#PeopleBehindPayroll
Current position?
I work the Dublin office in Immedis as a Global Tax and Payroll Manager
The job that launched my career in tax?
My career in tax started when I applied for work experience in an accountancy firm. After that I went on to complete exams and become a Junior Accountant with TaxAssist Accountants for four years, training my own team who also successfully passed their exams.
I really enjoyed working in tax compliance and Payroll which lead to the decision to apply for a role in the Taxback Group and then into Immedis from there.
You never know what some work experience will lead you to!
Why I chose to work in tax?
I love learning about the changing Tax obligations in each country & jurisdiction.
Making sure and knowing that companies and their employees are tax compliant gives me a sense of ease for some reason!
What I’m working on today?
Currently we’re in the height of the busiest time of the year – Irish and Belgian tax return deadlines. I’ve spent the last 6 hours reviewing tax returns. Now I am going to move on to planning for the 2020 Tax deadlines.
There’s always something to do and its always busy – I love it
What I bring to international/country tax industry?
I think there are a couple of things I bring to the team and to the industry.
Firstly it’s the passion to keep learning. I learn until I understand the tax implementations and obligations in all aspects of tax compliance where ever I can. I find it so interesting and there’s always something new to learn.
Secondly, for me its all about the people. It’s easy to lose sight of that sometimes but I always think behind every single tax form, deadline, tax query etc is a person. That’s what really matters. This is someone’s tax from their paycheck which they’ve worked hard for. It’s someone’s livelihood and ultimately it puts food on their table.
I put myself in our client’s and their employee’s shoes and think ‘’OK if this was me, what would be the questions I would ask here?’’ and then I relay the information back in plain English.
Tax isn’t easy to understand sometimes so I take pride in making sure its easy to digest and simple to understand.
So really, I guess I bring the human aspect to tax as well as a passion to keep advancing and learning more.
My defining career moment/high point?
A career defining moment for me was when I successfully passed my Chartered Tax Consultant exams while under a tight work load and having taken on two new countries payrolls -which ran smoothly by the way!
It’s always a defining moment for me when I push myself really hard and then succeed. Its addictive!
My toughest career challenge in tax?
One of the toughest career challenges for me sometimes can be overcoming the language barrier with some countries. Luckily for me we have a lot of multilingual speakers here at Immedis that can help me out when I need it.
My colleague’s skills never cease to amaze me!
My biggest industry influence?
In all honestly the main influencers are my colleagues here at Immedis. I admire their drive and passion for the company and as I said above, they have so many different talents.
Its hard not to be inspired by them.
Best tax & payroll innovation/development?
I’ve been with Immedis since its inception and to see what we have developed with our payroll platform, the Immedis platform the last three years has been amazing.
I know first-hand how it has really helped the way we work and the reporting that our clients needed for so long.
Insider scoop, the best is yet to come! Just wait and see…
My ambition/vision?
One day I want to be a Global Tax Consultant.
Where do you see tax & payroll five years from now?
I think Immedis will be the ‘go to’ company for Global Tax and Payroll.
In terms of technology and automation etc, as long as people are paying tax, it will never be an area that will be automated by technology completely. There will always be a human element to it – there has to be.
Technology certainly makes our lives a lot easier but it means we have more time to focus on the people side of tax like answering queries or ensuring someone is being taxed correctly because of unusual circumstances.
An interesting fact about me…
Not even some of my closest colleagues know this but I was a hairdresser before I got into tax.
Now everyone will want their hair done for our office parties!
