One minute with ... Philip Baker QC

What attracted you to the tax profession?

 My father had been an accountant since the late 1930s – I grew up with copies of the Finance Act around me – so it seemed obvious to take a tax law course.

I enjoyed the course taught by John Tiley at Cambridge and it followed on from that.

How has the profession changed?

The profession has got larger and much more specialised on the practice side.

Tax law has become much more complicated of course. I don’t think you can be a generalist tax lawyer any longer.

At the same time HMRC have lost some of their most experienced staff – so there’s been a change to both sides of the profession.

What’s the most difficult part of your job?

Balancing the...