Client Tax Manager, Kiran Dhanoya, joined the Private Client team at Charter Tax back in October 2014. She was previously at BDO, where she trained and built her expertise in advising high net worth individuals.
Having come from a large firm, Kiran says of Charter Tax: “We are an intimate and personable team yet the specialist services we offer are on par with large London corporates. The personal values of the firm are represented by us all when we communicate with clients and intuitively our clients feel at ease, knowing they have a friendly, accessible service, with the expertise to deal with their complex issues.”
When she started at Charter Tax, there was only one other member of staff supporting Principal Janet Pierce on private client work so, for the first few years, Kiran worked on the full spectrum of private client matters.
As the Private Client team has grown, Kiran has been able to specialise in international private advisory and compliance work, primarily assisting clients with their tax compliance; completing tax returns and dealing with HMRC on their behalf.
“The main skill I bought to the table was a niche specialism in international private client work, experience of dealing with complex residence, domicile and offshore trust advisory and compliance matters,” says Kiran, who is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
More recently, Kiran has cut back her work hours a little more to fit in with her young family, which sees her more focused currently on compliance and day to day advisory for international clients, rather than larger project work.
“The best aspect, particularly where complex compliance and advisory is concerned, is that there are no two same cases because we are dealing with real life scenarios,” says Kiran. “We often have to explore many areas of a client’s life - birth, parents, marriage, career, spending habits and also about the future and their intentions. The client's tax position is then something we can sort out for them to fit in with their personal life."
She continues: “That is what makes the work interesting and solving complex cases can be very satisfying when you reach the end. In international tax, there is a further ingredient of culture differences, so there is a constant exposure to a vast spectrum of personality and background.”
While still at school, Kiran always ‘enjoyed maths problems’ and realised she wanted a ‘number related career’, where she could apply a ‘logical thought process to solve problems’.
“I did not envisage a career in tax - I am not sure many people do - and was not sure it was the thing for me when I first started,” says Kiran. “Fortunately, the more you get involved and progress in this area of work, that is when the work becomes really interesting and satisfying.”
More recently, during lockdown, Kiran took on a ‘whole separate profession of teaching two children as a side line to tax’, while also overcoming her fear of bread bakes!
“I am looking forward to the day I become re-acquainted with spare time, at which point I would love to join the ‘rusty racquets’ group at my local tennis club,” she adds.
