Indirect Tax Market Update 2011

Welcome to our Indirect Tax Market Update, in which we offer insight and industry knowledge for indirect tax professionals interested in hearing about the current job market. Throughout last year, Pure witnessed a strong demand for indirect tax professionals in both practice, commerce and fi nancial services. This has partly been due to the increasing focus by tax authorities on indirect tax as a means of raising tax revenue, globalisation of tax functions and cross-border trade, and the increasing sophistication of many countries’ tax regimes.

The implementation of the VAT Package rules at the start of 2010 increased the workload for in-house teams and practice firms alike. The changes in the VAT rate from 17.5% to 15%, back to 17.5% and then rising to 20% from 4th January 2011 has served to further increase workload. The imposition of VAT or similar tax (such as GST) by developing countries/emerging markets will continue to increase the global burden of fi nance teams.

Practice

The Big 4 embarked on a substantial recruitment drive in 2010 after a fairly quiet 2009. Once the economic landscape started to improve, a demand for indirect tax professionals materialised in a fairly short space of time. There is an increasing desire for indirect tax professionals at all levels in the Big 4, mid-tier, Top 50 practices and law firms. Candidates with knowledge of specialist areas, for example M&A, charities and insurance are particularly in demand. We envisage an increasing demand for indirect tax professionals in the practice fi rms to continue throughout 2011.

Commerce

The in-house market was upbeat throughout 2010, with companies more inclined to bring their tax
functions in-house, or expanding their existing functions to reduce the costs associated with outsourcing. Throughout last year, many in-house tax departments saw the advantages of having a strong VAT team; particular benefits include the reduction in the level of reliance on external advisors as well as retaining indirect tax expertise within the context of the business. Amongst other areas of indirect tax, opportunities in compliance, advisory and customs and excise were in high demand throughout 2010 and we expect this to increase as we progress through 2011.

Financial Services

The appetite for indirect tax professionals within the FS sector increased towards the end of last year and is likely to continue throughout 2011. Liquidity is arguably the most important factor for the fi nancial services industry in the current environment and a reduction in VAT expenditure immediately improves the position. As a real-time cash flow tax, this has resulted in the desire for high quality indirect tax knowledge.