One minute with David Murphy, director of tax for PageGroup,
With all the actions being taken to curtail opportunities for tax planning, is tax still an interesting career option?
Definitely, it’s just different to how it once was. When I started, it was a bolder profession. It has changed much and there is now real challenge in managing risk with the greater focus on business drivers, economics and value rather than what might be seen as legalistic constructs and semantics. Whether one agrees with the changes or not is irrelevant, it’s the new reality and we should step up to it.
Who has influenced you in your career?
Many people but I would highlight Kelvin Porter, with whom I worked at Redland and British Aerospace, plus Howard Nowlan and Steve Edge at Slaughters and Rick Stamm, the recently retired global head of tax for PwC who I have known for 25+ years. All men of integrity with brilliant tax minds.
How do you see the in-house tax function evolving over the next five to ten years?
For me, tax has always been about working with the business to solve issues whilst managing tax risk – the tax tail should not wag the commercial dog. While tax functions still need to manage the boiler plate compliance and reporting etc, much of which should be streamlined though technology and better processes, they must also be capable of stepping back to look at broader issues such as supply chain risk, the trade off between ETR and stability of the enterprise transfer pricing platform, managing devolved global business functions and shared service operations that operate across borders and how reputational risk can arise. Core tax skills will still be required but tax leaders need to be capable of collaborating with business colleagues as equals rather than as pure technical specialists.
Perhaps corporate income tax will be ditched as inefficient in terms of cost to revenue compared to others such as VAT/payroll taxes – now that would be a major shift for tax functions!
How do you select your advisers?
It is a balance of a cold logical evaluation of firm capability and the experience of individuals who deliver good service. Is there a bit of chemistry/spark there which suggests that you can look forward to working with the people you are potentially going to be dealing with? While cost is a factor, if you focus on lowest cost you are not going to get the A team. It is also important to feel that the focus is not all about the adviser and that there is a genuine desire on their part to get involved and be a part of our business story.
What’s the biggest hurdle you face in your role?
Harold Macmillan’s often quoted response to a similar question was, ‘Events, dear boy, events’. Whether it’s BEPS, a raft of HMRC consultations or notification of a tax audit, we have to expect the unexpected. Pressure on cost and resources means there is little or no spare capacity, so good core processes for risk monitoring, management and anticipation are essential.
What are you doing to deal with BEPS?
Trying to keep up with the changes! We have been working on the headline transfer pricing and CBCR actions since I started here in March last year and listening to our adviser network. We are also working on using technology to improve and streamline reporting to create more capacity to address BEPS actions.
If you could make one change to UK tax law what would it be?
In our sector, clarify the law around VAT being charged only on the fee charged for temporary staff rather than VAT being charged also on the labour cost recharge.
Finally, you might not know this about me but...
I nearly became a professional musician in my late teens – classical guitar. I’ve kept playing over the years and though a broken wrist a few years ago set me back for a while, I can still hold up well across much of the classical guitar repertoire.
One minute with David Murphy, director of tax for PageGroup,
With all the actions being taken to curtail opportunities for tax planning, is tax still an interesting career option?
Definitely, it’s just different to how it once was. When I started, it was a bolder profession. It has changed much and there is now real challenge in managing risk with the greater focus on business drivers, economics and value rather than what might be seen as legalistic constructs and semantics. Whether one agrees with the changes or not is irrelevant, it’s the new reality and we should step up to it.
Who has influenced you in your career?
Many people but I would highlight Kelvin Porter, with whom I worked at Redland and British Aerospace, plus Howard Nowlan and Steve Edge at Slaughters and Rick Stamm, the recently retired global head of tax for PwC who I have known for 25+ years. All men of integrity with brilliant tax minds.
How do you see the in-house tax function evolving over the next five to ten years?
For me, tax has always been about working with the business to solve issues whilst managing tax risk – the tax tail should not wag the commercial dog. While tax functions still need to manage the boiler plate compliance and reporting etc, much of which should be streamlined though technology and better processes, they must also be capable of stepping back to look at broader issues such as supply chain risk, the trade off between ETR and stability of the enterprise transfer pricing platform, managing devolved global business functions and shared service operations that operate across borders and how reputational risk can arise. Core tax skills will still be required but tax leaders need to be capable of collaborating with business colleagues as equals rather than as pure technical specialists.
Perhaps corporate income tax will be ditched as inefficient in terms of cost to revenue compared to others such as VAT/payroll taxes – now that would be a major shift for tax functions!
How do you select your advisers?
It is a balance of a cold logical evaluation of firm capability and the experience of individuals who deliver good service. Is there a bit of chemistry/spark there which suggests that you can look forward to working with the people you are potentially going to be dealing with? While cost is a factor, if you focus on lowest cost you are not going to get the A team. It is also important to feel that the focus is not all about the adviser and that there is a genuine desire on their part to get involved and be a part of our business story.
What’s the biggest hurdle you face in your role?
Harold Macmillan’s often quoted response to a similar question was, ‘Events, dear boy, events’. Whether it’s BEPS, a raft of HMRC consultations or notification of a tax audit, we have to expect the unexpected. Pressure on cost and resources means there is little or no spare capacity, so good core processes for risk monitoring, management and anticipation are essential.
What are you doing to deal with BEPS?
Trying to keep up with the changes! We have been working on the headline transfer pricing and CBCR actions since I started here in March last year and listening to our adviser network. We are also working on using technology to improve and streamline reporting to create more capacity to address BEPS actions.
If you could make one change to UK tax law what would it be?
In our sector, clarify the law around VAT being charged only on the fee charged for temporary staff rather than VAT being charged also on the labour cost recharge.
Finally, you might not know this about me but...
I nearly became a professional musician in my late teens – classical guitar. I’ve kept playing over the years and though a broken wrist a few years ago set me back for a while, I can still hold up well across much of the classical guitar repertoire.
