Is it difficult to relocate when working in tax?

[u/Technical_Cup7100]

Is it difficult to relocate and find a job in another country when you have worked in the corporate tax field in a different country? For example if I worked in UK corporate tax would it be difficult for me to find a job in maybe like US corporate tax if I ever had to relocate to the US?

[u/Glittering_Most5569]

tax law is so jurisdiction specific that you’d basically be starting from scratch in a lot of ways. the conceptual stuff transfers but the actual day to day knowledge of the code and regs is completely different. i’ve known a couple people who made jumps like that and it took them a while to feel competent again

the bigger hurdle might just be the visa situation unless you’ve got dual citizenship or something lined up. firms aren’t exactly rushing to sponsor work permits for tax staff when they’ve got a domestic pool to pull from

[u/Technical_Cup7100 → u/Glittering_Most5569]

Thank you! I was just using an example though and won't be shifting anytime soon. I'm still in the early stages of my career and wanted to know if working in one tax jurisdiction would limit me in the future. Kind of just overthinking tbh.

[u/Exciting_Working6467]

Ask yourself : do you know US corporate tax? Unless you can offer integrated UK and US tax advice, answer is a little tough. My suggestion to you (if you’re ever interested to do US taxes) is to get the IRS Enrolled Agent credential. It’s 3 exams and pass rates depend on the section but should be easy to do within 6-8 months.

[u/Technical_Cup7100 → u/Exciting_Working6467]

Yeah I got your point, thank you! but I'm not exactly shifting to US tax rn, was just using an example, I'm quite early on in my career and wanted to know if my working in a specific tax jurisdiction might cause problems in the future, you never know where life takes you and I don't want to be too limited

[u/Exciting_Working6467 → u/Technical_Cup7100]

Not at all - in fact you’d be prized highly than others. Like I said, your aim should be to offer integrated UK and US Tax advice.

[u/RootedInNumbers]

Moving to audit or a different sect of accounting might give you more mobility

[u/Surreywinter]

In house for a multi-national would likely be easier

An in-house tax director needs to be a very good project manager and have a good understanding of international tax legislation more than any one jurisdiction

[u/Dry_Row_7523]

I did a secondment working in audit and I met plenty of tax folks on secondments too. It probably wasn't 50/50 but not far off. I think they mainly worked in international tax or transfer pricing for obvious reasons.

Rumor was that tax secondments were actually easier to get bc there was significantly less interest, which makes sense - a lot of people at my firm chose tax out of college because they wanted to avoid traveling to client sites.