Australian Tax Advisory – Senior Associate

Grant Thornton Global Capability Services Philippines; Makati; On-site; PHP 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Grant Thornton Global Capability Services Philippines is seeking a senior tax professional to support our Australian Private Tax Advisory team. You will handle technical groundwork, engage in in-depth Australian tax research and prepare draft advice for senior review.

Role focuses on advisory work rather than compliance, collaborating with the Australian engagement team to understand client facts and requirements, and delivering well-supported tax workpapers and recommendations on a project

Qualifications

• Senior professional with 3 to 4 years Australian tax experience in a professional services or tax advisory environment.
• Experience undertaking Australian tax research and applying tax law to client circumstances.
• Experience across Australian private business and corporate tax matters, incl. Division 7A, CGT, business structures, and tax consequences.

Responsibilities

• Understand client facts, commercial objectives and the tax questions requiring advice.
• Undertake detailed Australian tax research using sources such as ATO materials and recognised tax research platforms.
• Research and apply Australian tax legislation, guidance, rulings and case law to client circumstances.
• Prepare clear and well-supported tax workpapers, setting out facts, law, analysis and conclusions.
• Prepare first drafts of tax advice, technical memos, client correspondence and other advisory deliverables for review by the Australian team.
• Analyse financial information and group structures to support tax analysis.
• Identify technical issues, information gaps and escalation needs.
• Maintain high standards of technical accuracy and documentation.

Skills

Australian tax experience

Australian tax research

Technical analysis

Written communication

Tools

CCH iKnow

Job description

We are looking for a candidate who has experience with Australian income tax to support our Private Tax Advisory team with the technical groundwork and preparation of Australian tax advisory engagements.

This is a tax advisory-focused role, rather than a tax compliance or return preparation role. The successful candidate will work closely with the Australian engagement team to understand client facts and requirements, undertake technical analysis and help develop advice and recommendations for senior review.

Work will be assigned on a project-by-project basis. The candidate will be provided with an overview of the project scope, budgeted hours and guidance on the specific areas to focus.

Key responsibilities

• Understand client facts, commercial objectives and the specific tax questions requiring advice.
• Undertake detailed Australian tax research using sources such as ATO materials, CCH iKnow, The Tax Institute and other recognised Australian tax research platforms.
• Research and apply relevant Australian tax legislation, ATO guidance, rulings and case law to client circumstances.
• Prepare clear and well-supported technical tax workpapers, setting out the facts, relevant law, analysis and conclusions.
• Prepare first drafts of tax advice, technical memo, client correspondence and other advisory deliverables for review by the Australian team.
• Analyse financial information, transactions and group structures where required to support the tax analysis.
• Identify technical issues, assumptions, information gaps and areas requiring further investigation or escalation.
• Maintain a high standard of technical accuracy, attention to detail and documentation.

What we are looking for

• Senior professional with 3 to 4 years strong Australian tax experience, ideally gained in a professional services or tax advisory environment.
• Demonstrated experience undertaking Australian tax research and applying tax law to practical client circumstances.
• Practical experience across Australian private business and corporate tax matters will be highly valued, particularly in areas such as:

• Division 7A, including loans, payments, distributable surplus and complying loan arrangements;
• CGT and CGT rollover provisions, including corporate and business restructures;
• business and investment structures, including companies, discretionary trusts, unit trusts and partnerships;
• tax-effective restructures and succession arrangements, including the application of available rollover relief;
• trust taxation, including distributions, trust losses and family trust considerations;
• small business CGT concessions; and
• the tax implications of business sales, acquisitions, restructures and other commercial transactions.

• Ability to understand a fact pattern, identify the relevant tax issues, undertake the research and develop a reasoned technical position, rather than simply locating and summarising legislation.
• Strong written communication and ability to prepare clear, logically structured tax workpapers and draft advice.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen, including an ability to understand financial statements and commercial transactions.
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work.
• Ability to work independently while recognising when an issue should be discussed or escalated.
• Experience in corporate/ private business/private client tax advisory would be highly regarded.

In simple terms, we are looking for someone who can take:

Facts and question → identify the issues → research the law → apply the law to the facts → document the analysis → prepare the first draft of the advice.