Interim Tax Jobs – Market Update – November 2009

Pure has witnessed significant changes in the interim tax recruitment market over the past 12 months. Whilst a change in the fortunes of the global economy has contributed to a slight decline in the number of opportunities available to interim tax professionals, recent trends seem to focus on interim recruitment in specialist areas. An increase in the number of temporary opportunities available in the more niche areas such as VAT and Transfer Pricing has been apparent whilst requirements in mainstream Corporation Tax have been less notable, writes interim tax specialist Kimberley Britt.

However, we do anticipate that those companies within the Financial Services and Commercial sectors with a calendar year end process will require interim assistance in the coming months and tax professionals with a corporation tax bias will once again be in demand. This has been evidenced
by an increase in movement in this area combined with a boost in appetite for this type of candidate over the last month or two.

Interim recruitment amongst the profession has been virtually non-existent throughout 2009 with most accounting firms reducing staff rather than recruiting, however, with Personal Tax filing deadlines approaching, contract opportunities are likely to arise within the fi rms for those candidates with experience within Private Client Tax compliance.

Many casualties of redundancy from the Big 4 accounting firms have approached Pure for assistance with their next career move. Most of these candidates are immediately available and open to considering temporary work as an option whilst a suitable permanent role can be found. A greater candidate pool combined with a smaller job market has created a more competitive environment for interim tax professionals and the result has been a correction in the hourly and daily rates which had seen steady rises throughout the heady contracting days of 2006/2007.

It would appear that the once highly sought after Antipodean tax professional is no longer a commodity in the UK interim market with many of these candidates facing a return home having been unsuccessful in fulfilling their UK 'working' holiday. New visa restrictions combined with greater competition from the infl ux of UK qualifi ed candidates to the market have forced many of these candidates back to their home country without having worked in the UK at all.

Pure continues to remain the largest and most successful interim recruiter for tax professionals in the UK, successfully completing several in-house temporary mandates, covering all specialisms including Corporation Tax, VAT, Transfer Pricing, Expatriate and Employment Taxes and Personal & Private Client Taxes.