Tax Compliance Senior officer

Description

Summary: The Firm Tax team is a part of the PwC Middle East Group’s OneFinance function. The team supports on all levels of the firm’s tax activity and is organized into three (3) subfunctions: Compliance & Audit; Governance & Risk; and Legal & Tax Advisory. This role is intended to support the Compliance & Audit subfunction.

The ME Firm Tax Compliance & Audit Senior Associate’s role is for a tax accountant who is responsible for handling tax activities for the PwC ME Group entities under the supervision of the ME Firm Tax Compliance & Audit (Subfunction) Lead and working together with the wider Firm Tax team as well as finance tax specialists across the ME region.

The main focus of the tax accountant is to support the Compliance & Audit subfunction in all tax compliance and audit related matters for the region. This includes optimising PwC’s tax position, minimising tax leakage, managing tax risks, and understanding the tax implications of cross border transactions and the business operating model.

Specifically, this will require data collection, validation and preparation of various tax compliance and reporting requirements across the region. Activities and responsibilities will include:

1. Preparation of corporate income tax, withholding tax (WHT) and value added tax (VAT) returns.
2. Preparation of responses to tax authority audits and inquiries.
3. Responding to tax related questions posed by other internal firm services (IFS) functions as well as, at times, client-facing (Line of Service (LoS)) teams on tax issues encountered in their day to day operations.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Compliance

1. Prepare corporate income tax returns for the PwC ME Group entities for review by the Firm Tax Compliance & Audit (subfunction) Lead, ensuring submission deadlines are adhered to.
2. Prepare WHT returns for the PwC ME Group entities for review by the Firm Tax Compliance & Audit (subfunction) Lead, ensuring submission deadlines are adhered to.
3. Prepare VAT returns for the PwC ME Group entities for review by the Firm Tax Compliance & Audit (subfunction) Lead, ensuring submission deadlines are adhered to.

Reconcile tax to statutory accounts.

Reconcile and validate accounts and accounting entries as required (including payroll taxes, customs and excise duties, stamp duty, etc).

Deliver internal analysis/reports to Firm Tax Compliance & Audit (subfunction) Lead, flagging key risks, exposures etc., as well as tax opportunities.

Work with the wider Firm Tax team and local Tax LoS Specialists to understand tax laws and regulations in various jurisdictions within the Middle East.

Responsible for guiding transactions within the wider OneFinance team to optimise the management of tax liabilities.

Audit

Provide inputs for all tax audits conducted by Firm Tax / Global Team / External Auditors.

Other

1. Organize and conduct special analysis as required.
2. Assist with effective tax training and appropriate support for the business.
3. Consolidate, analyse and challenge tax report inputs from LoS/local teams/other finance teams as appropriate.
4. Be actively involved in business development activities to help identify and solve complex tax challenges.
5. Refine tax policy and procedure documentation and ensure proper implementation and adherence across the ME Group.
6. Develop strong working relationships and interface with all stakeholders across the ME Group.
7. Be actively involved in and a positive influence on team recruiting, development, training and retention.

Learning & Growth

Form part of both the local finance community, regional tax community as well as global tax experts’ community, and maintain appropriate relationships across the tax spectrum.

Have the capabilities to deliver responsibilities efficiently.

Capture templates and standards into a repository to build the team's own knowledge management database.

Ensure adherence to policies and procedures.

Responsible for the continuing professional development of self.

Support internal knowledge management best practices, creating communities of practice both within your own team and across the wider function.

Act as a key tax resource and liaison to the Firm Tax Team and where relevant to other areas of the business, building cross-functional relationships as needed.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Law or a related field required.

Certified Tax Accountant, Certified Practicing Accountant or similar.

Language

Bi-lingual English / Arabic. Fluency in written and spoken English & Arabic.

Overall Experience

3+ years of tax experience. Previous experience with corporate tax, withholding tax, VAT and payroll is required. An understanding of other taxes would be an advantage.

Specific Experience

Must have tax corporate income tax accounting and compliance experience. Experience in the Professional Services industry in a top tier (Big 4) firm would be an advantage.

Knowledge and Skills

1. Understanding of general/international accounting standards and practices.
2. High level of analytical and quantitative ability required to perform complex financial and transactional tax and accounting functions and ad hoc reporting functions, including proficiency with computer based modelling and analytic techniques.
3. Ability to adhere to procedures, controls and policies for functional areas of responsibility.
4. Organization, thoroughness, eye for detail, time management skills and proactivity required.
5. Excellent people management skills required.
6. Strong verbal and written communication skills required to effectively work with professional resources in accounting areas.
7. Ethical conduct.

Required Skills

Income Taxation, Income Tax Return, Tax Withholding, VAT Returns.

Optional Skills

Accepting Feedback, Accounting Practices, Active Listening, Analytical Thinking, Communication, Corporate Tax Planning, Creativity, Drafting Tax Documents, Embracing Change, Emotional Regulation, Empathy, Financial Audit, Financial Review, Financial Statement Analysis, Inclusion, Intellectual Curiosity, Learning Agility, Monitoring and Analyzing Financial Trends, Optimism, Preparing Tax Documents, Project Management, Regulatory Compliance Consulting, Regulatory Submissions Filing.

Travel Requirements

Up to 20%

Available for Work Visa Sponsorship?

Government Clearance Required?

Job Posting End Date