC
• Manage/audit the reporting and payment of the apprenticeship levy for the Group and all its subsidiaries
• Ensure the Group holds procedure notes and control documents for all key areas of employment taxes

Key Skills Required:

• Knowledge and understanding of property related taxes, tax compliance and accounting and VAT legislation
• Demonstrated drive to explore, adopt and integrate emerging AI tools and software, and to upskill, to optimise workflows for analysing and manipulating large volumes of data
• Excellent time management and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise work and meet strict deadlines under pressure while maintaining a high standard of stakeholder service
• Thorough and accurate with a high level of attention to detail
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• A commercial mindset and the desire to use technical knowledge to help the Group manage its tax position efficiently
• The ability to explain complex tax and VAT issues clearly and simply to colleagues across the Group, particularly non-finance stakeholders
• Ability and proactive desire and commitment to push forward agreed projects with minimal supervision, whilst ensuring that key members of the accounts team are kept informed of progress

Qualifications/Experience Required:

• Qualified accountant (ACA or ACCA) and/or tax qualified (CTA or ATT)
• Experience in corporation tax (and preferably VAT also)

What makes Stonegate a great place to work?

At Stonegate, we believe that when you feel your best, you do your best. That's why we're committed to supporting the health, happiness, and overall wellbeing of every team member. From lifestyle perks and flexible support to mental health resources, our benefits are designed to help you thrive, both in and out of work.

• 25 days of annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays, with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year
• Bonus Scheme
• Access to discounted Private Medical Insurance through Vitality
• Exclusive discounts on Dental Insurance
• Reward Card via the MiXR app, giving you and your friends 25% off food and drinks as well as VIP entry across our Managed Estate
• Life Assurance which gives access to Help @ Hand
• Access to your pay early via Stream
• The Stonegate Xtra portal with access to a wide range of high street discounts and offers
• Discounted access to David Lloyd membership
• Award winning Learning & Development programmes to drive your career

If you have a disability as outlined by the Equality Act 2010 and require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process, please let us know in advance so that any support, aids or adaptations can be put in place to assist you. You can contact us on hrsupport@stonegategroup.co.uk. #LI-HR1