Tax Professionals - Latest salary guide and tax recruitment trends

Market & salary survey
Tax market report 2014/15 - UK

2 Brewer Morris | MARKET & SALARY SURVEY @brewermorris
Great news!
Since this time last year we have seen sustained
growth throughout the taxation market.
As you will see many times in our market report
all sectors have shown significant increases in
recruitment capacity, either through hiring already
undertaken or in expected hiring needs over the
coming months.
The market has become more fluid, with a number
of employers understanding that there is not enough
talented candidates to go round, resulting in a higher
degree of flexibility to hire individuals “out of sector”.
Further to this we are experiencing improved appetite
to seriously consider overseas candidates, either
from across the EU, or those from technically robust
tax jurisdictions such as Australia, New Zealand and
North America, work Visa’s permitting.
At the senior end of the market we have assisted with
a number of high profile moves as a result of either
restructuring or retirement, both in-house and in the
profession.
The restructuring of in-house functions to align tax
resources to an appropriate balance between tax
risk and supporting business needs and objectives
is starting to result in multiple hire exercises being
undertaken by corporates.
The Big 4 has by and large come through a difficult
period, evidenced by a surge in demand nationally
across all tax specialisms, with the Tier A market
extremely active with firms vying for market share.
I’m pleased to say that this upward trend has by
and large had an understandably positive effect
on remuneration, with rises in base salaries and/
or bonuses almost consistently across the board.
The surge in confidence and renewed appetite for
employers to build their taxation teams means
that there is an ever-increasing gap between the
availability of talent and the demand for these
individuals.
As a result we are witnessing a return of enhanced
remuneration packages on offer that present a real
premium and uplift in current salary, with occasional
sign on or guaranteed bonuses which we have not
really seen since before the global financial crisis.
This is especially prevalent for those individuals with
technical expertise in M&A, TP, Expatriate Tax or
certain areas of VAT, where demand is highest.
It is therefore a great time to be a taxation professional
looking for a new role.
INTRODUCTION
Mark Pryor
Brewer Morris
Mark is the Global Lead
Partner for Brewer Morris.
With over 18 years’
experience in taxation
recruitment he has been
personally responsible
for some of the highest
profile hires and
campaigns in the UK and
internationally.

brewermorris.com Brewer Morris | MARKET & SALARY SURVEY 3
Market Overview
Since the second half of last year, market sentiment
across the vast majority of our commerce & industry
clients has been positive. There has been a significant
increase in not just the volume of roles, but also the
breadth of skills sought and the variety of levels they
are being sought at. We have been encouraged by the
return of significant team building exercises where
Heads of Tax have been adding to their teams and
growing the function. This has been in addition to an
increase in the number of tax planning and strategy
roles coming to the market which have supplemented
the continued focus on tax compliance, reporting
and forecasting and the subsequent recruitment in
this area.
We have also seen a number of firms looking to
grow their specialist tax offering through hiring
into indirect tax and employment and expatriate
tax positions. This positive feel to the market also
extends to the majority of our clients across banking
and the broader financial services sector which we
elaborate on over the next few pages.
The Year Ahead
The majority of our clients who responded to the
survey saw their teams either growing or maintaining
size with 30% of the Heads of Tax anticipating growth
in at least one specialist area of the team. This further
supports the general trends we have experienced
over the last 12 months and paints a bright picture
for the year ahead. Having spoken with a number of
different Heads of Tax we have also been encouraged
to hear that there is a growing appetite for roles
which focus on commercially driven tax planning and
the return of a sensible balance between managing
tax risk and adding tax value.
Remuneration & Recruitment Trends
Our survey focussed, in the main, on the change in
salary levels, bonus awards, overall remuneration
packages and recruitment trends. We found that the
positive market trend continued when considering
salaries, with 91% of those who responded looking
to award a salary increase, with the majority of those
being in the 1 – 3% scale. Also, 95% of Heads of
Tax are looking to award a bonus with the majority
of those greater than 20%. The desire to recruit and
to award staff with competitive salary increases and
bonuses is often tempered by the reality of recruiting.
Most clients have cited that once getting clearance
to recruit, it is really the highly competitive nature of
the tax market which is the biggest problem.
Benchmarking & Structure services
At Brewer Morris we take a great deal of time to
work with our clients in providing a more rounded
advisory service, not just the hiring process. As a
result, we are able to provide an invaluable insight
into the workings of tax functions across a number
of territories and businesses, with differing business
priorities and of various sizes. We are often asked to
provide our clients with a view on how other teams
are structured and the draw-backs and benefits of
building their teams in a certain way, as well as on
specific remuneration structures.
COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
Matthew Gravelle
Brewer Morris
Matthew joined Brewer
Morris in 2004 having
previously qualified and
worked as a solicitor.
Matthew is the Partner
who leads the BM
Commerce & Industry
& Financial Services
recruitment team.
23% ....... 1 to 5
24% ....... 6 to 10
23% ....... 11 to 20
17% ....... 21 to 50
7% ......... 51 to 99
6% ......... 100 +
Size of Tax Team
Globally
35% ....... FTSE 100
16% ....... FTSE 250
27% ....... Overseas
............... Multinationals
11% ....... Private Company
11% ....... Other
Type
of company

Since Q4 2013 and throughout 2014 we have experienced increased
recruitment activity across all industry sectors. Encouragingly this
activity spans across all levels and we have facilitated a number of
high profile moves at the senior level that have been a combination
of strategic team expansion and replacing those leaving. More
and more we are seeing companies taking the decision to replace
leavers rather than to use it as a means of downsizing and saving
headcount costs. This natural churn is most evident at the Assistant
Manager, Manager and Senior Manager levels where you expect to
see highest volume.
We have been involved in several team and multiple hire campaigns
for clients who are restructuring and up-skilling tax teams. These
have included Heads of Tax, in addition to roles from Senior
Director down to Manager level and is representative of economic
confidence and the value placed on tax within the large corporates.
With reputational risk high on the agenda, we have recruited a
number of senior leadership roles heading up compliance and
reporting teams as well as strong candidates at Assistant Manager
and Manager levels in compliance and reporting roles. Demand has
been consistent for specialists in VAT, customs, transfer pricing and
supply chain.
Bonuses continue to be an important aspect of overall remuneration
and benefits packages with 58% of high performers receiving over
16% in bonus and only 5% of respondents not receiving a bonus at
all. Salaries continue to rise moderately with 95% of Tax Directors
intending to award pay rises.
With such a strong start to the year, the figures suggest a more
conservative outlook for the second half of the year in terms
of increasing headcount with only 16% of Tax Directors stating
their intention to increase headcount. However the movement we
have seen in the market already this year will continue to cause
companies to recruit to replace outgoing candidates even if they do
not increase headcount.
Title Base (£,000) Cash Bens. (£,000) Bonus %
Head of Tax £110 - £300+ £50 - £100 20 - 100+
Senior Manager £85 - £180 £5 - £20 10 - 100
Manager £45 - £80 £5 - £15 10 - 20
Tax Accountant £38 - £65 £2 - £5 5 - 20
FTSE 100
90% ....... 1 to 3 %
5% ......... 4 to 7 %
5% ......... No percentage
............... increase
% salary
increase in 2014
16% ....... Yes, 1-10%
21% ....... Yes, 11-15%
26% ....... Yes, 16-20%
32% ....... Yes, 21+%
5% ......... No
Do high performers
receive a bonus?
16% ....... Yes
84% ....... No
Team Growth in
next 6-12 months
25% ....... Corporate Tax
12.5% .... International Tax
12.5% .... Transfer Pricing
25% ....... VAT
12.5% .... Employee
............... / Expatriate Taxes
12.5% .... Operational Taxes
Areas for
recruitment

2014 has shown some encouraging signs in this area of the market
where we have seen solid levels of activity. With an increasing
focus on transfer pricing, BEPS and international tax we have
seen demand increase for senior candidates who offer a broad
knowledge across these areas. For this reason interest has been
particularly high in candidates coming from the Tier A firms to take
on either stand-alone roles or fitting into established teams. We
have seen this trend mirrored at the junior level in compliance and
reporting roles. In previous years clients have traditionally favoured
candidates coming from Big 4 firms, however as the Big 4 continue
to outsource compliance to centralised compliance centres, those
candidates from Tier A firms who can demonstrate hands on
experience in these areas have been dominating demand.
Given the diversity of companies across the FTSE 250 market it
is difficult to comment on and identify specific sector trends. We
have been involved in recruiting a number of tax professionals for
companies with no previous tax teams or presence; typically these
have targeted those at the Senior Manager and Director levels.
Salaries continue to rise moderately with 50% of tax professionals
receiving a pay rise of up to 3% and a further 12% being awarded
pay rises of between 4-7%. Bonuses continue to be consistent with
88% of high performers receiving a bonus, 50% of whom receiving
between 11-15%.
Companies who are expecting to recruit have focused in corporate
tax although given the size of many teams, the area of “corporate
tax” will very often stretch across international tax and transfer
pricing. Encouragingly 20% of companies are planning to increase
headcount; naturally a greater number will need to recruit to
replace those who leave as a result of on-going movement within
the market.
FTSE 250
Head of Tax £90 - £220 £10 - £50 5 - 100+
Senior Manager £70 - £120 £5 - £20 10 - 60
Manager £40 - £95 £5 - £10 5 - 30
Tax Accountant £35- £65 > £2.5 5 - 15
50% ....... 1 to 3 %
12% ....... 4 to 7 %
38% ....... No percentage
............... increase
% salary
increase in 2014
13% ....... Yes, 1-10%
50% ....... Yes, 11-15%
25% ....... Yes, 16-20%
12% ....... No
0% ......... Yes, 21+%
Do high performers
receive a bonus?
20% ....... Yes
80% ....... No
Team Growth in
next 6-12 months

The results of our survey suggest that there will continue to be a
steady and sustained demand for tax professionals within financial
services. 40% of respondents have increased the size of their tax
function in the past 12 months and a further 24% of respondents
expect to grow their team in the next 12 months.
Demand for risk and reporting Senior Managers and corporate tax
professionals with up to four years PQE continues to remain high.
As a result of certain legislative changes, we have seen a significant
increase in demand for transfer pricing (TP) professionals in
financial services and 33% of predicted recruitment in the
next 12 months will be in TP. Although we have experienced an
increase in recruitment for commercially focused international tax
professionals, this has not reached the levels witnessed before the
downturn in 2008. More prominent is the ever-increasing demand
for operational tax professionals, in particular those with FATCA
and FTT, which is set to continue with the introduction of EU FATCA.
We have seen some in-house tax functions outsource or offshore
some areas of their tax functions, usually the more junior or process
led work. This might explain the fact that 17% of respondents have
decreased the size of their tax function. However, the general
consensus seems to be that tax teams within financial services
groups are not having to make the forced headcount cuts that they
have had to in past years.
One area that we have seen have a knock-on effect is the demand
from the Big 4 and Tier A accountancy firms for senior tax
professionals from financial services organisations. We have not
seen this since 2009 but with this resurgent hiring activity across
practice, we should see a number of senior roles open-up within
financial services groups as senior level people move into the
sector from in-house positions.
fINANCIAL SERVICES
Head of Tax £100 - £300 £10 - £18 10 - 100
Group Tax Manager £75 - £150 £4 - £12 10 - 50
International Tax Manager £75 - £110 £5 - £10+ 10 - 50
Tax Manager £50 - £75 £4.5 - £5.5 5 - 30
Tax Accountant £35 - £50 £4.5 - £5.5 5 - 15
87% ....... 1 to 3 %
7% ......... 4 to 7 %
............... increase
% salary
increase in 2014
13% ....... Yes, 1-10%
31% ....... Yes, 11-15%
31% ....... Yes, 16-20%
25% ....... Yes, 21+%
0% ......... No
Do high performers
receive a bonus?
24% ....... Yes
76% ....... No
Team Growth in
next 6-12 months
33% ....... Corporate Tax
17% ....... International Tax
33% ....... Transfer Pricing
17% ....... Operational Taxes
0% ......... VAT
0% ......... Employee
............... / Expatriate Taxes
Areas for
recruitment

As we had hoped, 2014 has seen a marked upturn in the demand for
qualified tax professionals within the commercial market. Inbound
multinationals have been very much part of this increase in activity,
with talent being sought at all levels from Tax Accountant to
Regional Tax Director.
A combination of factors has contributed to this increase in demand
for high quality tax professionals within the finance functions of
large international groups. From a tax perspective, the UK continues
to be a desirable destination for overseas multinationals to base
their European operations. Indeed, much of the recent M&A activity
within, particularly, the pharmaceutical sector demonstrates that
for many groups Britain is an increasingly attractive jurisdiction in
which to base a group’s global HQ. When coupled with the increased
focus on BEPS and tax transparency, both from a government and a
public perspective, it is easy to see why the volume and complexity
of work being carried out by inbound tax departments continues to
grow.
Areas of expertise that are particularly in demand have included:
corporate tax compliance; tax reporting (under US GAAP and IFRS);
strategy and tax planning; and indirect tax. It is also worth noting
that the predicted dramatic increase in transfer pricing roles has so
far failed to materialise. Transfer pricing is seen as a key skill, but is
usually one that a senior tax professional would develop alongside
other responsibilities, rather than as a sole focus.
General market conditions have dictated that, in this area of
the market, as with every other, salaries, bonuses and total
remuneration have all increased over the last year. 85% of
respondents are expecting to pay a bonus of more than 10% this
year and 100% expect salaries to rise in 2014/15. There is also a
general expectation that departments will either remain stable or
grow in size during this period. Overall, the next 12 months look
very positive in this sector of the tax market.
OVERSEAS MULTINATIONALS
Head of Tax £80 - £200 £10 - £50 10 - 100
Senior Manager £70 - £120 £10 - £20 10 - 50
Manager £50 - £70 £5 - £15 10 - 20
Tax Accountant £40 - £60 £2 - £5 5 - 10
86% ....... 1 to 3 %
14% ....... 4 to 7 %
............... increase
% salary
increase in 2014
50% ....... Yes, 11-15%
14% ....... Yes, 16-20%
21% ....... Yes, 21+%
14% ....... No
0% ......... Yes, 1-10%
Do high performers
receive a bonus?
31% ....... Yes
69% ....... No
Team Growth in
next 6-12 months
Biggest recruitment challenges
“Increased competition for good candidates”
VP of Tax
Overseas multi-national

Overview
The interim tax market has remained buoyant. Without temporary
and interim finance professionals, crucial projects may not be
staffed sufficiently, long-term absences may not be covered and
valued permanent employees would struggle to cope during
extremely busy periods. For this reason, there tends to be a constant
demand for interim and temporary tax professionals across most
sectors and regions in the UK.
Legislation changes
In the last few years, many predicted that the bureaucratic red tape
and pressures on temporary employment would have a significant
impact on demand for temporary staff with the working time
directive initiative, holiday pay and Agency Workers Regulations
(AWR) coming in to play. The reality is that the legislation has not
significantly impacted temporary staff in the tax sector as it was
targeted at protecting low paid non-office workers. A lot of the
burden quite rightly sits with the supplying agency rather than the
employing organisation.
Quick turnaround
Hiring an interim takes days as opposed to weeks or months. This is
essential when time constraints are paramount in an organisation
that require change and to regularly bring in the best available
talent for short-term projects.
Sought after tax areas
There has been relatively little change in the status quo with regard
to transfer pricing, VAT and partnership tax specialists. These
areas are still highly sought after in the interim market with these
specialists being paid above market rate. Many companies are
taking advantage of the increased interim candidate pool by hiring
temporary candidates as a way of trialling staff for a permanent
vacancy.
Conclusion
The return on investment when hiring the right interim for your
business can be substantial. When a company is in crisis, often the
cost of failure to deliver change far outweighs the cost of hiring an
interim. Their skills and experience can be applied to many different
scenarios. Their use is increasingly being considered as an effective
and positive way for companies to achieve their business objectives
and obtain highly specialised skills at crucial times.
INTERIM
Commerce/FS rates
Title Range per day
Tax Accountant £200 - £300
Tax Manager £300 - £400
Senior Tax Manager £400 - £500
Director £500+
Practice and law firm rates
Title Range per day
Semi Seniors £120 - £160
Tax Seniors £160 - £240
Managers £240 - £320
Tax Senior Managers £350 - £450
Biggest recruitment challenges
“Recruiting in a period where the employer does
not wish to pay market rates, yet the economy is
recovering”
Head of European Tax
Financial Services
“Recruiting quality candidates within the permitted
budgeted cost”
Director of Tax
FTSE 250

At this point in 2013 it was obvious that the market
was starting to show a sustainable pick up for the
first time since 2007. But the sentiment with clients
remained one of real caution and fear that this
might just be a flash in the pan. The market was
also characterised by a pickup in only a number of
specialisms and locations predominantly in and
around London.
Thankfully the pickup has been a great deal more
durable and now only 5% of firms have had a hiring
freeze over the last year as opposed to 18% the
previous year. The market is now characterised by
demand across the full range of tax specialisms
right across the UK, with a particular hotspot across
Scotland. Although the market is a lot more positive
as a whole, 21% of teams saw a decrease in numbers
this year and this reflects a rapidly changing tax
market. Clients are proving adept at investing
in potential growth areas but also not afraid to
restructure business streams they consider to have
little future. This is likely to become a permanent
feature of the tax market.
Managing reputational risk around tax, although
still very prominent, has been superseded by other
big issues which inevitably will or are already having
impacts on the tax recruitment market, including: the
new audit rotation rules (for the Big 4); competition
for business and resource between the accounting
and law firms; the severe shortage of quality staff
at the NQ to manager grades; and the concern that
salaries are about to rise substantially – although
the fact that 68% of accounting firms and 86% of
law firms expect to increase salaries by 1-3% would
suggest. This last point is not yet a major threat.
The biggest immediate challenge for all markets is
how to satisfy the huge demand for resource at the
NQ-5 years PQE level. As all indications are that this
improved market will last in 2015, (with 73% of all
clients expecting to increase headcount over the next
6-12 months), firms will have to find innovative ways
to try and plug these gaps.
Professional Services
Mark Glubb
Brewer Morris
Mark first worked for
Brewer Morris in 1989
for a few years, before
returning in 2003. Mark
runs the professional
services team across
EMEA and is fluent in
Arabic.

The early stages of 2014 have seen a continuation of the trends
from our 2013 survey – with an increase of hires in transfer pricing,
international tax, and VAT. This is leading to a more positive outlook
across tax, with a number of firms anticipating growth over the next
12-18months.
The Big 4 and Tier A firms have broadened their needs to other
tax specialisms in London and nationally, while corporate tax,
private client, and employment tax remain hot areas for quality
hires. Positivity can be seen as nearly 50% of firms have increased
team size, with just over 20% showing unchanged headcount.
The optimism continues as less than 6% are going through hiring
freezes or a formal redundancy programme.
This growth can be linked to the recovery of the economy and a
confidence once again in the job market, meaning the appetite
has returned for high calibre tax professionals, specifically at
the Assistant Manager and Manager grades. However, the recent
economic downturn has created a shortage of tax professionals at
those particular levels due to the smaller graduate intake at that
time. This has led to more of a necessity being placed upon the
relationships with recruitment firms, with nearly 70% of external
hires across the accountancy market in the past year coming
through recruitment agencies.
The shortage of candidates at this level has meant that international
candidates are now being more seriously considered, especially
those from strong tax jurisdictions such as Australia and New
Zealand, as well as North America. This is true of transfer pricing,
VAT, M&A and expatriate tax. Work permitting, it is likely that we will
see a growing trend of international candidates coming to the UK as
the need for growth in these areas becomes increasingly necessary.
Conversely there has been an increase in overseas opportunities for
UK tax professionals, with a particular pick up in Australia and the
Middle East.
The key difference between 2014 and last year is that demand in
the Big 4 is now across all tax disciplines and whereas last year
this was centred in the London market this has developed now
into significant demand in the Midlands, North of England and
Scotland. A vast increase in hiring activity in the regions is most
apparent within the Tier A firms, with Birmingham and Reading
being key areas of growth. Here, recruitment has focussed on
personal, corporate, and international tax.
The new audit rotation rules are a hot topic although at the moment
are only having a direct impact on hiring decisions for director and
partner candidates. The imperative to hire leaders who are market
facing and able to pitch for new work as well as develop client
relationships is even more important. It is likely that the demand
for quality director and partner hires will continue to strengthen as
firms look to respond to the challenges of audit rotation by hiring
people with the right skills for this new environment. The demand is
also being driven by a general market pick up, increased investment
and the need to finally replace retiring partners, as evidenced by a
substantial increase in partner promotions in 2014.
Following on from a number of mergers among the Tier A firms last
year, we are now beginning to see more of an appetite to hire at all
grades within areas such as corporate and personal tax. However,
the cyclical movement between Big 4 and Tier A firms has now
slowed due to the volume of hiring going on amongst the Big 4
firms. This is starting to affect hiring strategies within Tier A as
we are now seeing more of an increased flow of tax professionals
moving across to their larger competitors.
It is encouraging to see that nearly 40% of firms are rewarding
high performing employees a bonus, with a majority also offering
promotion as a way of retention. It is expected that this pattern will
continue into 2015 as the market and economy maintains its pick
up.
big 4 & tier a
Job title
London
(£,000)
The South
(£,000)
Midlands
(£,000)
Scotland & The North
(£,000)
South West & Wales
(£,000)
Commerce/FS rates
Director £85 - £220 £75 - £180 £70 - £160 £65 - £160 £70 - £160
Senior Manager £68 - £95 £50 - £90 £48 - £85 £48 - £80 £55 - £85
Manager £50 - £70 £45 - £65 £38 - £58 £38 - £56 £38 - £56
Tax Senior £40 - £54 £35 - £48 £32 - £42 £28 - £37 £24 - £35
Assistant £24 - £38 £20 - £35 £18 - £30 £16 - £26 £16 - £26
Personal & Expatriate Tax
Director £80 - £180 £75 - £160 £65 - £140 £60 - £140 £65 - £140
Senior Manager £65 - £92 £48 - £85 £45 - £80 £48 - £78 £50 - £80
Manager £50 - £70 £45 - £62 £35 - £55 £38 - £56 £38 - £56
Tax Senior £40 - £52 £35 - £48 £32 - £42 £28 - £35 £24 - £35
Assistant £24 - £38 £20 - £35 £18 - £30 £16 - £26 £16 - £26

Continuing the optimism found in the latter half of 2013, we have
seen higher levels of recruitment activity return to the mid-tier and
boutique market so far in 2014.
Throughout Q4 2013 and Q1 2014, as prevailing economic
conditions continued to improve, we saw an increase in demand for
partner and rain maker candidates within the mid-tier and boutique
market. Many of the Top 50 firms which had not recruited at senior
level throughout 2013 returned to the market in 2014.
From trainee right up to manager level the main focus throughout
the year has been on personal and corporate tax roles. Over the
first half of the year, we saw roughly 65% of vacancies fall into
these two categories (~35% and ~30% respectively). On the private
client side candidates with non-domicile advisory and international
skills are particularly sought after and can command a premium on
salary to those with a more mainstream UK private client skill set,
while on the corporate side demand for Big 4 trained corporate tax
professionals reached high levels. Throughout the year we also saw
an increase in demand for candidates with trust and indirect tax
skills.
At partner level, candidates with a particular tax specialism and/
or followings have been in most demand. A lot of this growth has
been seen particularly in traditional Top 20 practices with a solid
recurring compliance fee base. Areas such as R&D have seen
growth as opportunistic hires were made by firms keen to ensure
that ambitious growth targets were met.
As we approach the third quarter of 2014 it is clear that the demand
for quality candidates continues and those particularly with
specialist skills such as investigations will be ever increasingly
sought after.
An active boutique market continues to show strong appetite for
Big 4 trained corporate tax professionals with individuals with
private equity, transactions and real estate tax experience in most
demand.
Salaries across the sector have had some upward momentum
throughout 2014 with over 95% of firms planning on increasing
salaries, although the majority of these pay awards (68%) will still
be in the 1-3% range. Partner remuneration levels span a wide
range according to the firm’s profitability and it can be difficult
to get complete visibility for partners here. Many firms making
opportunistic hires preferred to reward partners based on delivery
for example giving bonuses on set billings.
It is clear that the mid-tier and boutiques market is a dynamic and
evolving space with firms often vying for market share. Throughout
2013 there were a number of consolidations (some high profile
ones!) with this continuing into 2014. We would expect a similar
appetite for consolidation and anticipate continued demand for
partners particularly those with followings and with specialist tax
skills, as we move towards the back end of 2014 and into 2015.
Mid-Tier & Boutique Firms
Job title
London
(£,000)
The South
(£,000)
Midlands
(£,000)
Scotland & The North
(£,000)
South West & Wales
(£,000)
Personal Tax & Expatriate Tax and Trusts
Senior Manager £60 - £85 £50 - £80 £46 - £65 £50 - £65 £50 - £62
Manager £45 - £65 £42 - £60 £36 - £55 £35 - £46 £35 - £48
Tax Senior £35 - £45 £28 - £42 £24 - £38 £22 - £35 £24 - £38
Assistant £25 - £32 £20 - £35 £20 - £24 £16 - £23 £18 - £24
Corporate Tax and VAT
Senior Manager £65 - £90 £60 - £85 £50 - £70 £48 - £70 £48 - £70
Manager £45 - £65 £45 - £60 £38 - £52 £36 - £48 £38 - £52
Tax Senior £35 - £48 £32 - £45 £26 - £40 £22 - £36 £25 - £38
Assistant £24 - £38 £22 - £28 £19 - £25 £14 - £23 £19 - £24

In our survey last year the clear sentiment was that the market
was showing the first signs of a pick-up and that 2014 was looking
to be a better year for the tax legal market. So far the year has
not disappointed as evidenced by a six fold increase in associate
vacancies and 64% of firms in our survey stating that they have
recruited in the external market over the last 12 months. The
vast majority of these hires have been at the 1-5 year level. This
has resulted in firms finding it increasingly difficult to hire in tax
at these levels and we are now seeing some clients taking over 6
months to fill roles.
This shortage is likely to become more severe as more tax work
feeds through from the transactions teams. This will force firms to
look at one, or more, of the following solutions:
• Taking an even more flexible approach to the level they will
consider
• Consider employing tax lawyers from overseas jurisdictions
• Employing tax specialists from accounting firms
The tax newly qualified (NQ) market has returned for the first time
for many years with both a good flow of candidates and roles. This
is a clear indicator that medium term confidence is returning to the
market shown by our survey findings with 79% of firms anticipating
a growth in the number of tax associates they will employ over the
coming year.
The senior associate grades and partner level hires are also showing
signs of improvement but this part of the market tends to react later
to an upturn. However, there are good signs that more senior end
recruitment will become a bigger feature as we end 2014 and enter
2015.
The key for any senior associate/partner looking to make a
successful move is to be able to demonstrate an ability to generate
work over and above being reliant on the internal market.
One of the key trends of 2014, and one which is playing out in
the legal press, is the competitive threat of the accounting firms.
Many in the Big 4 are now focussing on building large tax litigation
businesses with all of them now investing significantly in hiring
good tax litigation talent.
More of a threat to the wider tax legal market is the focus of the Big
4 accounting firms to hire tax lawyers across all grades including
partners. Lawyers now view this as a serious alternative to a
continued career in the law because it offers good progression in
a growing tax business and the opportunity to develop a wider skill
set.
In view of these pressures it is somewhat surprising that 86% of law
firms have or will increase salaries by between only 1-3% in 2014.
A smaller, although an increasingly significant, part of the market
is the in-house tax departments in law firms. With the continued
firm mergers, ongoing focus on cutting costs and increasing
internationalisation of law firms these teams are growing and more
law firms are setting up in-house tax teams. We are starting to see
an increasing demand here for people with corporate tax experience
coming from either accounting or commercial in-house teams.
the Legal Tax Market
Type of Firm
Magic/silver circle
(£,000)
Mid-sized city
(£,000)
West End
(£,000)
US firm
(£,000)
NQ £60 - £67.5 £56 - £58 £40 - £55 £70 - £105
1 PQE £67 - £77.5 £59 - £65 £45 - £60 £70 - £105
2 PQE £72 - £87.5 £63 - £69 £50 - £63 £80 - £111
3 PQE £77 - £100 £64 - £76 £55 - £68 £90 - £125
4 PQE £85 - £107.5 £72 - £84 £60 - £72 £100 - £140
5 PQE £92 - £115 £75 - £93 £65 - £76 £110 - £138
6 PQE £97 - £135 £78 - £97 £70 - £80 Discretionary

The Tax Recruitment Market across Australia & Asia
Elspeth McAinsh
Brewer Morris
Elspeth has focused
exclusively on tax
recruitment since 2010
and on global moves since
2007. She has seven years’
experience recruiting in
Australia and four years’
experience in the UK.
Elspeth has a passion for
global tax recruitment
and has a successful track
record in cross border
recruitment in EMEA and
ASIA PAC.
Australia
Over the past 12 months there has been a significant
increase in recruitment activity for the majority of
tax teams across Australia. Movement between the
Big 4 global consulting firms to law firms, in-house
commercial teams and overseas has resulted in a
busy recruitment market. An increase in deals in the
past six months has kept the transactions and M&A
teams busy and meant growth for transaction tax as
well as corporate tax teams.
Candidate confidence in the Big 4 global accounting
firms has attracted key talent from law firms as well
as from each other. The cities that remained buoyant
throughout the global financial crisis, Brisbane and
Perth, have been quiet where we have tended to
see replacement recruitment only and, particularly
in Perth, less in-house opportunities. Melbourne
is the Asia-Pac headquarters to many desirable in-house
tax teams in non-financial services sectors
such as FMCG, manufacturing, sport, resources
and retail. Recruitment has been steady with the
larger commercial law firms which typically have
partnerships at 10-15% below the size of their
Sydney counterparts. With highly coveted in-house
teams and Big 4 steadily recruiting, this location
is attracting more candidates interstate than ever
before. The Sydney market has been busy and in
certain tax areas has become candidate driven. The
Big 4 have been open to international candidates
from major markets such as the UK, Canada and
US in areas such as tax technology, expatriate tax,
financial services corporate tax and US tax. Transfer
pricing recruitment has been quiet for 6-9 months
however we have had a recent spike in demand for
supply chain transfer pricing professionals at all
levels. Tax technology has proved to be an excellent
career path for those seeking an international career
or relocation. The flow of Australian experienced
candidates returning to Australia has continued
and recruitment activity is busy nationally. Brewer
Morris is currently recruiting in all major commercial
centres across Australia.
In terms of in-house roles (or roles with commercial
groups), there has been a strong demand for tax
professionals at senior tax accountant and manager
level. The movement from in-house back to practice
has slowed as a result of hesitancy from the firms and
the candidates.
The more senior / head of tax recruitment activity
has been to replace leavers rather than grow teams,
and alongside this we have also seen an increase
in popularity of internal promotions. The in-house
roles, particularly in foreign owned companies
and those with a heavy compliance focus are less
attractive than the Australian listed, outbound global
investors. Outbound global investors attract high
calibre candidates and are desirable in the market.
In terms of the next 12 months, there is a strong
consensus that the tax market is increasingly
competitive for high calibre candidates. Australian
experienced candidates now based overseas will
continue to be attractive to the Australian market.
The law firms, Big 4 and mid-tier tax practices will be
busy in Sydney, Melbourne and we have some signs
of growth in Brisbane.
Asia
The Asia market has been strong with the introduction
of GST in Malaysia and China, and offers a viable
alternative to running costly tax teams in Australia.
Singapore has a demand for tax professionals and
can offer, within Big 4, international relocations and
a career path to Partner within a shorter timeframe
than in markets such as the UK and Australia.
Corporate tax, transfer pricing and tax technology
have been busy in professional services. Hong
Kong has also been busy however we have noticed
a move of transactions previously run out of Hong
Kong to Shanghai, creating some uncertainty in this
market. Mandarin skills are increasingly sought in
Hong Kong, which limits the options for expatriates.
Transfer pricing in South East Asia has been a
growth area at a junior / early manager level and is
an avenue for those early on in their career to make
an international move. Oil and Gas experienced tax
professionals can consider moves to Indonesia and
Papua New Guinea at senior consultant and manager
level. The coveted regional Asia-Pac roles have been
filled by candidates from the local market rather than
expatriate moves from markets such as Australia and
the UK. This is a result of the increasing requirement
to speak an Asian language and a decrease in
expatriate packages offered. Also noticeable, is
the move of Asian candidates to the Middle East and
Africa.

Brewer Morris was established in 1987 as the UK’s first recruitment
consultancy to focus exclusively on the recruitment of taxation
professionals. We are firmly established as a market leader and
take great pride in the enormous number of long-term business
relationships that we have developed throughout the tax world. We
work with many Partners and Heads of Tax that we first placed
on qualification.
Brewer Morris has also expanded our remit into the recruitment of
treasury professionals. This enables us to better serve our clients’
needs in niche areas and we firmly believe this business line
complements the tax specialist recruitment that the industry has
come to know and trust.
From offices based in London, Melbourne and Sydney we recruit
across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New
Zealand. Our clients range from all of the international and
national accountancy and law firms through to FTSE 100 and 250
companies, major multinationals, financial services organisations
and global investment banks.
Our approach
Our methodology encompasses a combination of search, advertised
selection and networking in addition to the strongest database
of tax specialists in the market, and also harnesses the power of
digital and social platforms.
How we combine these methods depends on the nature of the
assignment. Although our methodology is flexible, our total
commitment to successful delivery remains the same on every
assignment.
What makes us different?
Over nearly 30 years we have built a specialist tax recruitment firm
with a blend of experience and knowledge that no other recruitment
firm can match. With backgrounds in the accounting profession, law
firms and commerce & industry, our consultants continue to add to
that unique blend. They are handpicked for their professionalism
and integrity and their commitment to providing the highest level
of service.
Our teams
Our professional services team recruits tax specialists at all levels,
from tax assistant through to tax partner in London, throughout the
UK and internationally (encompassing all areas of specialisation).
Our client list spans all of the leading accountancy firms including
the Big 4, plus a wide range of national, regional and local practices
and national and international law firms.
Our in-house team recruits for UK plc’s, financial institutions and a
broad range of multinational companies. We handle assignments at
all levels, from tax accountant to head of tax, and also deal with a
broad spectrum of specialist roles such as employee tax specialists,
indirect tax advisers, tax managers and tax-based structured
financiers.
Our interim team provides the same level of Brewer Morris quality
of service, offering considered solutions that meet your temporary
and contract recruitment needs exactly - and quickly. From the Big 4
and national practices through to the world’s largest companies and
financial institutions, we’re well versed in placing people across all
tax disciplines and levels in a complete cross section of clients.
Our treasury team recruits for UK PLC’s, financial institutions, a
broad range of multinational companies, Big 4 treasury advisory
teams and other consultancy firms. We particularly focus on senior
manager recruitment helping candidates at treasury manager and
senior analyst level through to group treasurer.
BREWER MORRIS

the BREWER MORRIS management team
Lead partner
Mark Pryor
Partner
E: markpryor@brewermorris.com
T: +44 (0)20 7332 2128
LEGAL & ACCOUNTING FIRMS
Mark Glubb
Group Manager
E: markglubb@brewermorris.com
T: +44 (0)20 7332 2126
commerce & FINANCIAL SERVICES
Matthew Gravelle
Partner
E: matthewgravelle@brewermorris.com
T: +44 (0)20 7332 2123
Asia-Pacific
Elspeth McAinsh
Associate Director
E: elspethmcainsh@brewermorris.com.au
T: +61 (0)2 9221 0099
Contact a member of the Brewer Morris team to discuss any aspects of this report; hiring tax talent for your team or making your next move.

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