Five minutes with Callum Dalliday, Tax Trainee

Callum chats with us about why he chose a career in tax and provides us insight into what a day as a tax junior entails and his top tips for new trainees joining the firm.

You joined the firm as a Tax trainee to study towards the ATT qualification; why did you decide to pursue a career in Tax?

I decided to pursue a career in Tax due to its ever-changing nature and how tax rules and guidelines would constantly evolve year by year. I thought that, on the surface, tax can be quite daunting, and it would therefore be rewarding to assist in helping others navigate it.

Did your perception of a career in Tax match the reality?

Yes, in fact I think it’s emphasised how you can never know too much when it comes to Tax and that there is always something new to learn and develop your understanding of. There is such a variety of tasks you can be looking at and working on, and I’m still learning so many new things every day.

How have your responsibilities changed and evolved throughout your time with us so far?

Throughout my first 8 months I have worked on a variety of different tasks. Early on, I was working on both personal tax and corporation tax, as well as creating income summaries for properties. This then transitioned into helping the team get personal tax returns over the line before the January deadline, and then this has evolved into preparing P11Ds for companies with employee benefits and even a future tax planning project based on predicted income levels. I’ve also been helping out the payroll team for the last few months and have done training to prepare corporation tax returns for this year.

What was the transition to remote working like for you? How have the team supported you during this time?

Having spent the first two months of my time here in the office, I thought the transition to remote working would be difficult. While it was of course different, it was seamless in how I was able to continue working as I was in the office, and how the team still supported me. Everyone is just one email/phone call/video call away and they have always had the time to help me with anything I have asked them.

Our values are Service, Teamwork, Attitude and Relationships. Which of these values helped you the most in your role and how?

For me, it was both Teamwork and Attitude. With the several months working remotely, it has required the whole team to constantly communicate with each other and help where necessary. There have been times when some members of the team have needed help with their workload, which I have helped with, and also where I have asked for them to look at a specific task as I work towards a different deadline. It’s this teamwork and communication which has helped us be as stress-free and efficient as possible.

Also, the attitude of my team has been great to constantly make sure I am supported and have tasks to be getting on with. Any problems I may have had, be it a tax question or simply how to use a piece of software, they have been there to help me.

What is one thing you wish you knew before commencing your training with MHA?

As a school leaver, I had limited knowledge about tax before I joined here. If I had known how friendly and helpful my team was going to be, I would have bombarded them with tax questions from the first day!

Tell us what a day in the life might look like for a fresh Tax junior?

You really could be doing anything from preparing a personal tax return, helping with preparing corporation tax returns, looking at partnership accounts, pulling a profit and loss for a rental property or dealing with a company’s employee benefits.

What advice would you give to new trainees, joining us in September?

Do not be afraid to ask questions. No matter what level of experience you have, you will always have questions and things you are unsure of. I have raised queries with not just members of my team, but with other members of the office and they’ve always helped me, which in turn has helped me learn more and develop further. The more questions you ask, the sooner you will pick certain things up, and therefore the easier you will find your day to day here.

Would you recommend MHA to a friend? If so, why?

I would, mainly due to the people here. Everyone is so helpful, and always willing to answer any questions you may have. The morning of your first day can be quite daunting, but as soon as I walked through the door, I was made welcome and have enjoyed every day since.

Finally, this last year has been a real shift from the norm; what has been the best thing about lockdown? 

Initially I would say not dealing with traffic! However, it has probably made me appreciate things that I took for granted like going out, meeting people etc.