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Job Description
The Tax Specialist will be responsible for providing high-quality tax technical insights and ensuring that tax requirements applicable to the business are appropriately translated into operational processes, systems, data requirements, controls and governance frameworks.
The role requires a strong understanding of South African taxation, particularly the taxation of life insurance companies, policyholders, investment products and wealth management structures, combined with the ability to understand how tax rules are implemented across business processes, technology platforms and data environments.
The successful candidate will act as a key link between Tax, Finance, Operations, Product, Investments, IT/Data, Risk and Governance, ensuring that tax obligations are not only technically correct but are capable of being consistently and accurately executed at scale.
Key responsibilities will include amongst others the following:
Tax Technical
- Interpret and advise on South African tax legislation applicable to life insurance and investment products.
- Provide technical advice on the Income Tax Act, Tax Administration Act and other relevant legislation.
- Maintain a strong understanding of the taxation of:
- Five Funds Tax
- Retirement and investment products
- Unit-linked and linked investment products
- Internal and external investment funds
- Sinking funds
- Endowments
- Annuities
- Life wrappers
- Analyse the tax implications of new and existing products and product enhancements.
- Prepare technical tax opinions and position papers.
- Identify areas of tax uncertainty and determine appropriate technical positions.
- Monitor SARS interpretations, legislation, regulations, case law and industry developments.
- Translate legislative changes into clear implications for the business.
- Provide technical support during tax audits, SARS queries and regulatory engagements.
- Ensure tax positions are appropriately documented and supported by legislation and relevant authority.
Tax Operations
- Translate tax legislation and technical interpretations into business requirements and operational rules.
- Assist in the design and documentation of tax processes and procedures.
- Identify operational impacts arising from legislative or policy changes.
- Assess whether existing processes remain fit for purpose.
- Identify manual, inefficient or high-risk tax processes and recommend improvements.
- Define tax requirements for new products, systems and operational processes.
- Work with Operations and Finance to ensure tax processes are embedded into business-as-usual activities.
- Establish clear process flows, responsibilities and escalation points.
- Identify opportunities for tax automation and process optimisation.
- Support implementation and testing of changes to tax processes and systems.
- Develop appropriate reconciliation and review procedures.
- Ensure operational processes are appropriately documented and maintained.
Tax Data Management & Data Quality
- Understand the end-to-end tax data lineage from source systems through to tax calculations and reporting.
- Identify critical tax data risks and issues.
- Assess data quality risks affecting tax outcomes.
- Work with data teams, custodians and service providers to resolve data issues.
- Investigate the root causes of tax data discrepancies.
- Establish appropriate data quality monitoring and controls.
- Identify missing, incomplete, inaccurate or inconsistent data.
- Assess the tax impact of data quality issues.
- Develop data reconciliation processes.
- Ensure appropriate documentation of key data sources and transformations.
- Participate in data remediation projects.
- Assist with automation and improvement of tax data processes.
Tax Governance and Control
- Develop, implement and maintain tax controls.
- Identify tax risks arising from legislation, processes, systems and data.
- Perform tax risk assessments.
- Monitor outstanding tax issues and remediation actions.
- Establish appropriate governance over tax rule changes.
- Ensure significant tax positions are appropriately reviewed and approved.
- Maintain evidence supporting tax compliance and tax positions.
- Escalate material tax risks appropriately.
- Maintain appropriate documentation to support the tax control framework.
These responsibilities offer an overview and a general outline of the role and are not exhaustive.
Qualifications and Experience required:
- A relevant Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Taxation, Finance, Law or a related discipline, together with a postgraduate qualification in Taxation, preferably a Master’s Degree in Taxation or Tax Law, is required.
- CA(SA) qualification is highly desirable, with membership of SAICA and/or SAIT considered advantageous.
- At least 5 years’ relevant tax experience, with specific experience in the financial services sector, preferably within long-term insurance, life insurance, wealth management or investment management.
- Strong technical knowledge and practical application of South African tax legislation, together with experience in tax governance, compliance, financial reporting, tax risk management and the interpretation and implementation of legislative changes, are essential.
Skills
Accounting, Action Planning, Budget Management, Computer Literacy, Database Reporting, Data Classification, Data Compilation, Data Controls, Data Modeling, Evaluating Information, Financial Acumen, Management Reporting, Numerical Aptitude, Oral Communications, Report Review
Competencies
Business Insight
Communicates Effectively
Ensures Accountability
Financial Acumen
Manages Complexity
Optimizes Work Processes
Organizational Savvy
Plans and Aligns
Education
NQF Level 7 - Degree, Advance Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate or equivalent
Closing Date
11 September 2026 , 23:59
The appointment will be made from the designated group in line with the Employment Equity Plan of Old Mutual South Africa and the specific business unit in question.
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