New group to sell careers in tax
In an unlikely show of unity, professional firms, industry bodies, and government departments have come together to persuade young people to pursue a career in tax.
A total of 18 organisations have joined forces to support a new initiative called the TaxWorking group. The group’s first scheme is a comprehensive website, tax working.org, which was promoted yesterday by a launch party at the University of London.
Mark Lee, chairman of the ICAEW tax faculty, said the idea ‘sprang out of a desire from the larger firms’ because they found they were having to sell tax as a viable profession to graduates.
‘We hope it will encourage people considering a career in accountancy that tax is something worth looking into,’ said Lee.
If the website is anything to go by, then TaxWorking will be a success.
It provides information for anyone considering a move into the tax profession – from GCSE level to graduates, and those considering a change of career.
But it will take more than a website to convince people that tax is an exciting, fulfilling and viable career path to take. One possible answer could be to highlight salary expectations for the tax profession, although this is something that has not yet been looked into. Lee did say, however, that it was something the group could consider.
John Whiting, spokesman and ex-president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIoT), said he wanted to see tax mentioned in the same breath as other career options, such as accounting, law and journalism, and that the hard work had only just begun. Whiting said the group was not a ‘closed shop. We are hoping to attract about 50 or 60 organisations’.
Funding for the group is currently organised on an equal basis, with each body coughing up the same amount. But Whiting said this was also open to review in the future with the possibility of larger organisations paying more than smaller ones. This would not diminish their influence over the group, stressed Whiting.
The future of the group is difficult to predict, but Whiting said it could become its own entity employing two or three people to promote its message.
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WHO’S INVOLVED?
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– ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS, CIoT
– Alliance & Leicester
– Inland Revenue, Customs & Excise, The Treasury
– Baker Tilly, BDO Stoy Hayward, Grant Thornton, Morley & Scott
– The Institute of Indirect Taxation
– The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.