Job Description

UK Corporate Tax Manager / Senior Manager

South Africa | Embedded with a UK accountancy firm

Lead a UK corporate tax portfolio and work alongside UK partners, while remaining based in South Africa.

The opportunity

GCO Partners is looking for an experienced UK corporate tax professional to join the Business Tax team of a well established national UK accountancy and business advisory firm. You will work as a fully embedded member of their team, reviewing and advising on a client base that ranges from owner managed businesses to larger and international groups.

This is senior, UK facing tax work. You will own a portfolio, review the work of others and contribute to advisory projects, with direct visibility to the partners you work with.

What you will do

• Take ownership of a portfolio of UK corporate clients, managing the full corporation tax compliance cycle and ensuring filing and payment deadlines, including quarterly instalments, are met
• Review corporation tax computations and CT600 returns prepared by the team, bringing them to a standard ready for partner sign off
• Advise owner managed businesses on areas such as remuneration and profit extraction, capital allowances and the timing of capital expenditure, and succession planning
• Contribute to advisory projects with UK colleagues, including restructurings, employee share incentives such as EMI, and shareholder reliefs such as Business Asset Disposal Relief and Business Property Relief
• Spot planning opportunities and risks across your portfolio and raise them with the client relationship team
• Review, train and mentor junior members of the Business Tax team
• Apply the firm's technical, ethical and risk procedures on every engagement

What we are looking for

Essential:

• Recent, hands on experience of UK corporation tax compliance, gained in accountancy practice or a UK facing tax delivery team, at a level where you review other people's work
• Experience managing a portfolio of UK corporate clients and their deadlines
• Sound technical knowledge of UK corporation tax and the tax issues facing owner managed businesses and their shareholders
• A recognised professional accounting or tax qualification (see below), with 5 years' post qualification experience in tax
• Confidence interpreting accounts prepared under UK GAAP (FRS 102)
• Clear, precise written communication: you can draft technical advice that a UK partner is comfortable sending

Advantageous:

• CTA or ATT
• Experience with larger groups, for example Corporate Interest Restriction, Senior Accounting Officer, group relief or CFC rules
• Tax accounting, including deferred tax and accounts tax notes
• EMI and employee share scheme experience
• R&D tax relief claims
• Alphatax or similar UK corporation tax software

Qualifications we recognise

We welcome both UK qualifications and their South African counterparts:

• ICAEW ACA / ICAS CA: CA(SA) (SAICA)
• ACCA: ACCA (the same qualification, held globally)
• CTA (Chartered Institute of Taxation): we also welcome SAIT's MTP(SA) or GTP(SA), or a postgraduate tax qualification such as an MCom or LLM in Taxation
• ATT (Association of Taxation Technicians): SAIT's TTP(SA) or GTP(SA)

Please note: your qualification shows us your foundation, but recent UK corporation tax experience is essential for this role. If your tax experience is South African only, this won't be the right match, though we would still be glad to hear from you for future opportunities.

Why join GCO Partners

• Build an international career without relocating. Work on UK clients and with UK partners from South Africa.
• Be part of the team, not an outsourced resource. You work directly within the client's Business Tax team, on their clients, to their standards.
• Senior, credible work. Portfolio ownership, review responsibility and advisory exposure at a level that strengthens your standing in the UK market.
• Ongoing support. GCO stays involved throughout your engagement, and you join a community of professionals (our Goldies) doing similar international work.
• A culture built on People, Performance and Progress. We value humility and partnership, high standards delivered consistently, and people who keep learning and improving.