HMRC in the hunt for graduate tax trainees

AT LEAST 120 graduates are expected to join HRMC as tax trainees by the end of November, with the taxman beginning its search this week.

The graduates will join a specially-designed four-year development programme, gaining skills across all of HMRC’s activities, which could include working with specialist teams investigating tax fraud, unravelling complex tax avoidance schemes, looking at the tax affairs of big businesses, while also gaining general business skills.

Last year nearly 16,000 applicants applied for 200 places on the programme.

The recruitment drive is being launched with an advertising campaign and visits to more than 30 university careers fairs across the country.

Edward Troup, tax assurance commissioner and second permanent secretary at HMRC, said: “One day you could be working on criminal investigations or statistical forecasting, the next you might be challenging an avoidance scheme from a blue chip company.

“We are looking for graduates to join our 65,000 staff in the vital work of bringing in £476bn in tax from 60 million taxpayers and 4.8 million businesses.

Graduates can find out about the Tax Professional Development Programme at http://www.gov.uk/hmrc/graduates and at HMRC’s Tax Professional Graduate Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/HmrcGraduates

Applications close on 29 November.