tax professional Newcastle upon Tyne, England
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Job summary
HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for the department’s civil and criminal investigations.
FIS ensures that HMRC has an effective approach to tackling the most serious tax evasion and fraud. FIS is home to a wide range of people with a variety of skills and professional backgrounds – including accountants, cybercrime specialists, criminal justice professionals, tax professionals and operational delivery support teams to name but a few.
We use a range of powers and approaches to protect funding for UK public services, investigating the most harmful tax cheats and helping to ensure that nobody is beyond our reach.
The Economic Crime (EC) deputy directorate forms an integral part of the HMRC Serious Fraud Strategy. Working closely across the department and the wider Law Enforcement community, using specialist expertise and modern technology we put illicit finance at the centre of operations. Our teams tackle the financial aspects of cases that will ultimately deter, disrupt and remove assets from tax fraudsters.
See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Job description
The successful candidate will be working in a team employing imaginative methods and taking a vigorous approach, using all applicable taxation powers to tax profits or gains from illegal activity.
You will be providing high quality technical and operational input to a variety of civil and criminal cases aimed at disrupting fraudulent activity, and targeting the recovery of criminal assets.
This can be a wide-ranging role: one day they might be being cross-examined in Crown Court about calculations they’ve completed in support of a criminal case; the next they might be scrutinising a VAT repayment claim for evidence of fraud or taking counsel through the legislation and evidence which supports the raising of a VAT assessment against a seriously non-compliant trader, as part of a targeted civil recovery strategy.
Person specification
The successful candidate will be acting as allocated Indirect Tax lead on significant civil and criminal cases.
- You will be responsible for providing technical advice to colleagues on risks, using knowledge, judgement, and experience to make sound recommendations on complex/contentious issues.
- You will take ownership for the progression of the VAT/Indirect side of the case, up to and including making assessments, and preparing statements to support them in court and/or Tribunal. This will include supporting recovery and enforcement strategies for liabilities established. Such cases may include, but are not limited to, Supply Chain and Organised Labour Fraud (OLF) cases.
- You will play a leading role in developing a clear understanding of themes, identifying risks and emerging trends to inform the overall picture of VAT and other Indirect Tax risk in the Economic Crime customer base.
The role will include you contributing to the development and delivery of up-to-date technical training and guidance for Indirect Tax in conjunction with product and process owners and other stakeholders.
By taking a senior role within Economic Crime, you will also;
- Support and coach colleagues across FIS, EC and the wider HMRC, including mentoring other Investigators and trainees and sharing expertise.
- Liaise with other Law Enforcement Agencies, promoting the use of civil tax interventions, providing advice and support on indirect tax (predominantly VAT related) issues Advising as to whether case is suitable for civil or criminal intervention.
Candidates must be/or be willing to obtain SC clearance.
Essential Criteria;
- Applicants must be fully VAT trained - eg VAT Routeway/VAT Foundation Training/Basic VAT Training or equivalent, or be able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and understanding gained through experience.
- Applicants must have comprehensive recent experience of working in a VAT compliance role (excluding training periods), where that has involved carrying out face-to-face compliance interventions (eg full VAT assurance visits, criminal investigations) into non-compliant customers.
- Applicants must display confidence and ability to rapidly make VAT assessments, in line with statutory requirements, on basis of limited evidence, as part of a fast-paced (and rapidly changing) investigatory environment.
- Applicants must have a knowledge and understanding of, and experience of the practical application of, VAT legislation.
Desirable criteria;
- Up-to-date knowledge of current VAT case-working practices and systems.
- Experience of working on involved VAT casework or issues.
- Knowledge of a non-VAT Indirect Tax regime.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Leadership
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- At interview, we will test your VAT technical knowledge in accordance with Level 3 of “Application of Tax Powers” in the Tax Competency Framework. (Please see attached document).
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Personal Statement up to 750 words, which demonstrates how you meet the Essential Criteria and what you and your experience can bring to the role. Your Personal Statement will be scored.
You will also be asked to provide examples up to 250 words each on three behaviours;
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Leadership
In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift may be completed against the Personal Statement and the lead behaviour Delivering at Pace. If your application progresses to a full sift, the remaining Behaviours on your application will then be assessed.
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
Candidates successful at sift, will be invited to the next stage, which will consist of a blended interview of behavioural and strength-based questions.
At interview, we will also test your VAT technical knowledge in accordance with Level 3 of 'Application of Tax Powers' in the Tax Competency Framework. (Please see attached document).
In the event of tied scores, the merit order will be determined on the overall score, then the scores of each element of the Success Profiles being considered.
Interview will be held via MS Teams.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Eligibility
To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please review the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact [email protected] as soon as possible.
Diversity and Inclusion
At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.
For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Locations
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
Security Update
For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks
Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.
Further Information
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process.
Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.
Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk
Problems during the application process
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact [email protected] at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.
Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 299683 - & vacancy closing date 11/08/2023. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
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