How to Become a Tax Adviser: Your 2025 Guide

A tax adviser handles the taxes for individuals, organisations, companies, or government departments. Unlike an accountant who oversees all financial matters, you’ll specialise solely in taxes in this role and follow the tax laws outlined by HMRC.

While accountants also prepare and file taxes for clients, a tax adviser's qualifications and expertise are more specialised, so they can provide ongoing and long-term tax assistance to the people and entities they serve. 

Tax adviser duties and responsibilities

As a tax advisor, your duties and responsibilities vary according to your position and the company you work for, but in general, you can expect to do the following:

• Preparing sole trader and registered company tax returns

• Offering tax planning advice

• Helping clients save money when it comes time to file taxes

• Creating annual tax-related plans for clients to follow throughout the year

• Protecting clients from paying more than necessary

• Making sure clients meet quarterly and annual tax deadlines

• Advising clients about the impact of tax laws and liabilities

• Liaising with HMRC on a client’s behalf

• Understanding UK and global tax legislation

• Working directly with clients to gather and collate information

• Calculating and limiting tax liability

• Offering guidance to clients on tax, customs, and VAT

• Writing reports and presentations for clients

• Offering consultancy services 

Tax adviser employers

As a tax adviser, you’ll likely work for an accountancy firm or consultancy, or you may secure a job in-house in the finance department of a large company. Sectors that hire tax accountants include:

• IT

• Finance

• Media

• Construction

• Energy

• Manufacturing

Tax adviser salary

According to Glassdoor, the median annual base salary in the UK for tax advisers is £36,405. This can rise to up to £45,000 with experience [1]. Your salary will vary depending on your education and experience level, the industry you work in, and the area you live in.

How to become a tax adviser

If you’d like to pursue a career as a tax adviser, you’ll need to earn the right degree to stand out in your field, pass and obtain your tax credentials, and gain relevant experience in accounting or banking. Explore these steps in further detail below.

Earn your degree

To start, you’ll need to earn a HND degree. Although you can become a tax adviser with a degree in any discipline, studying subjects like accounting, finance, business, maths, economics, law, statistics, or management will help you learn skills you’ll need in the field and prepare for your certification exam. You may be able to enter the field without a degree if you can take a trainee programme. 

Earn your professional qualification

To become a tax adviser, you’ll need to enter the profession via a traineeship to study for an ATT qualification or have already qualified as a chartered accountant. In either case, you would need to complete the CTA qualification to complete your credentials. You can also complete the credentials concurrently with the joint ATT-CTA exam. 

Many tax advisers have professional qualifications as well. A professional qualification helps build your skill set and validate your knowledge to potential employers. Popular options include:

• The Association of Taxation Technicians' ATT qualification

• The Chartered Institute of Taxation's CTA qualification

• The joint ATT-CTA programme, which combines the two qualifications above

• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) joint program.

Tax adviser skills

Tax advisers deal with complex, confidential data that is regulated by law. If you have a keen understanding of mathematics, pay attention to detail, and enjoy serving others in a way that helps them flourish financially, you may be well-suited for a tax accountant role. Take a look at the specific skills you'll need:

Technical skills

• Knowledge of corporate tax, personal tax, and legislation around VAT and trusts

• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and tax preparation software

• Understanding of basic arithmetic and statistics to calculate complex tax information

Workplace skills

• Attention to detail to accurately prepare error-free documents and tax returns

• Verbal and written communication skills to effectively interact with clients

• Organisational skills to keep financial records easily accessible for reference

• Time-management skills to meet important deadlines

• Critical thinking and analytical skills to evaluate data, uncover fraud, and minimise tax liability

Tax adviser career path

As you complete your studies and gain experience as a tax accountant, you will likely find that your interests and abilities gravitate towards a certain industry or clientele. Continue to refine your skills in the specialities that you choose, hone your customer service skills, and stay on top of tax law and requirements. You may find opportunities working in-house, for a consultancy firm, for a government department, or in a freelance capacity. 

Your career path may also lead you to a different accounting career, such as a corporate accountant, financial analyst, or internal auditor. Some tax accountants also progress to become top executives and financial managers of corporations, including financial vice presidents, treasurers, controllers, and chief financial officers.

Get started with Coursera

Working as a tax adviser is a great option if you are good with numbers, analytically minded, have excellent problem-solving skills, and pay attention to detail. Tax advising offers the option of working for consultancy firms, in-house at a company, or in a freelance capacity. 

Explore whether a career in accounting may be right for you with a beginner-friendly course from a top university, like Introduction to Financial Accounting from the University of Pennsylvania. Or explore what it’s like to earn your master’s of accounting online.