Introducing some of our team members

HMRC People

Maura Parsons
Deputy Director, Transfer Pricing, Large Business 

I can honestly say HMRC has been and remains a great place to work for all sorts of reasons. I have been involved in a huge range of work to date – and it's hard to believe that the variety would be matched in the private sector. The team ethic and sense of mission here is strong, and I have consistently felt supported, challenged and engaged. 

I still get asked by friends in similar professional positions how I’ve managed to achieve what I have whilst working part time for nearly two decades. Being part-time has been no barrier to my being in a senior position in some really challenging roles. I have gained promotions whilst still being around to see my kids grow up. That is really key for me – I definitely think a healthy work life balance brings the best out of people and HMRC has provided the flexibility to allow me to have that. 

We have lots of bespoke training – a huge range of training and development opportunities. There are a breadth of roles you can get involved with, and, somewhat counterintuitively, a broad range of exposure to large corporate activity in the UK. 

I am surrounded by specialist peers from a range of tax disciplines all working towards something that really matters. Working here has definitely broadened and deepened my own knowledge of tax legislation and provided me with opportunities to work with other tax administrations too, which has given me great insights into international tax. I’d have no hesitation in recommending HMRC as a place to work.

 

Michelle Farrelly, ACA CTA​
Employer Duties - Senior Technical Lead & Case Director, Wealthy and Mid-sized Business

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor and I joined HMRC in September 2013 during an external recruitment process, having previously worked in private practice for 10 years. 

I initially joined as a Corporation Tax specialist, in what was Local Compliance at the time. In that role I was dealing with enquiries into complex corporate tax issues on a wide range of businesses. 

I later moved to work in Large Business (LB) where I was the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) for a portfolio of large corporates. As a tax professional in LB you undertake tax compliance work supporting the CRM to manage the relationship with some of the largest, high profile UK businesses. 

I have recently been promoted and I now work as a Grade 6 Senior Technical Lead nationally in Mid-sized Business in CC. My new role in employer duties involves technical input on the most contentious and complex cases, alongside leading in a head of profession role for the G7 tax specialists in employer duties. 

Since joining HMRC nearly 3 years ago I have benefited from the wide variety of work areas and gained experience in a number of departments. I have been lucky enough to get involved in really interesting, challenging tax work, as well as developing my skills in wider areas of leadership and management. HMRC gives its staff at least 5 days of learning and development a year to allow us to continually enhance our own professional development. 

Other benefits of joining HMRC have been the more flexible working arrangements and the supportive, friendly environment; I have enjoyed working with some really experienced impressive tax people! 

Other recent externally recruited colleagues work in a range of areas such as international tax, VAT, civil and criminal fraud Investigation, transfer pricing and tax policy, to name but a few. 

I have found this a really exciting time to be in HMRC as it transforms and plans for what HMRC will look like in 2020 and beyond: improving customer service; investing in people’s skills and careers alongside new more flexible and digital ways of working for both staff and customers.

 

Varsha Heerasing, ACA
Tax Professional Criminal Investigator – Fraud Investigation Service

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and joined HMRC in January 2016 during an external recruitment process. Prior to that, I worked in private practice for 3 years, specialising in Corporate Tax. 

I joined the Fraud Investigation Service as the work appealed to me, offering an interesting mix of tax technical issues, criminal investigation work and court room presence. Since I joined, I have had lots of training to equip me with the skills to carry out criminal investigations in compliance with the criminal procedure rules and also in using the tools available to HMRC to progress investigations. I have also received training to allow me to perform arrests, search of premises, applying for production orders and search warrants. In parallel, I have also been developing my leadership and management skills.

As part of the Offshore, Complex and Wealthy team in the Fraud Investigation Service, I deal with cases which tend to be high profile and in the media spotlight due to the level of evasion and the use of offshore structures. The work is very rewarding as I get to see a case from start to finish. The cases also vary greatly which means that I am constantly learning and getting involved in interesting, challenging work. 

The flexible working arrangements have allowed me to improve my work life balance and working in a friendly environment with supportive colleagues has allowed me to settle into my new role quickly.