Neuroscientist turned tax trainee!

Hi! My name is Clodagh Phelan and I am a tax trainee in Tax Consulting with KPMG.

I completed a Bachelor of Neuroscience degree in UCD. I found my undergraduate degree very interesting and challenging however I could not imagine spending the rest of my life working in a research laboratory. After spending hours in a laboratory and months doing my thesis I realised that I would like to pursue a career where I interact with people on a regular basis and utilise my interpersonal and communication skills. Therefore I decided to pursue a career outside the spectrum of Neuroscience. I decided to choose Tax Consulting in KPMG.

The skills that I obtained from my undergraduate degree, such as the ability to work through and analyse complex data, have been invaluable since I started working in the Tax Consulting department.

I had heard many great things about KPMG’s Tax Consulting practice. I felt that a career working in KPMG would allow me to gain an understanding of interesting domestic and international tax issues. I spoke to some people who were working in the Tax Consulting area at a graduate fair. They all stressed the amazing support that the KPMG Business School provided, in terms of day-to-day tax training but especially in preparation for the exams.

I enjoy working in Tax Consulting because I get the opportunity to work with huge clients on a daily basis. I am exposed to dealing with very diverse and broad tax issues in respect of a variety of companies. Every day is a new learning experience. Tax Consulting is very much legislative based and our work involves the application of this legislation to practical and real world business scenarios.

It can be very challenging to manage both work and lectures, however the support provided by KPMG is invaluable. All of the material is online so readily available, and all of the relevant books are provided. I find it comforting that everybody in the office has been in the same position before so there is always good advice available and help at hand.

One of the greatest aspects about working in KPMG is the people. The Tax Consulting department is a young and vibrant place to work and there is a huge social element. There are numerous social outings held during the year such as karaoke on intake night, and the annual Christmas party. My intake also organised a trip to Galway after our induction training. There are also lots of societies and events to get involved in which are great for meeting people in different departments. I have also become involved in one the companies many CSR projects. In December I was involved in organising the tax department’s fundraiser for Irish Cancer Society. We organised a Pink day and a bake sale and raised a lot of money for the charity.

The training complimented by the people I work with along with the work life balance makes KPMG a fantastic company to work for. I would highly recommend KPMG to anybody who is considering a position in KPMG as a Tax Consultant, this company is second to none.

An engineer takes on tax!

Hi my name is Michael Wendel.

I studied Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering in UCD. I never thought I would end up working in professional services for a company like KPMG.

I had first decided to apply for KPMG while I was working for a technology company, in which I spent two years after graduating. I found out there were people from a variety of disciplines working at KPMG, and so I decided to submit an application.

I had applied for a position in Tax Consulting as I had an interest in that area –  I like to know exactly what taxes I am meant to pay and more importantly not meant to pay. Tax is also universally applicable around the world. As I love to travel and enjoy a diverse life this was perfect for me.

Since I started the graduate programme, I have already learned so much. I came to KPMG with no prior knowledge of accounting, tax or business other than what I had picked up myself from bits and pieces of light reading, but from day one the firm had given us everything we needed to get up to speed.

As you can imagine engineering and accounting / tax don’t have a lot of technical commonalities, however that’s not to say that my degree hasn’t had a positive influence on my work to date. It also goes without saying that the maths element of engineering is a big help when you are dealing with numbers as your day to day job.

When I found out that I also had to go back to college as part of my training I did have a moment of apprehension. Then I looked at the positives, I will have another professional qualification. It is a massive achievement when it is done. I found out that KPMG provide unparalleled assistance to their staff when sitting exams. There are multiple study sessions, an abundance of exam leave and extensive material at your disposal. I am learning so much from the job that I can count that as study in its own right. I quickly found a healthy way to balance work, life and study. The way I see it, it is an investment in yourself.

The office environment I am in is excellent as you share it with a number of likeminded individuals. I have made many friends with people in the office and it has resulted in a new social circle forming in my life.

No day is the same as a tax intern with KPMG!

Hi, my name is Mark Barrow and I am currently studying International Business with French at the University of Limerick. I major in Accounting and Finance, but I also study a wide variety of subjects such as law, economics and politics.

At school I liked the business subjects such as Accounting and Economics, so I always knew that I wanted a career in something like this. My dad is an accountant, so I had the opportunity to work for the summer months in his accountancy practice back home in Ennis. I was exposed to both tax and audit, but I found that I enjoyed working on tax much more than the audit work.

As part of my degree, I had to take part in a work placement programme, and I felt that this was the perfect opportunity for me to see what it was like to work in a Big Four Accountancy firm. When I received the offer of a placement in KPMG, I was fortunate to be assigned to Financial Services Tax.

I’m assigned to a team which works on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”).  FATCA is a new law which has been introduced by the Government of the United States, in which all U.S. Persons who live outside of the U.S. are obliged to report on any foreign bank accounts that they may have. This is a huge project for KPMG, and as a result of my work on this I have been exposed to a variety of work that placements may not have been traditionally assigned to.

I also work on tax compliance work for clients (i.e. managing client’s tax obligations). I mainly work on corporation tax for clients, but I have also been exposed to Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax. I’ve found that there are many advantages to doing a placement in tax – No one client is the same, so I’m always learning more and more each day and the variety of the work means that you’re never bored!

I’ve learnt lots from my placement in tax, but what I will primarily take from my placement is that I know what direction I would like to follow – a career in tax with KPMG!

Katie, a TCD student shares her summer tax internship experience

I’m going into fourth year in BESS (Business, Economics and Social Science) in Trinity next year, so I thought that now would be a great time to do an internship to get a bit of experience under my belt before I graduate. People wonder why I chose Tax as I had never had the opportunity to study it in college, but I find it interesting as everyone deals with it in their day-to-day life, and the majority of legal decisions have tax implications which means you deal with a huge variety of clients. Tax is an ever changing puzzle, and it is always a challenge getting the best deal for your clients. My first month in KPMG has been quite busy and it has definitely gone a lot quicker than I expected! I mainly deal with income tax, and I have really enjoyed how everyone works as a team. If you are ever stuck on something, no matter how small, there is always someone around and willing to help you.

You definitely learn far more from actually doing a job, than doing a module on it in college. KPMG offer’s lots of training and support as well as giving you ‘real work’ rather than the typical intern work of photocopying and scanning which is great as it not only gives you real experience, but helps you to see if this is a career path that you want to go down.

The main advantage of doing an internship in Tax is that it gives you a real insight into what you would do as a tax accountant, and if you do choose to pursue it, you end up with an extra qualification in Tax when you qualify!

By Katie Woods, Summer intern, KPMG.

An Intern’s Story – Edward Burke

I came into the KPMG internship programme having just finished my second year of Accounting & Finance at DCU. As well as giving me an income for the summer, I hoped the internship would give me an insight into the world of finance.

When applying for the internship I elected to work in the tax department. I chose tax for a number of reasons; Firstly because I hoped it would give me plenty of client exposure and allow me to have a hands-on experience and secondly, I was aware that I would be taking a compulsory tax module in college next year so I hoped it would help me get ahead of the pack!

The first month has literally flown by. The first two weeks were very much learning based – there were training days to improve our teamwork skills and I learned lots of new skills, which are important in my daily work, i.e. how to access and use the different tax applications, timesheet requirements etc. I also participated in many online learning courses which helped bring my Word and Excel skills up to scratch.

With the training out of the way I was able to start into the work. I have been working mainly with corporation tax so far, but I will also cover income tax before the end of the summer. I have helped prepare the tax returns for a number of clients. I have found this work very interesting – it has given me an insight into how the Irish tax system actually works and I have learned about many different things such as capital allowances and group relief.

I am delighted that I have been given the opportunity to do this internship over the summer. The practical experience has really helped me improve my accounting and tax knowledge and I feel it will be a big help to me when I return to college. Aside from that, the internship has allowed me to meet so many great new friends, both fellow interns and permanent staff members. I have been extremely lucky to work alongside so many experienced professionals and there is so much I can learn from them in terms of how they go about their work and their handling of different situations. The first month of the internship has delivered so much and I am really looking forward to the rest of the summer.

For more information about the AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification or to view more profiles of tax professionals, please visit careerintax.ie.

By Edward Burke, Summer Intern, KPMG Dublin

So far in Canada…

Hi, I’m Aileen Joyce and I work as an AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) with KPMG.

While working in the VAT department at KPMG Dublin, I was given the opportunity to work with colleagues across the KPMG network.  I was always interested in the similarities and differences between Irish and foreign VAT law. Similarly, I had always wanted to live and work abroad and so before I sat my Part 3 AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) exams I requested a secondment abroad.

KPMG have a supportive approach towards global secondments and I was offered a year abroad with KPMG Toronto. The move across the water was hassle free, as flights, visas, pick up and temporary accommodation had all been arranged by KPMG Toronto prior to my departure, and I was assisted by a relocation company in opening my bank account and finding apartment – I cannot stress how easy this assistance made the move.

As for my first experience of Canadian sales tax (GST), although the concepts and operation of the VAT and GST systems are similar, the legislation and application of the tax are different. However, the skills I developed during my training in Dublin and from completing the AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification made the transition much easier.

From the get go I was thrown into the nitty gritty of GST/HST – initially my area of focus has been GST/HST compliance for financial institutions which has given me the opportunity to grasp the significant differences between Irish and Canadian indirect tax returns (there’s much more than 6 boxes to be completed in Canada) while seeing how financial services are treated from an indirect tax perspective outside Ireland and the EU. From time to time, I get to work within the comfort zone as a first point of contact in addressing EU VAT queries raised by clients, and when necessary referring more complex local VAT issues to the appropriate EU KPMG office, which has allowed me to develop new contacts within the global KPMG network.

In the next few months I’m looking forward to new work assignments, some travel and warmer weather!! (It’s ranged between 7 degrees to -40 degrees since I’ve been here – but that’s part of the experience!!).

For more information about the AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification or to view more profiles of tax professionals, please visit careerintax.ie.

By Aileen Joyce, Tax Adviser, KPMG Toronto