Senior Tax Specialist

About 1st Formations

At 1st Formations, we empower entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses with confidence.

Running a business shouldn’t be slowed down by company formation, statutory compliance, accounting, or payroll. From day one, these essentials should be seamless, reliable, and intelligently handled — freeing founders to focus on building and scaling.

We’re a leading UK provider of company formation and compliance services, building a modern, fully integrated technology platform that supports founders at every stage of their journey. Our platform brings together formation, compliance, accounting, payroll, and ongoing business support in one cohesive experience.

No stitched-together services.
No legacy workflows disguised as software.

Just a single, scalable platform built for ambitious founders who want to move fast, stay compliant, and grow with confidence.

Why Join Us Now?

You’ll be joining a business with strong momentum, clear direction, and real opportunity for progression.

• £18m annual revenue, including £9m ARR

• Over 1 million companies formed

• Certified B Corp and Carbon Neutral Business

• Forecast to grow 5x–10x over the next three years

The Role

We're looking for a part-qualified or qualified Senior Tax Specialist with specialist tax knowledge to join our Accountancy-as-a-Service team. This role is primarily focused on providing expert tax advice and support across our client portfolio, with the added flexibility to step in and cover small business and startup advisory queries when needed. You'll work closely with our accountancy delivery team to ensure clients receive accurate, technically sound tax guidance, while also being able to support broader small business needs as they arise.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the specialist tax lead for a portfolio of SME and startup clients, covering corporation tax, VAT, and personal tax as relevant to owner-managed businesses

• Review and support the preparation of tax computations and returns, ensuring accuracy and compliance with current legislation

• Identify tax planning opportunities and efficiencies for clients, particularly around business structuring, reliefs, and allowances relevant to small businesses and startups

• Act as the key point of contact for client tax queries, escalating complex matters where needed

• Provide cover for small business and startup advisory queries when the primary advisor is unavailable, including guidance on company formation considerations, accounting setup, and early-stage financial best practice

• Stay current on changes to UK tax legislation and proactively flag relevant updates or risks to clients and the wider team

• Collaborate with the accountancy service delivery team to ensure tax considerations are built into day-to-day client account management

• Support onboarding of new clients, advising on the most appropriate tax structure for their circumstances

• Help develop internal guidance, templates, or resources to support consistent tax advice across the AaaS team

• Identify opportunities to improve processes, tools, or client education around tax compliance

What We Are Looking For

• 10+ years' experience in a specialist tax role, ideally within an accountancy practice, accountancy-as-a-service environment, or in-house tax function

• Part-qualified or qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CTA, or ATT) with specialist tax knowledge

• Strong, demonstrable cross-border/international tax knowledge — including VAT/GST across jurisdictions, transfer pricing basics, permanent establishment considerations, and cross-border VAT/duty implications for goods and digital services

• Ideally, prior experience gained within an e-commerce business (in-house or as a client-facing advisor to e-commerce/online retail clients) — comfortable with the tax complexities of multi-jurisdiction online sales, marketplace VAT rules, and international fulfilment structures

• Proven experience advising SME, startup, or owner-managed business clients, ideally within an accountancy practice or accountancy-as-a-service environment

• Strong technical knowledge of UK corporation tax, VAT, and personal tax as it applies to small businesses

• Comfortable providing broader small business/startup advice as needed, even outside core tax specialism — able to cover this ground confidently when required

• Confident communicator, able to translate technical tax concepts into clear, practical advice for non-specialist clients

• Comfortable working with accounting/tax software (e.g. Xero, Sage) and confident using Excel/Google Sheets for reporting and analysis

• Highly organised, with the ability to manage multiple client relationships and competing priorities

• A collaborative, client-first mindset, comfortable working cross-functionally within a scaling business

What We Offer

• £70-80k and comprehensive benefits package

• Hybrid working model

• Real opportunities for progression as the business scales

• The chance to influence both customer experience and product development

• A culture that values ownership, impact, and continuous learning

Equal Opportunities
1st Formations is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We consider all applicants for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, criminal history, disability, or gender identity. We encourage individuals fro