The Tax Professionals Podcast

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Feedback.

It is one of those things that many of us know is beneficial to help us develop and grow, but despite this, we choose to avoid it.

Obtaining feedback is feared. It can make us feel uncomfortable, threatened, and defensive. But by not taking advantage of feedback, we are depriving ourselves of a useful resource.

As tax professionals, a lot of the skills we need to are learnt through experience and practice alone, rather than taught to us in a classroom. And this makes feedback even more valuable to us.

Feedback doesn’t need to be this big scary task that is dreaded. In fact, we should embrace it, and see if for what it is – an opportunity to help us grow and develop.

I hear you. Easier said than done, I know, but still doable.

To reap the full benefits of obtaining feedback, you should:

• Adopt a ‘growth’ mindset
• Ask the right questions
• Make it easy for people to give you feedback
• Properly reflect and act upon feedback received

Want to learn how? Take a listen to this episode!

Oh, and equip with the knowledge learnt in this episode, I challenge you to ask for 5 pieces of feedback in the next week.

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Show notes: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/TTPP101
Masterclasses for Tax Professionals (Tax Research and Tax Advice): https://www.thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/masterclasses/
Subscribe: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/subscrib
Take control of your career progression free course: https://documents.thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/freecourse
Rough timings

• A bit about Thomas and his tax career, and what spurred him to leave HMRC after 20 years
• (8:30) Why Thomas believes he’s been successful in his senior role, straight from HMRC
• (11:00) Commercial awareness: an area where Thomas lacked when he first left HMRC, what he means by commercial awareness and how he addressed the shortfall
• (16:15) Discussion around critical thinking and its importance
• (17:45) Thomas’s technical knowledge when he left HMRC – was it good enough?
• (23:00) What Thomas has learnt about business development (BD), winning clients and winning work since leaving HMRC
• (28:00) Key skills to do well outside HMRC
• (38:15) Thomas’s advice for someone that’s thinking about leaving HMRC

Resources

TTPP62: Making the Move from HMRC to Private Practice with David Rose – His Story and Advice

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Better serve your clients, should they be caught up in tax fraud or a Code of Practice 9 (COP9) situation. Lucy Sauvage, our guest for this episode, explains what COP9 is, what a typical COP9 enquiry looks like, advice to prevent you messing up a COP9 enquiry, examples of common tax frauds and a story where Lucy’s client left HMRC with almost no choice but to pursue a criminal investigation into them.

Show notes: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/TTPP111

Subscribe: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/subscribe

Take control of your career progression free course: https://documents.thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/freecourse

You’ll Learn

• A bit about Lucy’s career
• (4:45) A big about COP9 and what it is
• (7:30) Who instigates COP9? HMRC or taxpayer?
• (9:00) What is and isn’t tax fraud?
• (13:00) What prompts HMRC to open a COP9 enquiry?
• (16:30) What a typical COP9 enquiry looks like, the process
• (24:15) What are some of the tax frauds Lucy has seen? Examples
• (32:15) Risks associated with going down the COP9 route (to taxpayer and their tax advisor/accountant)
• (37:45) Can COP9 apply to businesses as well as individuals?
• (39:45) Any COP9 disaster stories that Lucy has
• (47:00) Typical COP9 mistakes and how tax advisors and taxpayers avoid COP9 going badly?
• (51:15) Should COP9 enquiries always be handled by specialists?

Resources

Masterclasses for tax professionals:
Tax Research Masterclass – finding the answer to tax questions, using tax legislation and guidance
Tax Advice Masterclass – how to provide high-quality tax advice that clients value

Register for a free 1-month trial for Croner-I’s tax guidance/resources

Contact Me:

[email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackbonehill94/

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Ele recently completed her first year of being a tax partner. Hear what her first year looked like, which will help you decide whether being a tax partner is for you AND will teach you a masterclass in how you can be successful as a tax partner.

Show notes: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/TTPP109

Masterclasses for tax professionals:

Subscribe: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/subscribe

Take control of your career progression free course: https://documents.thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/freecourse

Rough timings

• Intro from Ele
• (4:45) How Ele’s first year of being a tax partner, at 29 years old, went
• (10:00) What the team looked like with Ele started, what the plan was, and what it looks like now
• (14:00) What were all the different areas/sections/categories of Ele's year 1 business plan
• (16:30) The time Ele spent in making sure the team was operationally effective & what she did
• (20:00) How the reality is different to the plan and the most significant parts of Ele’s plan
• (23:30) What Ele means when she talks about the processes that she's implemented and what she's done (VERY impressive)
• (32:30) Ele's work winning plan for her first year, how she did it (from a lead to converting), and how it went
• (40:45) Selling the value of your tax services/work - to help convert clients and win fees
• (45:45) Ele's external business development (BD) to win tax work from businesss that aren't already clients of the firm
• (47:15) How Ele's ensures she gets high value from networking events, from a BD standpoint
• (50:30) What Ele found difficult or challenging in her first year as partner at a new firm to her
• (56:00) What does the future look like for Ele? What's next?

Resources

Previous podcast ep with Ele: TTPP88: Her Spectacular Route to Tax Partner at 29 with Ele Theochari [Tax Career Success Secrets Ep 12]

Masterclasses for tax professionals:

Tax Research Masterclass – finding the answer to tax questions, using tax legislation and guidance

Tax Advice Masterclass – how to provide high-quality tax advice that clients value

Register for free 1-month trial for Croner-I’s tax guidance/resources

Send us a text

Rowan, our guest for this episode, is the most qualified UK tax professional. He’s got 8 qualifications, and he is currently doing his 9th. Why did he do so many qualifications, and how has it benefitted his career? By the end of the episode, you should have a good idea of the answer to the question: working in tax, should you do another professional qualification? This is a question I pondered for a while earlier in my career, and it’s a hard one to answer.
Show notes: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/TTPP104
Masterclasses for Tax Professionals (Tax Research and Tax Advice): https://www.thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/masterclasses/
Subscribe: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/subscrib
Take control of your career progression free course: https://documents.thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/freecourse

Timings

• Overview of Rowan’s tax career
• (8:15) Is it easier to build an audit business than tax business?
• (9:30) How did Rowan become the most qualified UK tax professional. What motivated him?
• (17:30) How have all these qualifications benefited his tax career?
• (19:00) Should you do more qualifications or spend your time elsewhere as a tax professional. How many qualifications should you do? Is there a point where doing another is not that beneficial?
• (25:00) Benefits of being a mixed tax professional
• (27:30) Essential qualification to have as a tax professional, and nice ones to have, based on specialism/area of tax worked in
• (39:00) Mini rant about lawyers’ tax knowledge (where they aren’t specifically tax)
• (47:45) Bad advice given to CTA students and a bit about using legislation
• (53:00) How Rowan got his interesting gigs like being on Times Radio, being interviewed by Vogue and speaking to MPs in parliament

Me – Jack Bonehill

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackbonehill94/