7 key skills that you need to succeed as an in-house indirect tax professional

As an in-house indirect tax professional, it all falls on you to navigate your business through the complex and ever-changing landscape of laws, regulations, and digital movements across the likes of VAT, GST, and customs.

While technical expertise can certainly influence your chances of success in an in-house role, to truly optimise this you’ll need to tap into a set of skills and attributes that go beyond tax knowledge.?

If in-house career progression and making a positive impact is important to you, it’s essential that you’re dialing in on your soft skills to really bolster your chances of success. We spoke to our network of in-house tax professionals to ask them what skills one needs to succeed in an in-house indirect tax role and here’s what they said:

1. Communication, communication, communication: Tax is a complex subject, and you need to be able to translate the complex to the simple. As an in-house indirect tax professional, you’ll be interacting with stakeholders from various backgrounds and levels of expertise, including other non-tax colleagues, Finance Directors, CEOs, tax authorities, IT, and lawyers. Being able to communicate complex tax concepts in a clear and understandable manner is absolutely crucial in ensuring tax has a voice in the organisation. And the better you can do this, the easier it will be for you to convey your ideas, build relationships, and have strong visibility in the business.
2. How you carry yourself: Effective communication will always be a fundamental skill but another attribute that massively compliments your ability to communicate and put tax on the map are your interpersonal skills. While ‘tax’ is increasingly becoming a more dominant and visible function in organisations, it has for many years been in the shadows of the wider finance team. So to effectively establish and maintain relationships with stakeholders, navigate conflicts, and collaborate with cross-departmental colleagues, it is critical that you are always sharpening your interpersonal skills to efficiently network with your stakeholders. The greater you become at harnessing and leveraging relationships, the more successful you’ll be as an in-house indirect tax professional.
3. Tenacity, adaptability, and being robust: In-house tax professionals face changing regulations, evolving business strategies, and shifting priorities. Being able to adapt to these changes and find solutions in a dynamic environment is essential. Navigating the ever changing complexities of the indirect tax system is one thing, but you’re bound to work with stakeholders who are yet to see the value of what indirect tax teams do. You need to be tenacious, adaptable, and robust if you want to be heard. And if you are heard, you have the opportunity to really be successful. But if your voice is drowned out, then you risk being a cog in the machine.
4. Accepting ownership & accountability: Unlike working as an external consultant where you come in and out of projects, in-house indirect tax professionals are there for the full end-to-end journey. You feel the pain, you find the problem, you implement the solution, and you deal with the outcome. Sometimes this can go your way and be incredibly fulfilling, other times it can go array. Whatever the outcome, the buck stops with you. And for many of you in-house indirect tax professionals - like other niche tax roles like customs or transfer pricing - you’re likely to be the only indirect tax representative in the business. Whether you’re in a standalone role or part of a team, taking ownership of your work and being accountable for the outcomes is paramount..
5. Always sharpening your commercial acumen: One of the common reasons why indirect tax professionals choose to leave practice is because they don’t want to be “bogged down with commercial duties” and just want to “focus on tax”. Well, I hate to break it to you but working in-house can, in many ways, be even more commercial than being an external consultant. As an external consultant, you give the best advice you can from an indirect tax perspective. But as an in-house tax professional, the needs of the business always come first. This means that you might have to implement a terrible strategy from an indirect tax perspective if there are greater benefits elsewhere for the business. It’s a case of theoretical versus practical application of knowledge. Therefore, understanding the company's operations, strategies, and financial goals is essential to provide the most commercial tax advice and support. In addition, as your job is to align indirect tax strategies with the overall business objectives, you’ll need to constantly be sharpening your commercialism. That means networking (internally and externally), developing business, and always looking to identify opportunities. So if you’re wanting to ditch the commercial duties, think twice about what in-house role you sign up for.
6. The devil is in the detail: Tax compliance and advice requires meticulous attention to detail to ensure accuracy and timely reporting. Your job is to ensure that the company's tax obligations are met, knowing that any errors or discrepancies may have serious consequences. Being thorough, detail-oriented, and diligent in analysing tax data is critical to avoid potential compliance issues.?
7. ABL (Always Be Learning): We all know that indirect tax laws and regulations are constantly evolving, so it’s a given that you need to be staying abreast of these changes. However the profession is changing, too, with smarter and more effective ways of working continuously being discussed. Some of the most successful in-house indirect tax leaders that we work with all share a similar trait: they’re progressive. It’s a dangerous mantra to say “we’ve always done it this way” and, in a tax era where data and processes are king, failing to evolve can have ramifications on the business. So, you may not be an expert in certain areas of transformation, but keeping a progressive attitude and ensuring that you’re keeping abreast of industry trends, attending professional development programs, networking with your peers, and pursuing relevant certifications will help you keep ahead of the curve

So you want to have a successful in-house career? There you have it: seven key soft skills that you can always fine tune.

We have many candidates that move into an in-house environment for an easy life. Don’t get us wrong, in general, the work-life balance can often be better than professional services and there are many roles out there that come without significant pressure. However, for those that are serious about progressing your career and working at a senior level, you must appreciate that the in-house profession is a different beast and achieving success is not going to be a walk in the park.

We’d love to know what key skills we’ve missed. Let us know in the comments below! ??