Personal Tax Senior

Johannesburg | Hybrid
Work with a leading UK professional services firm through GCO Partners

Join GCO Partners and build your global career while staying rooted in South Africa. We connect strong professionals to meaningful international work, with the support, structure, and community to help them grow. At GCO, we care deeply about People, Performance, and Progress, and we look for professionals who want to do high-quality work, keep learning, and make a real impact.

We are hiring a Personal Tax Senior to support one of our UK partners. This role suits an experienced tax professional with at least 2 years of recent UK Personal Tax experience who is ready to take greater ownership of a client portfolio, build direct client relationships and support the development of junior team members.

You will prepare and review UK personal tax compliance work for a varied portfolio of individuals, partnerships and trusts, while acting as a key point of contact for clients and contributing to the wider development of the tax team.

The opportunity

This is a hands-on UK Personal Tax role for someone who has moved beyond purely technical preparation and is ready to take greater responsibility for client relationships, compliance deadlines and the quality of their own work.

You will work closely with senior managers and directors while managing your own portfolio and supporting junior members of the team.

What you'll do

• Prepare and review UK Self Assessment tax returns for individuals, partnerships and trusts.
• Prepare Capital Gains Tax calculations and returns where required.
• Prepare tax computations and supporting schedules.
• Manage a portfolio of clients and ensure all compliance deadlines are met.
• Act as a key point of contact for day-to-day client tax matters.
• Handle HMRC correspondence and enquiries and resolve matters efficiently.
• Review client information and identify missing or inconsistent information.
• Maintain accurate client records and well-organised working papers.
• Support and mentor junior members of the tax team.
• Manage multiple assignments and conflicting priorities while maintaining a high standard of work.
• Follow internal procedures and UK tax compliance requirements.
• Work closely with senior managers and directors on more complex client matters.
• Identify issues that require further technical consideration and escalate them appropriately.

What we're looking for

• At least 2 years of recent UK Personal Tax experience.
• Proven experience preparing UK Self Assessment tax returns for individuals, partnerships and trusts.
• Experience preparing Capital Gains Tax calculations or returns.
• Experience managing a portfolio of UK personal tax clients.
• Confidence dealing directly with clients and acting as a key point of contact.
• Experience handling HMRC correspondence and enquiries.
• Strong understanding of UK Personal Tax compliance requirements.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to manage multiple clients, competing priorities and strict deadlines.
• Ability to work independently while knowing when to escalate more complex technical matters.

Qualifications

A relevant professional accounting or tax qualification, or progress towards one, would be advantageous, such as:

• CA(SA) / SAICA
• ACCA
• SAIPA
• SAIT
• CTA
• An equivalent recognised accounting or tax qualification

Candidates who are qualified, part-qualified, completing articles/traineeship, or qualified by experience will be considered.

For this role, practical UK Personal Tax experience is more important than the specific qualification held.

Systems experience

Experience with UK tax or accounting software would be advantageous, including:

• IRIS
• CCH
• Taxfiler
• Xero
• Sage
• QuickBooks

Strong Microsoft Excel skills are essential.

What will make someone stand out

• Previous experience mentoring or developing junior tax staff.
• Experience with R&D claims.
• Exposure to group structures.
• Experience with overseas or non-resident tax matters.
• Experience with Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
• Experience working with complex or high-net-worth individual tax clients.
• Previous experience dealing directly with HMRC on tax enquiries.
• Experience using UK tax software such as IRIS, CCH or Taxfiler.
• Familiarity with CRM or client-management systems.
• Broad understanding of a UK accountancy practice and its wider client services.

What we look for

At GCO, we work with professionals who combine technical capability with strong personal accountability.

The right candidate will be:

• Detail-oriented and accurate, with a methodical approach to reviewing work.
• Reliable and able to manage their workload with limited supervision.
• A confident communicator who can build strong professional relationships.
• Process-minded and deadline-driven.
• Adaptable and willing to learn new skills.
• A positive and approachable role model for junior team members.
• Honest, resilient and committed to maintaining high professional standards.

These qualities reflect the way we work as a community built around People, Performance, and Progress.

Why join GCO Partners?

At GCO, you are not just filling a seat. You become part of a people-first, high-performance team that invests in your growth and gives you access to meaningful global work without requiring relocation. We build careers, not just placements.

You'll get:

Global work without relocation
Work directly with international accounting firms while remaining based in South Africa.

Meaningful client experience
Take ownership of client relationships and contribute to real UK engagements.

Support and community 
Become part of GCO's growing community of professionals working with global clients.

Career development 
Build your technical UK tax experience while developing your client management and mentoring skills.

International exposure
Gain long-term experience working with UK clients and professional services teams.

If you have strong UK Personal Tax experience, enjoy taking ownership of client work and are ready to develop your career within an international environment, we'd be interested in hearing from you.