Hiring activity across UK tax teams has continued to build momentum, with Q2 recruitment now clearly underway. Encouragingly, this has been the case despite the seasonal slowdown typically caused by the Easter break and many candidates focusing on ATT and CTA exam preparation.
Firms have remained active and engaged, signalling confidence in the months ahead and a strong appetite to secure talent early where possible.
Hiring sentiment going into Q2 is positive, and we expect it to be a busy quarter across most areas of tax. Demand within accountancy practices remains concentrated at the mid‑senior level, with particular emphasis on individuals who can balance technical strength with commercial insight.
While compliance experience remains essential, firms continue to prioritise candidates who can contribute to advisory work, build client relationships, and support wider business development objectives.
The broader UK tax hiring landscape is being shaped by several ongoing drivers. The continued preparation for MTD for Income Tax ahead of its April 2026 rollout is reinforcing demand for tax professionals with strong systems awareness, process knowledge, and the ability to support clients through operational and behavioural change.
As a result, hybrid profiles - combining technical tax expertise, digital capability, and practical advisory skills - remain especially sought after.
At the same time, recruitment processes across practices are becoming more deliberate. Firms are hiring with clear intent, focusing on long‑term value, team fit, and succession planning rather than purely reactive resourcing.
This selectivity, combined with a candidate market that remains short of experienced tax professionals, means competition for high‑quality talent is still strong.
For candidates considering a move in Q2, market conditions remain favourable. Interview processes are moving quickly once aligned, firms are open to flexible and hybrid working arrangements, and there is continued willingness to engage ahead of exam completion to secure the right individuals.
With hiring momentum already evident at the start of the quarter, Q2 is shaping up to be one of the more active periods of 2026 for tax recruitment in the UK.
Private Client Tax
The private client tax recruitment market remains active and competitive as we move through April, with demand for experienced advisers continuing to exceed supply in many areas. Competition for roles in London remains particularly high, but one of the most notable trends is the growing confidence and visibility of regional and boutique practices, many of which are actively expanding their private client teams.
Increasingly, these smaller and mid‑sized firms are delivering sophisticated private client advisory work comparable to that of larger practices. This includes complex matters such as succession and estate planning, trusts, residency and domicile issues, and advising owner‑managed businesses and high‑net‑worth individuals. For private client professionals at Manager and Senior Manager level, these environments are offering earlier and broader exposure to advisory work, along with much closer collaboration with Partners.
Across the private client market, firms continue to place less emphasis on pure compliance experience and more weight on advisory capability and client‑facing confidence. The ability to translate complex legislation into clear, practical advice is increasingly seen as essential, particularly as private clients face a more challenging and changeable tax landscape.
Hiring activity has also become more forward‑looking. Rather than recruiting purely in response to turnover, many practices are creating new private client roles in anticipation of future demand, succession planning, and partner capacity. This proactive approach has kept the market buoyant at a time of year that would traditionally be quieter due to exam preparation and seasonal leave.
Working patterns are also evolving within private client teams. While flexibility remains important to candidates, some firms — particularly for senior or high‑value advisory roles - are placing greater emphasis on office presence to support collaboration, training, and client interaction. Expectations vary widely between practices, making it an important consideration for candidates exploring the market.
At the senior end, Director and Partner recruitment within private client tax continues to feature prominently in 2026. Mid‑tier and larger regional practices are investing in leadership talent to strengthen succession pipelines, deepen advisory offerings, and maintain continuity for key private clients.
Overall, market conditions remain favourable for private client tax professionals. Advisers with strong technical foundations, advisory exposure, and the confidence to manage complex client relationships continue to be highly sought after.
With hiring momentum carrying into Q2, this remains a strong period for private client professionals to assess their options and consider their next career move.
Corporate Tax and M&A
Q2 has started with robust demand for Corporate Tax professionals across all levels, both in London and regionally across the UK’s major cities.
Particular pressure points continue to sit within Property/Real Estate Tax (predominantly London‑based) and Financial Services Tax, with firms hiring both in London and across regional hubs.
This remains a highly candidate‑driven market, with firms increasingly differentiating themselves through innovative approaches to attraction and retention, ranging from flexible working models to accelerated progression and revised reward structures.
Regional demand is especially strong in Cambridge, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle, Scotland, and across the Home Counties, reflecting the continued decentralisation of tax teams away from London.
Transfer Pricing
Transfer Pricing has seen a temporary slowdown at the mid‑management level as firms finalise budgets for the next financial year. That said, we expect activity to re‑accelerate through May and June as headcount plans are released.
Recent hiring has been driven by newly established or rapidly scaling TP teams, particularly where firms are seeking Directors to lead, build, and shape practices. In parallel, the Big 4 are making a concerted regional push, with increased hiring across Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Leeds as they continue to strengthen their regional presence.
VAT
Recruitment activity in April has remained broadly consistent with March, with the bulk of demand continuing at Manager to Senior Manager level. Firms remain focused on experienced VAT professionals who can support advisory‑led delivery while managing increasing workloads and engaging confidently with a broadening client base.
There has been some limited hiring activity at junior and Assistant Manager level, though this remains secondary to mid‑senior demand. Clients are consistently citing growing volumes of work and increasingly diversified client portfolios as key drivers behind hiring, particularly among firms in the Top 20 space.
Advisory work continues to dominate the VAT market, both in emphasis and expectation. Most current roles are advisory‑led in nature, typically comprising around 70% advisory and 30% compliance responsibilities within the same position, rather than being fully separated into distinct functions. By contrast, demand for pure compliance only roles has declined, a trend that increasingly appears linked to automation and AI‑enabled efficiencies.
While a small number of 100% compliance‑focused roles remain, these are now relatively rare. In practice, firms are expecting candidates to demonstrate a baseline level of advisory exposure, even when compliance forms part of the role. Increasingly, the ability to translate compliance experience into advisory value has become essential simply to progress to interview stage.
Overall, April reinforces a clear and ongoing shift in the VAT market. Firms continue to prioritise professionals who combine strong technical foundations with advisory capability, commercial awareness, and confident client‑facing skills — qualities that are shaping VAT hiring strategies as practices plan for sustained growth into 2026.
R&D Tax
R&D remains one of the most commercially attractive and fast‑moving areas of the tax market. We’re currently seeing a high volume of candidates exploring the market, driven by ongoing structural changes within accountancy practices and boutique R&D consultancies.
A key shift is emerging in hiring preferences. Many firms are now prioritising candidates from a tax or accounting background, particularly those with a strong understanding of financial statements and Corporation Tax computations, over individuals from a purely technical or technical‑writing background, which has become increasingly saturated.
That said, Big 4 and Top 6 firms continue to actively seek Software and IT specialists, especially at Manager and Senior Manager levels, where demand remains strong. If you sit in this space and are open to exploring the market, opportunities are very much live.
US Tax
Private Client Tax
Demand for experienced US private client tax professionals in London remains steady as we move into Q2, with a visible increase in US‑focused private client tax roles across the board.
Demand continues for EA and ATT qualified dual handlers at Assistant Manager level and above, as firms look to strengthen teams supporting internationally mobile individuals and US‑connected private clients.
At the mid‑senior level, dual‑qualified advisers with trust and estate planning experience are especially sought after. Ongoing changes to the UK inheritance tax framework - including the shift towards a residence‑based IHT system - mean that long‑term UK residents may bring their worldwide estates within the scope of UK IHT.
This has heightened the need for early‑stage trust planning and coordinated US–UK advice, driving demand for advisers who can operate confidently across both regimes.
Corporate Tax
Demand remains strong for Manager‑level and above professionals with US funds tax experience, particularly across private equity, real estate, and partnership structures. London‑based firms continue to build out their US tax capability to support cross‑border investment activity, with a clear focus on candidates who can deliver integrated advisory input across international transactions, fund structuring, and complex allocation modelling.
Alongside traditional funds tax expertise, there is an increasing emphasis on candidates, including US‑trained professionals based overseas, who can also address US corporate tax requirements.
As transaction structures become more sophisticated and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, firms are seeking advisers who can bridge funds, partnership, and corporate tax considerations, ensuring consistency across entity structuring, blocker vehicles, and downstream reporting obligations.
This has led to growing demand for US candidates with a broader technical toolkit, combining funds tax experience with a solid grounding in US corporate tax principles and an understanding of how these interact with UK and international tax frameworks.
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