Client Investment Tax Lead | Claremont | Pretoria | Sandton

The Recruitment Council; Sandton, Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services firm is looking for a Client Investment Tax Lead to ensure data integrity, tax reporting accuracy, and compliance. The role involves overseeing tax reporting for clients, managing compliance, and working with operations and technology teams. Candidates should have a BCom in Accounting and a strong understanding of financial products and tax regulations. This position is based in Sandton, Gauteng.

Qualifications

• Solid understanding of LISP products and financial instruments.
• Strong knowledge of tax regulations and accounting principles.
• Experience in tax reporting like IT3, PAYE, FATCA, CRS.

Responsibilities

• Support tax teams in accurate client tax reporting.
• Oversee tax deduction calculations for share portfolios.
• Manage IRS Qualified Intermediary compliance.

Skills

Tax reporting

Data analysis

Attention to detail

Understanding of financial products

Education

BCom Accounting or equivalent

HDip Tax or Postgraduate Tax qualification

Tools

SQL

Advanced Excel

Job description

Overview

A leading financial services firm is seeking a highly analytical and detail-oriented Client Investment Tax Lead to drive data integrity, tax reporting accuracy, and compliance across multiple investment platforms. This role plays a key part in designing and executing data quality controls and ensuring timely and accurate tax submissions across both in-house and outsourced platforms.

Responsibilities

• Client and Product Tax Oversight:
  • Support the Operations and Tax teams in ensuring accurate client tax reporting, including IT3 reporting, withholding tax, PAYE, and life company five-fund tax.
  • Develop and execute comprehensive test plans for tax reports such as:
    • IT3(b), IT3(c)
    • IRP5 and IT3(a) (payroll-related)
  • Conduct continuous monitoring of data for quality issues, escalating and driving remediation within operational teams.
  • Review business rules, forms, and system inputs to ensure alignment with tax reporting requirements.
  • Oversee and test PAYE calculations and payroll submissions for Living Annuity income.
  • Validate SARS directive deductions and ensure proper payroll reporting.
  • Review and test:
    • Capital gains/losses calculations
    • Complex corporate actions
    • False disposal cases (e.g., fund class switches, transfers)
    • Fund income distributions and dividends
• Endowment and Sinking Fund Tax Reviews:
  • Oversee tax deduction calculations for share portfolios (PSPs) in endowment structures.
  • Review and test capital gains tax calculations and end-of-year adjustments.
  • Assist in testing system changes impacting client and five-fund tax.
• Offshore Platform Tax Compliance (PWP):
  • Manage IRS Qualified Intermediary (QI) compliance including:
    • 1042, 1042-S, and 1099 filings
    • Withholding tax testing and validation
    • Data collation and submissions (in collaboration with Guernsey)
• FATCA & CRS Compliance:
  • Develop and implement a FATCA/CRS data testing programme.
  • Identify and remediate data issues with operations teams.
  • Submit accurate FATCA/CRS reports to SARS and Guernsey (via IGOR system).

Qualifications

• BCom Accounting or equivalent.
• HDip Tax or Postgraduate Tax qualification.

Experience & Competencies

• Solid understanding of financial products, including:
  • LISP products: discretionary investments, RAs, living annuities, preservation funds, TFSA, endowment policies
  • Financial instruments: unit trusts, ETFs, direct shares
• Strong knowledge of tax regulations and accounting principles
• Experience in tax reporting (IT3, PAYE, FATCA, CRS, IRS QI)
• Proficient in data analysis and testing:
  • SQL and advanced Excel
  • Able to design test scenarios, identify anomalies, and resolve data issues
• Experience with outsourced platforms (e.g., Peresec) and international filings is a plus

Personal Attributes

• Highly analytical and numerate
• Structured and logical thinker
• Proactive and self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership
• Comfortable working across tax, operations, and technology teams