VAT tax – get the career you want at RSM

Our VAT tax programme will give you all the skills and support you need to unlock a future that’s packed with opportunities and new experiences. You’ll enjoy a powerful combination of on-the-job learning and structured training – not to mention an impressive client list to work with. Join our team and discover a culture that nurtures individuality and an environment where everyone is supported to reach their potential. With us, you’ll always be moving forward.

What does our VAT tax team do?

VAT is a transaction tax that’s added to things that are bought and sold. Today, it operates in an ever-increasing number of countries across the world. A career as a VAT specialist is about getting to know your clients, their businesses and the industries they operate in. You’ll then work with them to make sure VAT doesn’t become an obstacle to their long-term goals. On a day-to-day basis, our team helps organisations and individuals comply with the shifting requirements of the tax authorities around the world and pay the right amount of VAT so they avoid criminal convictions, hefty fines and damage to their reputations. We also help shape business strategies so organisations can legally reduce the amount of VAT they pay.

What can you expect?

With us, you’ll be involved in VAT compliance and advisory work from day one – anything from liaising with clients or HMRC, researching case law and talking with our overseas offices to preparing VAT returns. The breadth of services we offer and the range of clients we help means you’ll have plenty of opportunity to follow the career path you want. With our support, you’ll have the space to grow professionally so you can confidently take on ever-more complicated tasks. At RSM, you’ll gain hands-on experience, have access to on-the-job mentoring and train towards a professional tax qualification. The study route available in this team which will help you become a Chartered Tax Advisor is the Tax Pathway route, which consists of the ATT (The Association of Taxation Technicians) and the CTA (Chartered Tax Adviser) professional qualifications. Alongside your technical training, you will attend internal developmental training courses to ensure you have the professional and personal skills to become a trusted Chartered Tax Advisor. As you come towards the end of your studies, you’ll have a deep understanding of VAT. This will be reflected in the complexity of your client portfolio and your responsibilities, including mentoring more junior members of the team.

What we look for

Tax is a technically demanding discipline, so we look for graduates who are always up for a challenge and are quick to grasp new subjects. While you don’t have to be a maths genius, you will need to be comfortable with numbers. At RSM, you’ll be helping a big range of clients – from wealthy individuals to major multinationals – so it’s important that you’re adaptable. You’ll often need to explain complex technical information during client meetings and in written reports, so we’re looking for graduates with excellent verbal and written communication skills. We also look for team players who enjoy interacting with others and are curious about how businesses work. If that sounds like you, we know you’ll enjoy being part of our team.

Please note for those who perform well throughout our assessment process, should your first geographic preference be unavailable, you could potentially be offered a role in another location or facility. This would be discussed with you in this instance.

Entry requirements

At RSM, we don’t just look for good exam results. We think passion, personality and originality are just as important. You will need:

• 112 UCAS (new tariff) across 3 A Levels or 104 (new tariff) across 4 Scottish Highers/Advanced Highers or an equivalent level of study (excluding AS levels and general studies).
• A predicted/obtained honours degree

UCAS changed their points system so under the old tariff it would be 280 or 260 points respectively.