Jeanette Doonan - McCann Fitzgerald
During my law degree, I availed of an opportunity to take a year out from my legal studies to study business in the US and this opened up my mind to the possibility of doing something in the business sector. This ultimately led me to decide to complete a masters degree in commercial law after my degree. From there, I responded to a large accountancy firm at a milkround and was recruited to become a Registered Tax Consultant.
There is something of a tax community and annual events organised by the Irish Taxation Institute bring together its members on a social basis. It is good to meet up with people I have worked with over the years. Working as a Registered Tax Consultant within a law firm presents me with interesting work opportunities as we tend to link in with other departments within the firm. It is also interesting to experience first hand the legal issues that drive projects and transactions.
The most rewarding event in my career to date was successfully completing my finals (Part 3) of the Irish Taxation Institute professional exams. I even managed to come joint first in Ireland in my sitting of the exams and this gave me a great sense of achievement.
I work in the commercial tax practice within McCann FitzGerald and my workload is incredibly varied. I can move easily between advising a large corporate in relation to a proposed merger or acquisition to advising an individual in relation to his or her tax position. Given the variety of my work, each day is different and this is the part of my job that appeals to me most. Time management is an important aspect of my day and it is important to identify the most time sensitive work and plan accordingly. My primary responsibility is for the management of the human capital tax services line within the tax practice. This involves advising on the tax structuring and implementation of employee reward schemes including equity incentives and share plans. In this regard, I can liaise directly with clients or with international law firms who are co-ordinating advice on the implementation of global schemes for a multi-national client. This would involve the identification of the Irish tax implications of a proposed scheme and it also requires me to be pro-active by identifying minor changes that might be made to make a scheme more tax efficient from an Irish tax perspective.
In my opinion, a career in tax would be suitable for a person with the following characteristics: someone who has drive, ambition and enthusiasm for the job; someone who has an ability to effectively communicate (both in person and through writing) and someone who has an analytical mind and enjoys problem solving.