What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
In the expansive universe of tax, it takes time to locate enough stars to navigate by. The pitch-black of the Yellow and Orange tax handbooks is only temporary. Soon, you will encounter a planet or galaxy which is familiar – this is a big moment, and these moments will become more frequent. Eventually, you will accept never knowing it all and admit that the whole point was to keep learning every day.
Oliver Currall, Partner, Fried Frank
Understand the commercial drivers
The best advice I’ve received is to ensure that you really understand the commercial drivers for a transaction before diving into the technical details, and that you should keep the commercial position in mind throughout. You can see this in many tax disputes: for example, in some (but not all) of the unallowable purpose cases, the taxpayers and their advisers seemed to miss that they were entering into loans only for the purpose of generating interest deductions. In transactions, similarly, many advisers default to negotiating each point separately, and want to win every point because ‘it’s market’ (it usually isn’t), when they could add more value by figuring out which points really matter to their client, and by crafting a package solution which (ideally) gives each party what matters to them.
Dominic Robertson, Partner at Slaughter and May
And if you don’t understand something...
This is something that I could have learnt at the start of my career but didn’t. As a newly qualified tax associate, I remember attending an all-parties tax meeting on a sizeable deal. The discussion was impenetrable to me, but I was surprised that the tax partner on our side – a very senior individual in our tax practice – was uncharacteristically quiet. After a while, however, he put up his hand and announced that he didn’t have a clue what everyone was talking about and could someone please explain it to him. It quickly became clear that no-one really understood what the issues were but hadn’t wanted to let on.
It still took me many years to develop the courage that if you don’t understand something, you should say so. There is no point in trying to piece things together afterwards and much of the time you will find that no-one else understands the issues either.
Gideon Sanitt, Partner, Macfarlanes
Know your niche
Tax legislation is vast. Early in my career,
I felt pressure to have all the answers across every tax area. With experience, I’ve realised this is unrealistic and unnecessary. Deep expertise in one or two niche areas, combined with a working awareness of the rest, is far more effective. Building a trusted network of other specialists means I can still provide holistic advice without needing to personally hold every piece of knowledge. In short: don’t aim to know it all; aim to know your area inside out, and know who to ask for the rest.
Joanna Emmitt, Tax Director, EAM London
Speak up!
Don’t be afraid to speak up and get your views heard. And don’t take it personally when someone disagrees with you!
Karen Killington, Head of the Indirect Tax Knowledge Management Team, KPMG
Control the controllables
I will summarise some invaluable advice that I have received from my sailing coach when I used to compete in sailing regattas, who would tell me to ‘control the controllables’, usually by reference to the elements of wind and tide. The impact of those words for non-maritime aspects of my life has only been brought into focus relatively recently ... I have learnt that unpredictability is inherent in this career, no matter how experienced you are. I now focus on the elements of my work, working day and career that are within my control, which certainly feels easier than worrying about precisely when the next global black swan event might hit.
Emily Au, Associate, Quinn Emanuel
The power of being a little more open
At the beginning of my career, I was so focused on just delivering good work and then getting out of the office to live my ‘normal life’; there was a quite a big gap between the ‘me’ at work and the ‘me’ at home. But then I realised that in order to get to know clients and colleagues, and for them to trust you, you have to be open to sharing a bit about yourself too – it can’t just be a one-way street. It makes me so happy to see our team now really enjoying each other’s company and being a core part of each other’s support systems – we aren’t meant to do this alone!
Casey Dalton, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
On tax disputes
Tax litigation often involves questioning absolutely everything in the context of the relevant tax provision. HMRC increasingly take quite novel and surprising positions in an effort to win a case once things move into the litigation process. All bets are off to some extent.
Jake Landman, Partner, Pinsent Masons
The art of advocacy
Advocacy is an incredibly nuanced skill. To be persuasive, my golden rules are: (1) be realistic rather than hyperbolic in the case you present (this wins the court’s trust); (2) it is better to show than to tell (considered reference to authority is inevitably more persuasive than bald assertion); (3) be crystal clear about the findings of fact and the findings of law which you want the tribunal to find (the job of the advocate is to guide the court to the destination, not simply to point out what the destination is).
Sam Brodsky, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers
The importance of storytelling
That tax is never just about numbers. It’s about people, trust and timing. Early in my career, I underestimated the importance of visibility of a tax and customs function and storytelling. Today, I know that even the best technical solution needs a narrative to gain traction across the organisation and at Board level.
Dominik Wellmann, Global Head of Tax & Customs, Mercedes-Benz
On managing your career
You have to actively manage your career – don’t be a jellyfish floating with the tide. There are many paths that your career can take and realistically you won’t know that path at the outset. However, many technically minded people think that career progression will come from ‘doing a good job’. That’s not the case and you do need to be proactive – work out who your sponsors are, and who you seek counsel from and work with them to build your career. And do build a network – within your firm, within your client base and within the wider tax community.
David Maslen, Head of Tax, Old Mill
Don’t be afraid to move on and take opportunities as they come along. In HMRC, you used to get moved around quite often and, while the prospect was not always that appealing, I never regretted it ... Every different subject and experience exposed me to different challenges and built me.
Diane Hay, independent adviser
Success will come purely as a result of your own efforts, irrespective of your background – I went to a perfectly normal state school in Scotland and had no contacts at the Bar at all.
Julian Ghosh KC, One Essex Court
No one is perfect – everyone will have had ups and downs in their careers, however polished they seem now. I think it can be really helpful to talk with colleagues about the less visible challenges we face, to dispel the impression that a successful career is always plain sailing.
Richard Vallat KC, Pump Court Tax Chambers
It’s a marathon, not a race. Every individual route and career path looks different – so focus on what you’re doing and what you want to achieve, rather than comparing yourself to others.
Ele Theochari, Partner, Blick Rothenberg
[Don’t forget] how many options are available to someone with this skillset. For a long time, I considered the metric of success to be ‘Partner at a Big 4’, and indeed that is aspirational – but for me, success is not measured by job title and status, but by waking up every day and loving what I do, and having the freedom and flexibility to work in a way that allows me to enjoy other passions (such as horse riding at lunchtime).
Claire Ayres, Head of Tax, Arrow Global
[Don’t underestimate] the importance of building strong relationships and networks. In my earlier years, I would shy away from seeking feedback in case it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I’ve learnt that the different perspectives and insights allow you to better assess your strengths and weaknesses, take ownership of your personal development and identify areas for improvement. My advice is to find those stakeholders who you value and trust, and start actively asking for feedback. You’ll be surprised at how powerful self-reflection is as a learning tool.
Ceri Ulyatt, Global Head of Tax and Treasury, Computershare
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
I would not ask for much – just a more accessible set of tax rules (particularly those that impact tax planning for individuals and small businesses) and better opportunities for taxpayers to engage in meaningful discussions with HMRC on points that they are unsure of. Lack of certainty around tax outcomes can have a chilling effect on transactions, even where the concerns may be overblown or misplaced.
Oliver Walker, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Lots could do with a shake-up, but I’ll say HMRC customer services. We’re discussing with HMRC and the Government the findings of our recent joint report with ICAEW, Tackling HMRC’s customer service challenge, so I have renewed hope.
One of the CIOT’s recommendations is to introduce an automated tracking system, given a third of attempts to get in touch with HMRC in the six-week study were to chase progress on existing queries. That sapped time from all involved. A functional tracker would be a win-win that pays for itself – the report estimated HMRC could save about £36m per year (equivalent to 1,000 full-time employees)!
Ellen Milner, Director of Public Policy, CIOT
On the policy making process
One area of intense frustration is the way the policy making process works, or rather, doesn’t work. A lot of tax policy appears to be based on decisions that have already been made, regardless of any consultation. A lot of policy also seems to be based on a lack of understanding of commercial reality, perhaps because there is so little crossover in career paths between the civil service and the commercial world.
When legislation is published, there is a huge resistance to making changes, even when it is abundantly clear that the legislation is either defective in itself or doesn’t properly reflect the stated policy. There is a reluctance from HMRC/HMT to ‘bother’ ministers with minor changes to draft legislation make it work properly, with HMRC preferring to rely on guidance to soften the impact.
Pete Miller, Director, Jerroms Miller
Are there any new rules that are causing a particular problem in practice?
The changes to the salaried partnership anti-avoidance rules have been particularly disruptive. HMRC initially altered its approach, causing significant uncertainty in the industry, only to backtrack later. Businesses and professional firms need certainty, not ever-changing interpretations that disrupt long-term strategy.
Majid Hussain, Head of Private Client at HaysMac
The draft provisions for the registration of tax advisers in the current Finance Bill, in my view, defines as ‘tax advisers’ conveyancers submitting SDLT returns and will require their firms to register. Conveyancers are uncomfortable with the ‘tax adviser’ label.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
In the expansive universe of tax, it takes time to locate enough stars to navigate by. The pitch-black of the Yellow and Orange tax handbooks is only temporary. Soon, you will encounter a planet or galaxy which is familiar – this is a big moment, and these moments will become more frequent. Eventually, you will accept never knowing it all and admit that the whole point was to keep learning every day.
Oliver Currall, Partner, Fried Frank
Understand the commercial drivers
The best advice I’ve received is to ensure that you really understand the commercial drivers for a transaction before diving into the technical details, and that you should keep the commercial position in mind throughout. You can see this in many tax disputes: for example, in some (but not all) of the unallowable purpose cases, the taxpayers and their advisers seemed to miss that they were entering into loans only for the purpose of generating interest deductions. In transactions, similarly, many advisers default to negotiating each point separately, and want to win every point because ‘it’s market’ (it usually isn’t), when they could add more value by figuring out which points really matter to their client, and by crafting a package solution which (ideally) gives each party what matters to them.
Dominic Robertson, Partner at Slaughter and May
And if you don’t understand something...
This is something that I could have learnt at the start of my career but didn’t. As a newly qualified tax associate, I remember attending an all-parties tax meeting on a sizeable deal. The discussion was impenetrable to me, but I was surprised that the tax partner on our side – a very senior individual in our tax practice – was uncharacteristically quiet. After a while, however, he put up his hand and announced that he didn’t have a clue what everyone was talking about and could someone please explain it to him. It quickly became clear that no-one really understood what the issues were but hadn’t wanted to let on.
It still took me many years to develop the courage that if you don’t understand something, you should say so. There is no point in trying to piece things together afterwards and much of the time you will find that no-one else understands the issues either.
Gideon Sanitt, Partner, Macfarlanes
Know your niche
Tax legislation is vast. Early in my career,
I felt pressure to have all the answers across every tax area. With experience, I’ve realised this is unrealistic and unnecessary. Deep expertise in one or two niche areas, combined with a working awareness of the rest, is far more effective. Building a trusted network of other specialists means I can still provide holistic advice without needing to personally hold every piece of knowledge. In short: don’t aim to know it all; aim to know your area inside out, and know who to ask for the rest.
Joanna Emmitt, Tax Director, EAM London
Speak up!
Don’t be afraid to speak up and get your views heard. And don’t take it personally when someone disagrees with you!
Karen Killington, Head of the Indirect Tax Knowledge Management Team, KPMG
Control the controllables
I will summarise some invaluable advice that I have received from my sailing coach when I used to compete in sailing regattas, who would tell me to ‘control the controllables’, usually by reference to the elements of wind and tide. The impact of those words for non-maritime aspects of my life has only been brought into focus relatively recently ... I have learnt that unpredictability is inherent in this career, no matter how experienced you are. I now focus on the elements of my work, working day and career that are within my control, which certainly feels easier than worrying about precisely when the next global black swan event might hit.
Emily Au, Associate, Quinn Emanuel
The power of being a little more open
At the beginning of my career, I was so focused on just delivering good work and then getting out of the office to live my ‘normal life’; there was a quite a big gap between the ‘me’ at work and the ‘me’ at home. But then I realised that in order to get to know clients and colleagues, and for them to trust you, you have to be open to sharing a bit about yourself too – it can’t just be a one-way street. It makes me so happy to see our team now really enjoying each other’s company and being a core part of each other’s support systems – we aren’t meant to do this alone!
Casey Dalton, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
On tax disputes
Tax litigation often involves questioning absolutely everything in the context of the relevant tax provision. HMRC increasingly take quite novel and surprising positions in an effort to win a case once things move into the litigation process. All bets are off to some extent.
Jake Landman, Partner, Pinsent Masons
The art of advocacy
Advocacy is an incredibly nuanced skill. To be persuasive, my golden rules are: (1) be realistic rather than hyperbolic in the case you present (this wins the court’s trust); (2) it is better to show than to tell (considered reference to authority is inevitably more persuasive than bald assertion); (3) be crystal clear about the findings of fact and the findings of law which you want the tribunal to find (the job of the advocate is to guide the court to the destination, not simply to point out what the destination is).
Sam Brodsky, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers
The importance of storytelling
That tax is never just about numbers. It’s about people, trust and timing. Early in my career, I underestimated the importance of visibility of a tax and customs function and storytelling. Today, I know that even the best technical solution needs a narrative to gain traction across the organisation and at Board level.
Dominik Wellmann, Global Head of Tax & Customs, Mercedes-Benz
On managing your career
You have to actively manage your career – don’t be a jellyfish floating with the tide. There are many paths that your career can take and realistically you won’t know that path at the outset. However, many technically minded people think that career progression will come from ‘doing a good job’. That’s not the case and you do need to be proactive – work out who your sponsors are, and who you seek counsel from and work with them to build your career. And do build a network – within your firm, within your client base and within the wider tax community.
David Maslen, Head of Tax, Old Mill
Don’t be afraid to move on and take opportunities as they come along. In HMRC, you used to get moved around quite often and, while the prospect was not always that appealing, I never regretted it ... Every different subject and experience exposed me to different challenges and built me.
Diane Hay, independent adviser
Success will come purely as a result of your own efforts, irrespective of your background – I went to a perfectly normal state school in Scotland and had no contacts at the Bar at all.
Julian Ghosh KC, One Essex Court
No one is perfect – everyone will have had ups and downs in their careers, however polished they seem now. I think it can be really helpful to talk with colleagues about the less visible challenges we face, to dispel the impression that a successful career is always plain sailing.
Richard Vallat KC, Pump Court Tax Chambers
It’s a marathon, not a race. Every individual route and career path looks different – so focus on what you’re doing and what you want to achieve, rather than comparing yourself to others.
Ele Theochari, Partner, Blick Rothenberg
[Don’t forget] how many options are available to someone with this skillset. For a long time, I considered the metric of success to be ‘Partner at a Big 4’, and indeed that is aspirational – but for me, success is not measured by job title and status, but by waking up every day and loving what I do, and having the freedom and flexibility to work in a way that allows me to enjoy other passions (such as horse riding at lunchtime).
Claire Ayres, Head of Tax, Arrow Global
[Don’t underestimate] the importance of building strong relationships and networks. In my earlier years, I would shy away from seeking feedback in case it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I’ve learnt that the different perspectives and insights allow you to better assess your strengths and weaknesses, take ownership of your personal development and identify areas for improvement. My advice is to find those stakeholders who you value and trust, and start actively asking for feedback. You’ll be surprised at how powerful self-reflection is as a learning tool.
Ceri Ulyatt, Global Head of Tax and Treasury, Computershare
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
I would not ask for much – just a more accessible set of tax rules (particularly those that impact tax planning for individuals and small businesses) and better opportunities for taxpayers to engage in meaningful discussions with HMRC on points that they are unsure of. Lack of certainty around tax outcomes can have a chilling effect on transactions, even where the concerns may be overblown or misplaced.
Oliver Walker, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Lots could do with a shake-up, but I’ll say HMRC customer services. We’re discussing with HMRC and the Government the findings of our recent joint report with ICAEW, Tackling HMRC’s customer service challenge, so I have renewed hope.
One of the CIOT’s recommendations is to introduce an automated tracking system, given a third of attempts to get in touch with HMRC in the six-week study were to chase progress on existing queries. That sapped time from all involved. A functional tracker would be a win-win that pays for itself – the report estimated HMRC could save about £36m per year (equivalent to 1,000 full-time employees)!
Ellen Milner, Director of Public Policy, CIOT
On the policy making process
One area of intense frustration is the way the policy making process works, or rather, doesn’t work. A lot of tax policy appears to be based on decisions that have already been made, regardless of any consultation. A lot of policy also seems to be based on a lack of understanding of commercial reality, perhaps because there is so little crossover in career paths between the civil service and the commercial world.
When legislation is published, there is a huge resistance to making changes, even when it is abundantly clear that the legislation is either defective in itself or doesn’t properly reflect the stated policy. There is a reluctance from HMRC/HMT to ‘bother’ ministers with minor changes to draft legislation make it work properly, with HMRC preferring to rely on guidance to soften the impact.
Pete Miller, Director, Jerroms Miller
Are there any new rules that are causing a particular problem in practice?
The changes to the salaried partnership anti-avoidance rules have been particularly disruptive. HMRC initially altered its approach, causing significant uncertainty in the industry, only to backtrack later. Businesses and professional firms need certainty, not ever-changing interpretations that disrupt long-term strategy.
Majid Hussain, Head of Private Client at HaysMac
The draft provisions for the registration of tax advisers in the current Finance Bill, in my view, defines as ‘tax advisers’ conveyancers submitting SDLT returns and will require their firms to register. Conveyancers are uncomfortable with the ‘tax adviser’ label.
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