Tax Manager

Role purpose

As our client base continues to grow, we’re looking to add further strength and focus to our tax offering.

We already have a broad range of tax knowledge within the team and work closely with trusted external specialists where appropriate. This role is about adding extra depth and capacity, supporting our clients even more closely, and allowing key team members to focus on other priority areas across the business.

It’s a great opportunity for someone who enjoys the technical side of tax, but also cares about giving clear, practical, plain-English advice to clients.

As a Tax Manager, you will play a key role in delivering high-quality private client tax support across the firm. Working closely with our client managers, you will help identify opportunities, shape advice and support clients with practical, proactive tax planning that reflects their personal circumstances and objectives.

This role will involve a mix of advisory work, review work and direct client support. While you will manage a small portfolio of tax return-only clients, the main focus of the role will be supporting our wider client base through close collaboration with the rest of the team. You will be expected to build strong working relationships, communicate in a clear and relatable way, and help ensure our clients receive advice that is accurate, relevant and genuinely useful.

You will help ensure clients understand their tax position, meet their obligations correctly and pay the right amount of tax — but no more than they need to. This role is about acting in our clients’ best interests, giving clear, practical advice and helping them make informed decisions with confidence.

This is an important role within the firm, with the opportunity to develop into a future senior leadership position. You will be expected to live our core values by building positive relationships, being the best we can be, keeping it real and doing the right thing.

Key responsibilities

• Work closely with our client managers across the business to support the delivery of high-quality private client tax advice to our clients.
• Provide practical, proactive support in relation to income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax planning.
• Help identify tax planning opportunities across the client base, taking time to understand clients’ personal circumstances, wider objectives and long-term plans.
• Support a mix of ongoing planning work and one-off advisory projects, ensuring advice is accurate, commercially aware and tailored to the client’s needs.
• Help clients structure their affairs in a way that is compliant, practical and tax efficient, ensuring they pay the right amount of tax and no more than is necessary.
• Review self assessment tax returns to a high standard, ensuring compliance work is accurate and using that process to identify planning opportunities where relevant.
• Manage a small portfolio of tax return-only clients, ensuring they receive an efficient, professional and personable service.
• Work alongside client managers in developing advice for clients, including contributing to discussions, joining client conversations where appropriate and helping shape the right outcome for the client.
• Communicate complex tax matters in a clear, relatable and practical way, avoiding unnecessary technical jargon and helping clients and colleagues understand the issues that matter.
• Build positive relationships with clients, colleagues and third-party advisers, including liaising with solicitors where required.
• Provide advice in relation to agricultural land, property and wider assets, taking account of the client’s broader circumstances, objectives and longer-term plans.
• Support work involving Scottish partnerships and related private client tax matters.
• Advise on LBTT, including the more complex rules that can apply to partnerships.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of inheritance tax and wider private client tax developments, applying that knowledge in a practical and commercially aware way.
• Support tax planning and succession planning work, including matters such as transfers of business and personal assets to other family members.
• Contribute to more complex advisory work such as incorporation of farming partnerships, considering both the immediate tax position and the wider longer-term implications of transactions.
• Review farmers’ averaging calculations where relevant as part of delivering accurate and practical advice to clients.
• There is also the opportunity to get involved in corporation tax matters.
• Support work connected with estates and executry matters where needed, working alongside other advisers and helping ensure matters are handled appropriately and effectively.
• Act as a go-to source of private client tax knowledge within the team, sharing expertise and supporting others in developing their confidence and understanding.
• Take a proactive approach to improving our service offering, contributing ideas and helping strengthen the way private client tax support is delivered across the firm.
• Use our proposal tools to prepare fee quotes and engagement letters, tailoring service schedules appropriately for specific work and ensuring scope, responsibilities and risk are clearly understood and managed.
• Undertake any other duties reasonably required in line with the level and responsibilities of the role.

What we are looking for

• CTA or ATT qualified, or able to demonstrate an equivalent level of relevant private client tax experience.
• Strong practical advisory experience in private client tax, with confidence in delivering accurate, relevant and practical advice.
• Strong knowledge of income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax planning, with up-to-date knowledge of inheritance tax rules and developments.
• Experience of reviewing self assessment tax returns to a high standard.
• Experience of dealing with agricultural land, property and wider assets in a private client tax context.
• Experience of working with Scottish partnerships and an understanding of the issues relevant to them.
• A good working knowledge of LBTT, including the more complex rules that can apply to partnerships, would be highly beneficial.
• An understanding of corporation tax would be beneficial, particularly where it supports wider planning and advisory work.
• The ability to identify planning opportunities and think proactively about how best to support clients.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to explain technical matters in a straightforward, relatable way.
• Confidence in working closely with colleagues across the business and contributing as a trusted technical specialist within the team.
• The ability to build positive relationships with clients and third-party advisers, including solicitors.
• A professional, organised and commercially aware approach, with strong attention to detail and sound judgement.
• A genuine interest in contributing to the growth and development of the private client offering within the firm.
• Experience of line management is not essential, but there may be opportunity for this to become part of the role in future.