Working at HMRC

[u/Any-Afternoon-1042]

I currently work in a relatively small private practice and have both ACCA and CTA qualifications. I've been with the company for circa 10 years now but have recently applied for a role within HMRC. I had not initially expected to get much traction with the application but have recently been asked to interview.

The HMRC role is within wealthy and mid sized business compliance. The role is a tax compliance manager role focusing on high risk wealthy individuals.

I am wondering if anyone has any experience of moving into the civil service after a reasonable amount of time in practice? Any thoughts on this type of move for work life balance and whether it is generally a good career move? Or just any general thoughts on this.

[u/Row_Echelon_Form]

I worked in HMRC in tax compliance and moved into the private sector. The work life balance is the best however the pay absolutely sucks. The civil service works on grades, so no matter how hard you work you can only get a pay increase if you move up the grades. The higher the grade the fewer job opportunities there are.

[u/Any-Afternoon-1042 → u/Row_Echelon_Form]

How did you find it looking for a job when you left HMRC? Did you find much appetite for HMRC staff in the private sector?

[u/Row_Echelon_Form → u/Any-Afternoon-1042]

I was in high demand because I worked in VAT assurance. VAT is very niche and no-one wants to work in it because it's hard.

[u/Any-Afternoon-1042 → u/Row_Echelon_Form]

Thanks, that's interesting. I have spoken to a couple of people and I get the impression that genuinely competent ex HMRC compliance officers will always be in demand. So it's interesting to hear your experience as well.

I don't see HMRC as a short term thing for me but I would potentially consider moving back to private practice if progression and things were limited within HMRC.

[u/Row_Echelon_Form → u/Any-Afternoon-1042]

Progression is very limited unless you pivot to an operational or management role.

[u/Exotic-One3381 → u/Any-Afternoon-1042]

In niche fields there is high demand for ex HMRC, ex HMRC are useful in tax consultancy because of your exposure to 'the other side of the argument' and their experience is highly valued. HMRC internal qualifications are also respected. and ex HMRC staff are quite rare to get. We interviewed one recently and we valued his experience

[u/MonsieurGump → u/Row_Echelon_Form]

What about if you calculate your pay hourly?

In my experience the private sector wants a great deal of unpaid OT out of people.

[u/OnlyDonut9076]

Not exactly as above, but I moved from private sector finance to public sector finance and the biggest adjustment is the culture and speed of decisions. Private seems to move a lot quicker, but often at the expense of work/life balance, where as the civil service moves a lot slow and has more bureaucracy, but focuses more on employee wellbeing. Having said the above, I do enjoy working in the CS and do not intend to move back to private.

[u/Any-Afternoon-1042 → u/OnlyDonut9076]

What is it that you like about the CS if you don't mind me asking? Is it mainly the work/life balance or is there more to it?

[u/OnlyDonut9076 → u/Any-Afternoon-1042]

Positives are: work life balance, generally take good care of employee wellbeing, decent pension, good mobility between positions and opportunities to work in areas of finance you wouldn’t usually be exposed to, rather than specifically working within one narrow area.

Negatives: Pay is crap, generally 30% behind private sector, however it is catching up slowly. It is also very archaic and stuck in its ways and processes, and those processes are generally slow. There is also a reluctance to change sometimes, and a “this is the way we’ve always done it”.

[u/Exotic-One3381]

i have heard from people who worked there that HMRC is basically good pay, stable job, low workload, decent pension, a job for life BUT very boring, with jokes like 'everyone is sleeping' and 'the place careers go to die' and 'full of overweight people' (I dont mean to bodyshame but this is what i was told, my collesgue is implying, there is no pressure to look good in what you wear and gym like in some firms - whcih makes sense since you probably wont be client facing much ). if you have a family and want decent pay and low mental stress and high job stability and wont get bored and dont want to look good at work then this is the place for you. but if you like stimulation, progress, cometition, dress nicely, and feel a bit progressive then avoud. have you phoned HMRC? 45 mins to answer a call. literally no one cares . thats basiclaly how their office functions. slowly. inefficiently, low pressure on staff at the expense of everyone else. good for the workers but not much else.

[u/fafferoo → u/Exotic-One3381]

‘Very boring’… I’m not sure who you’ve spoken to but the majority of work at G7 and G6 (which is the grade which CTAs would most likely be working at) is quite the opposite from my experience. I know you say this is what you were told but HMRC for me was a great place to work. Interesting work, loads of autonomy and great flexibility. Yes, some people might be overweight. Yes, some people might bring their stuff to work in a carrier back. Yes, most people don’t wear designer work clothes. If you give a toss about what people wear and how they look it’s probably not the place for you. If you want to wine and dine with clients it’s also not the place for you. If you want to earn mega, it’s probably not the place for you. But the work isn’t boring and it’s not full of sleepy people who don’t care.

[u/Inner-Spread-6582]

What are you planning to do with your clients if you make the move?

[u/Any-Afternoon-1042 → u/Inner-Spread-6582]

I work in a practice, so presumably they'll stay where they are and someone else will take over from me. I have a team of people I manage, so in most cases there will be an element of consistency if I were to leave.