Tax Professionals: How Overseas Experience Can Accelerate Career Growth

In a globalised economy, international experience is important for tax professionals to ensure that they accelerate career growth. Securing a position abroad allows you to step outside of your comfort zone and widen your strategic horizons. International exposure is particularly important for tax professionals seeking partnership potential. At Mason Rak, we regularly discuss the global career options available for tax specialists to identify the best possible career move.

How many times have you explored tax opportunities overseas, whether on a mid-term or permanent basis? Have you ever considered a global tax role and thought: ‘What if?’ For tax professionals, moving overseas can present significant benefits.

Kevan Hall, chief executive of Global Integration, outlines the ‘power shift to Asia’ and tax ‘market growth in America and Europe’ as key factors for ambitious tax experts to consider when planning to move abroad. Understanding market intelligence and global strategic trends are key to deciding which jurisdiction is right for your career move.

Oleg Rak, our Managing Partner, regularly facilitates Director and Partner engagements overseas and observes that transfer pricing posts offer the most mobility. Indeed, international tax and transfer pricing has a fluidity in the global market because the legislation and approach are much the same across all jurisdictions. Moreover, whilst language-skills are beneficial, they are not often mandatory for these roles as communication and legislation are optimised for English language use.

Tax specialists moving overseas typically secure superior compensation, lifestyle benefits and advanced career progression. For instance, Indirect Tax is currently growing across the Middle East due to changes in legislation, and there is a high demand from emerging markets for well-trained tax professionals from the USA, Europe, and Australia. Tax professionals from advanced jurisdictions are moving to seek upside potential, build world-class tax teams and service clients across the region.

Securing a role overseas allows tax professionals to develop an extensive global network and competitive advantage. International experience demonstrates that you are able to successfully integrate with different cultures and develop an international perspective which is regarded highly by employers. In order to make the most of the opportunity, expats should remain open-minded and resilient in order to cope with a new cultural context and intensive work demands. We recommend that tax professionals have specific goals that they are working towards when they move overseas, and at least two exit strategies to ensure a smooth transition upon returning home.

The current climate stimulates globalisation, presenting an excellent opportunity for the successful servicing of clients remotely. At Mason Rak, we believe that this trend reflects a new era for the industry and an increased demand for professionals to service clients globally. This will help to simplify the process of relocation, as client meetings migrate to virtual video conferences on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other social media channels.

Over the last few months, we have witnessed our clients successfully implement virtual communication channels for their global workforce and client communication. This rapid change harnesses the international scope that Mason Rak has been pioneering since our inception, supporting key stakeholders and tax leaders with building tax teams across the globe.

Mason Rak is a specialist tax search firm renowned for tax market intelligence, thought leadership initiatives and global reach. If you would like to have an in-depth discussion about the global tax market, please don’t hesitate to contact Oleg Rak, Managing Partner, on [email protected] or call +44 786 911 3281.

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    INQUIRE

    United States

    Successfully identified the following individuals for global professional accountancy and law firms in New York, San Francisco (Silicon Valley), Chicago, Dallas and Houston:

    • Head of International Tax
    • Transfer Pricing Partner
    • International Tax Partner
    • Transaction Tax Partner
    • Transfer Pricing Director
    • Head of Transfer Pricing (Law Firm)
    • Transfer Pricing Partner
    • Transaction Tax Partner

    UK

    Successfully placed the following roles within leading professional accountancy and law firms:

    • Transfer Pricing Partner
    • Indirect Tax Partner 
    • Transfer Pricing Partner 
    • Transaction Tax Director 
    • Tax Disputes Director
    • Tax Legal Director

    Germany

    Mandated to strategically growth Tax business for several international and domestic  professional services and law firms in Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf:

    • Expatriate Tax Director
    • Transfer Pricing Partner
    • Real Estate Tax Senior Manager
    • Transfer Pricing Manager 
    • Transaction Tax Director 
    • Transfer Pricing Director
    • Transfer Pricing Team Move 
    • Indirect Tax Partner 

    Luxembourg

    Over 25 mandates completed for professional services and law firms  including:

    • Head of Transfer Pricing 
    • Financial Services Tax Director 
    • International Tax Partner (Law Firm)
    • M&A Tax Senior Manager 
    • International Tax Director
    • Indirect Tax Partner
    • Tax Legal Partner

    United Arab Emirates

    Engaged on a transformation search project to identify the Tax Leadership team for the  professional services tax team across the UAE market:

    • Head of Tax
    • Head of Transfer Pricing
    • and Head of Indirect Tax
    • Expatriate Tax Director 
    • Head of Financial Services Tax major international professional services firm in Abu Dhabi

    Hong Kong

    Successfully identified an International Tax Director and Financial Services TP Head for leading professional services firms.