Promising Career Outlook for Young Tax Professionals

Young tax professionals have excellent career prospects, with high employability and competitive salaries. Tax advisory firms anticipate a growing demand for tax professionals in the near future. Here, we summarize the key findings and industry trends that highlight the favorable outlook for young tax professionals.

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Strong Career Prospects

The labor market for young academic tax professionals is highly favorable. They secure significant positions within a month of graduation, outperforming their peers in other fields. These professionals often have permanent contracts and earn relatively high salaries even 15 months and ten years after graduation. However, those with a bachelor's degree in taxation typically take around six months to find substantial employment and have lower job prospects and wages compared to other bachelor's degree holders. Many graduates with a bachelor's degree pursue a master's degree due to the significant wage gap between the two levels, which widens further ten years after graduation.

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Industry Trends

Most entry-level tax professionals find jobs in specialized business services. This trend has been increasing for bachelor's degree holders in taxation and remains stable for tax economists while slightly declining for tax jurists. Within the specialized business services sector, tax economists with a master's degree often find employment in firms specializing in financial statement audits. Around one-third of bachelor's degree holders in taxation start their careers at registered accountants' firms, but they also work in accounting and administrative offices. Over the past four years, there has been a growing interest in tax professionals from both bachelor's and master's degree holders in these offices. While over 40% of tax economists with a master's degree and approximately one-third of bachelor's degree holders in taxation work in large firms (employing over 2,000 employees) in the Netherlands, there has been a shift towards medium-sized enterprises for these professionals. Tax jurists are increasingly seeking employment in small businesses.

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Increased Outflow

The number of tax jurists graduating from academic programs has significantly increased, driven in part by students from other disciplines pursuing a master's degree in tax law. Additionally, there has been a notable rise in the outflow of tax jurists and (university) tax economists from academic programs in fiscal economics and taxation. While the outflow of tax jurists is expected to slightly increase in the coming years, the outflow of (university) tax economists is likely to decrease. The enrollment of first-year students in the finance tax and advice program at the bachelor's level has declined over the past five years.

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Diversity and Changing Dynamics

Tax professionals differ from other higher education students in various aspects. Although predominantly male, the percentage of males in tax law and taxation programs has decreased. Tax professionals also come from families with lower rates of higher education backgrounds. Interestingly, the bachelor's degree program in taxation is relatively popular among students with a migration background. University-level tax professionals often have part-time jobs during their final year of study but participate in internships less frequently.

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Increasing Demand

Nearly all tax advisory firms expect a significant increase in the demand for academically trained tax professionals in the upcoming year. Many firms also anticipate a greater need for bachelor's degree holders in taxation and highly educated professionals outside the tax advisory field. This positive outlook is a notable shift from five years ago when 31% of firms expected a decrease in the demand for bachelor's degree holders in taxation. Moreover, 91% of firms have observed an increase in the influx of highly educated professionals pursuing careers beyond tax advisory. These professionals typically come from business economics and technology/IT programs, specializing in areas such as Transfer Pricing, Tax Technology, and Global Compliance.

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This article is based on the 2022 report conducted by the Dutch Association of Tax Advisors in collaboration with SEO.