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Following an approach last year to a number of professional firms, we made a number of successful appointments of external secondees to the Budget and Public Finances Directorate at the Treasury. I have written a number of firms and businesses to seek further secondees to supplement the resources of the tax policy teams and we will be advertising shortly for secondees. I thought it would be useful to write to you in your capacity as Chair of the CIOT Technical Committee to make sure that you are aware of this initiative and can draw it to the attention of any firms who may not have received a direct approach from me.
We are looking for individuals to provide an external focus to various areas of work within the tax policy teams. As you will see from the descriptions of the posts below, we are looking for individuals from both non-tax and tax backgrounds - the emphasis is on supplementing existing skills within the Treasury with particular industry, sector or tax specialist knowledge.
Details of the particular areas in which we are interested are set out below, and we can provide fuller details of each position if you are interested in taking this further. While these are the specific posts we would like to fill, we are also very interested in candidates in any area who might bring particular skills or perspectives to our work – which covers the whole of the tax, tax credits and national insurance system. The period and terms of secondments are open to negotiation in each case.
Our experience has been that both the individuals and their firms get a lot out of these secondments which represent an opportunity for the professional firms to help deliver a real change in the quality of tax policy making while broadening the skills of their staff. I hope you may have someone who would be interested in one of these posts. I have attached to this letter an outline of the key skills and attributes we would be looking for, along with an idea of what we think we can offer to people through their time in HM Treasury.
We are looking to supplement our resources on four teams:
On the corporation taxes team we are looking for someone with corporate tax background (legal or accounting) who would work with the team and with HMRC on evaluating and developing specific corporation tax measures.
For the SME taxation team we are interested in an individual who has had experience of working with smaller businesses in a range of areas, and who would therefore have insights into the problems and barriers to growth thrown up by the tax system where there may be scope for some rethinking of accepted wisdoms in the way smaller firms are taxed.
On the environment and transport taxes team we are looking for someone with experience of tax in the industries connected with energy efficiency or with environmental issues to work on the development of existing and new tax instruments. We are also interested in the possibility of establishing a part-time/consultancy arrangement with an environmental economist or academic working in this field.
On the consumption taxes team we would be interested in an individual with an understanding of business and the economic drivers of the alcohol and tobacco sectors.
We are looking to appoint candidates by early September if at all possible, and although there is no formal closing date, it would be very helpful to hear back from you by 15 July.
Please do get in touch with me if you would like to discuss these posts or the scope for secondments into other teams.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Troup
Director Business and Indirect Tax
Secondment to HM Treasury business tax teams
What are we offering?
A secondment to HM Treasury will provide valuable experience for anyone working in a business or professional environment and will provide experience of:
The Treasury is looking to enhance its understanding of the key issues for business arising from the tax system, and would expect any secondee from the private sector to play a key role in developing the strategic priorities for the future and to bring an understanding of the dynamics of business and the tax system in practice to a policy environment.
The business population is broad and heterogeneous, and the range of interactions with the tax system varied, and we recognise that there is a similarly broad potential range of skills and experiences that could add considerable value to the teams here.
We are looking for a person who is interested in pursuing a wide range of policy questions, and who believes that they can contribute to developing a more sophisticated approach to the way the broader tax system interacts with commercial realities. They would be expected to make a contribution across the work of the teams to which they were seconded, and beyond in wider tax policy issues where they had something to offer.
The Person…
There are many key skills and experience which could add value to the Treasury’s teams. These will vary from team to team but might include:
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Anyone wishing to respond to this invitation should e-mail technical@tax.org.uk including a reference to HM Treasury external secondees in the subject line. All such messages will be forwarded to HM Treasury.
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Technical Department
020 7235 9381
