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Direct Tax Technical Specialist

Employer
HMRC
Location
Bristol, City of Bristol
Salary
£52598 - £59294/annum
Closing date
31 Aug 2022

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Job Sector
Public sector
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time
Location

Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow

Closing date 11:55 pm on Sunday 17th July 2022

About the job

Summary

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues; an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.

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.

We are an effective, efficient, and impartial tax and payments authority with a vital purpose: To collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support.

We have embarked on a major transformational Programme to redirect more of our people and resources to compliance activities, modernising systems, and re-engineering processes to become more customer focused.

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.

They require both internal and external engagement along with proactive management of the with their operations and policies. CCG is also responsible for HMRC-wide and cross-Government initiatives, requiring co-operation, influence, and engagement beyond the department.

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.

We have recently restructured our directorate and split our operational model into several ‘functions’: Customer Early Interventions, Customer Engagement, Customer Investigations, Customer Resolution, Disruption of Avoidance and Litigation.

The role involves working flexibly across the functions allocated to each location, undertaking technical work which may vary over time to meet the C-A Delivery Plan priorities. There will also be the opportunity to be responsible for wider portfolio roles, both technical and non-technical, and assist with capturing and sharing knowledge gained from technical reviews and enquiry work to help develop colleagues.

There are 6 roles available, 2 in Bristol, 2 in Cardiff and 2 in Glasgow.

Responsibilities

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.

• Assist, mentor, coach and develop trainees and colleagues within own team/work area.

• Flexing across a range of priorities, delivering quality outcomes in a fast-paced environment.

• Think innovatively about new ways to challenge avoidance schemes and those who promote, facilitate and enable their sale; working with colleagues and external partners to develop new techniques, legislation and approaches.

Other Information: -

• The post is demanding, however applicants who wish to work alternative working patterns are welcome to apply. The preferred working pattern may or may not be available, agreement will be subject to business need, and any request to work an alternative working pattern should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

• Under Pay & Contract Reform terms, colleagues will be able to work from home up to two days per week pro rata. The successful applicants will be expected to work in the appointed Regional location on their office-based days.

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)

This detail must be clear in the body of the application submitted.

Desirable criteria

• Recent experience (within the last 3 years), along with proven operational background and ability in dealing with complex tax investigation work.

• Proven leadership in a technical environment with experience of developing others.

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to accurately analyse information, interpret and explain legislation/complex information.

• Excellent communications skills and ability to build relationships with multiple stakeholders, within and outside of C-A and likely to be across regional boundaries.

Qualifications

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)

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

* Able to demonstrate from the Tax Competency Framework • Application of Tax Knowledge (Level 3) • Application of Powers (Level 2)

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension

Team members that are moving offices as a result of the Locations Programme will be entitled to a Moves Adjustment Payment for three years where they incur additional costs. This is calculated based on the difference between the costs of travelling to and from the new and old office, over a weekly period. You will get more detail on this as part of targeted locations move communications.

Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service

Things you need to know

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Application Process Details

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide:

• A copy of your CV detailing your job history, qualifications, and experience. Your CV will be scored against the roles and responsibilities outlined in the advert.

• A Statement of Suitability (a maximum of 750 words), which will illustrate why you think you meet the essential skills, knowledge, and experience for this role. Using the STAR process will help achieve a structured document. Please take into account here the Technical Skills detailed below.

Any candidates who do not meet the qualification criteria will not progress to interview.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed in a tie break situation.

If a large number of applications are received an initial sift will take place against the Statement of Suitability.

At full sift your CV will be assessed, with successful applicants invited to interview.

Interview Process Details

During the panel interview, you will be asked about your Experience, Technical skills and Strengths based questions (how you meet the essential and desirable criteria) which will demonstrate the things you do well and/or are motivated by as well as questions relating to the skills and knowledge we are looking for in this role. You may be asked to prepare a short presentation as part of the interview, topic, and question to be confirmed.

This is an example of a strengths-based question:

“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

Candidates can bring notes to interview.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. We reserve the right to raise the pass mark, to manage the number of successful candidates to be interviewed.

Interviews will be held by video on Teams.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Please Note:

If the successful candidate is external they will need to be eligible for and willing to undergo standard BPSS Checks following appointment into the post

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