KPMG's Japan Practice in Tax

As more and more companies operate in global markets, the demand for tax professionals with an international outlook has increased greatly. KPMG’s global network is at the forefront of meeting this demand, and KPMG in the UK’s Japan Practice in Tax focuses on assisting the UK firm’s Japanese clients on the wide range of issues that can affect their European operations.

What will I do?

While enjoying access to the same high-quality training and opportunities as other Tax graduates with KPMG in the UK, you will concentrate on a number of our firms' Japanese clients that have a major European presence. You will be based in our London offices, and can expect to be involved in the following activities:

• assisting in the day-to-day running of the Japanese Tax client portfolio and managing your own workload to ensure all work is completed to the set timescales 

• working effectively with KPMG’s Japanese Tax team across a wide variety of levels, and liaising with other departments and offices in KPMG’s global network

• answering day-to-day queries from clients by telephone and in writing, developing strong relationships with client HR contacts and expatriates in order to become a reliable point of contact

• directly contacting Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to obtain and submit information, often relating to tax investigations

• operating a compliance programme, including personal tax returns and counselling services for international assignees

• providing international social security advice

• studying for professional qualifications

• taking part in various internal training sessions

Your professional development and qualifications

KPMG is the only professional services organisation to have its own Tax Business School®. Founded in 1996, the school is widely respected and recognised within the taxation industry.   As well as conducting its own research, the business school also provides specialist training for our people and our clients.  All your training will be undertaken by dedicated KPMG Tax Business School® tutors at KPMG Tax Business School®, London.

From September 2010 KPMG Tax Business School® are changing their current dual qualification (CA/CTA) programme into a new intensive nine month training programme, to be run at the Tax Business School in London.  This programme will be attended by all our new tax graduate entrants on joining the UK firm.

Julie Morgan, founder of the KPMG Tax Business School®, says, ‘Our underlying philosophy is to impart and exchange professional knowledge by providing the highest quality business-based tax education and tax-focused research. This is underpinned by an ethos which equips people to use their knowledge in a consistently professional way in all their business dealings.’

KPMG’s Tax practice is also different in that we encourage our graduate trainees to take two valuable qualifications, rather than just the normal one. In our programme, you’ll be studying for a joint "ICAS" (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) and "CIOT" (Chartered Institute of Taxation) qualification.

It is a demanding course of study – but it’s one which gives you a breadth of skills across business, accountancy and tax.  However, rest assured there will be holiday and self study included in this programme:

In nine months, you should have completed all your exams to become both a Chartered Accountant (CA) and a Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) with the exception of the final ICAS TPE paper which you will sit in your final year.  You should then become fully qualified in both of these when you have achieved the required three years’ practical experience.

For more information on both qualifications, see http://www.icas.org.uk/ and http://www.tax.org.uk/.

Who are we looking for?

First and foremost, we are looking for people who want a career in business and recognise the value of a tax qualification. However, in KPMG in the UK’s Japan Practice in Tax, we are also looking for a number of important extra qualities.

Language skills are crucial, both in English (TOEIC 900 or equivalent) and Japanese (Japanese language proficiency test level 3, or equivalent). Just as important will be strong academic ability: the professional exams for Tax are demanding, so good intellectual ability and genuine career focus are essential for success.

We would also like you to have some international experience, perhaps gained through a year abroad as part of your degree, or through travelling on your gap year. Equally, you could be an international student currently living in the UK, or an overseas student keen to train in the UK. Whatever your background, you’ll need the international mindset and confidence to work in global business and seize opportunities while adapting to a new culture.

How do I apply?

To apply for this position, you will need to follow the normal process for UK graduates by completing the online application form which can be found on this site. If your initial application is successful, you will be asked to complete our online numerical and verbal reasoning tests, and you will then be invited to a first interview. The first interview will include a non-technical translation exercise. The final stage of the recruitment process is an assessment centre at one of our offices. For further information on the recruitment process, please go to our 'How to Apply' section.