The world of tax is rapidly evolving to keep pace with digitisation, increased regulation, and the growing importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) agendas. Our job is to understand these developments and advise businesses of all shapes and sizes of new risks and opportunities, helping them to navigate complex tax policy and stay compliant.
Our Tax practice collaborates with all kinds of organisations and businesses of different sizes, across a wide range of specialisms from International, Business and Indirect Taxes where we support clients on transactions and in managing their domestic and global tax obligations to People Taxes where we advise on all aspects of employee reward, support high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurial families as well as providing a full range of advisory and compliance services to global clients with internationally mobile workforces.
With such a wide-ranging remit, Tax offers a broad range of career paths to ambitious graduates. You will tackle the challenges at the very heart of client organisations and develop a broad business understanding whilst building valuable technical skills and professional qualifications. The work is challenging and rewarding. Throughout the programme, you’ll have the support of your senior leaders, engagement leaders, peers and the broader Tax community, enabling you to be at your best and build your network. You will be joining an inclusive environment, where you’ll have the support and backing of a diverse team. We will give you the skills, tools and intelligent systems you need to grow and learn. Increasingly, this will include the transformative power of AI, which we are embracing in a way that is values driven, human-centric and trustworthy.
On this programme you'll study for the ACA (or CA equivalent in Scotland), providing you with structured learning through a blend of innovative online, and in person study. You’ll develop valuable technical skills and have the support of our learning community – helping you to fulfil your career potential.
Our firm’s hybrid working model balances the flexibility of working from home with the importance of collaborating and learning in offices or at client sites. We trust our people to be where our clients need them to be, with our client-facing colleagues working together in person as often as needed.
As part of our tax team you’ll build friendships and shared experiences, innovating and learning together all whilst making a meaningful difference to the businesses we work with. If you’re curious, resilient and agile, you could thrive with us.
Programme summary
Programme overview
Capability: Tax & Law
Programme length: 3 years
Qualifications: ACA or CA equivalent (Scotland locations)
What we look for
At KPMG, everyone brings a unique perspective, and we want to ensure that you have the best opportunity to demonstrate your potential. We want to discover your individual strengths and attributes to help us to know whether you’ll enjoy working here and how you’ll thrive. That’s why we operate an open access policy and an application process that will assess both your qualifications and your qualities.
Generally, you’ll be expected to demonstrate the following grades (*or equivalents), to show that you’re able to successfully study for professional qualifications. If you are a few grades or points short, we would still encourage you to apply, as your application will be reviewed together with your performance in our assessments. You‘ll also have the opportunity to provide additional information for us to assess your application and potential in the context of your socio-economic background and/or any extenuating circumstances, which may have a positive uplift on your academic achievements through contextual recruitment. You can find out more here.
- GCSE Maths Grade 5 or B*
- GCSE English Language Grade 5 or B*
- 120 UCAS points* from your ‘top’ 3 A Level grades, excluding General Studies
- 2:1 undergraduate degree in any discipline.
Key skills
Throughout the recruitment process we will be looking to learn more about your strengths.
To be successful on this programme, you will be required to demonstrate the strengths that we look for in our graduates at KPMG.
Learn more about what we look for and how to apply here.
Training and development
The training and development of our people is critical to the future success of our business. We want to empower you to grow in your own way, to feed your curiosity and embrace a growth mindset in an environment where learning is continuous. We have therefore created a rich curriculum and learning community to help you build your skills and fulfil your potential. This ranges from an immersive five-day induction experience to help you transition to the world of work through to formal training courses, leadership knowledge bites, learning journals, online courses and networking events – all aligned to our ‘learn for a lifetime’ strategy designed to help you gain an advantage for life.
In addition, in Tax, we offer the ACA Accelerated Programme. This is front-loaded, uses innovative technology and is delivered via a blend of online and in-centre classroom courses. The ACA Accelerated Programme enables you to upskill quickly, so you can make your mark. For the first year of your training contract, you will focus purely on your professional qualification, by completing 12 out of 15 ACA exams. You will also have opportunities to reconnect with your home department and peer group, as well as complete internal training and extra skills sessions. The entire programme is supported in a wide range of ways by your tuition provider (BPP) and KPMG’s dedicated Early Careers Development team.
If you join a Scottish office, you will complete either the ACA or equivalent CA qualification (we will confirm closer to your join date). The CA qualification enables you to sit the majority of the ICAS exams in your first year, provides you with innovative technology to support your learning experience and also enables you to upskill quickly. The entire programme is supported in a wide range of ways by ICAS and KPMG’s dedicated Early Careers Development team.
In line with our hybrid model, you will be required to travel to our training partners offices, it is important that you read our guide on How to get the best out of our hybrid model.
For both programmes, in the remaining two years of your training contract, you will concentrate on building up a fantastic range of work experience, complete your exams and will have the technical knowledge to apply to your role in the workplace. These programmes have been structured with you in mind and truly empower you to accelerate your learning journey at KPMG.
Additional important information
Please visit our Applying to KPMG page to discover more about our application process.
Visit our International Students page to find out more about visas and requirements.
For anything else, please refer to our FAQ section.
Case study
Emily
When I did the KPMG internship, it was challenging and I had to use my initiative – but that also made it really rewarding, and I found I was supported by KPMG too. The people at KPMG are very inspiring to work with. From this experience, I knew exactly where I wanted to be after I graduated.
Now I’m here on the Tax Graduate Programme in the Transfer Pricing team. I’m really enjoying it - you’re encouraged to try new things and to go for it. It's a really positive atmosphere in that sense.
I love the work too. Transfer Pricing is very similar to Economics. It’s essentially involves determining the substance of transactions as well as analysing industry and economic trends. It requires a lot of problem solving, which I really enjoy. The partner is fantastic to work with and I have learnt so much.
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