Specialize to succeed: Finding your niche in the global tax market

By Melissa Haun

As a result, global taxation has emerged as a valuable area of expertise for today’s tax professionals. But what you might not know is that within this increasingly important field, there’s an enormous demand in highly specialized areas.

To adapt to the international marketplace, many tax advisors choose to dedicate themselves to one of these niche markets. Whether it means advising average citizens or powerful corporations, specialization might just be the key to success in today’s global economy.

Advising multinational corporations

When you think of global tax, the first thing that comes to mind might be certain companies that have been in the news recently… for the wrong reasons. It’s no coincidence that the biggest multinational corporations tend to get into tax trouble. Expanding a business across the world brings a variety of challenges and complicates an already confusing tax situation.

There’s no shortage of demand for corporate tax accountants; in the United States alone, the accounting industry is expected to grow by 11% and add almost 150,000 new jobs from 2014 to 2024. Included in this category are tax accountants who specialize in the interests of multinational corporations, helping businesses move into new markets while effectively managing and avoiding risks. They’re experts on the rules and regulations of various tax systems, assisting their clients in ensuring compliance. They also provide guidance on foreign tax credits, transfer pricing, income repatriation, mergers, acquisitions, and more.

As corporations continue to expand across national borders, global taxation will only become more complex. In order to follow the rules while optimizing growth and profitability, it’s vital for companies to understand international tax—or to hire someone who does. Specializing in this niche means taking on an enormous amount of responsibility, along with the possibility of massive success.

Digital dilemmas in the tech industry

The proliferation of technology is integral to the concept of globalization. When it comes to taxation, the rapidly growing digital economy creates a plethora of unexpected challenges. E-commerce often transcends the physical borders that have traditionally marked jurisdictions. This raises questions about value creation, source and residence, and countless other tax particularities. It also creates a valuable niche for tax experts who specialize in the digital world.

These professionals are confronted not only with a largely unexplored territory, but also a fair amount of controversy. Recent efforts to adapt tax policy to digital developments have engendered a heated debate. Should technology companies be subject to special regulations? Or should the next generation of tax reforms account for the way they do business without singling them out because of it?

People who deal with digital global taxation wrestle with questions like these on a daily basis. Specializing in this area means playing a central role in shaping the future of tax policy and confronting issues that’ll affect consumers and businesses around the world. If you’re passionate about technology and ready for a challenge, this might be the niche for you.

Investing in expats

Finally, let’s talk about a niche that many tax advisors might overlook. Globalization isn’t only visible on a worldwide scale; its effects are also evident in the international mobility of individual citizens. More and more people are choosing to relocate across the globe to benefit their careers, their families, or their own cultural curiosity. The result is a growing population of expats who are left to navigate complicated and unfamiliar tax systems in multiple countries—often on their own.

That’s where the professionals come in. Advising expats on international taxation can be a profitable and rewarding specialization for independent tax advisors, managing directors of accounting firms, and other industry professionals. But it requires more than just knowledge of the laws of multiple countries; it’s also vital to be well versed in the languages and cultural contexts of the markets in question.

The key to this niche is maintaining a personal approach and a cross-cultural perspective. Helping individuals navigate the world of global tax provides a unique opportunity to build relationships that encourage trust, loyalty, and success for all involved.

Making it happen

So you’ve found your niche: now what? How do global tax professionals turn their specialties into profitable business strategies?

First and foremost, be the best at what you do. Choosing an area of expertise means making it a point to learn everything there is to know about it. Of course, it’s also important to understand the field of global taxation as a whole. This gives you flexibility and a broader context and knowledge base. But fully dedicating yourself to your niche ensures that your clients can trust you to meet even their most specific needs.

Next, make sure you market your services appropriately. Get your name out there, whether that means promoting your website, developing a blog about issues relevant to your field, or networking outside of the tax profession. It’s important to let the world know what you do—there’s bound to be a multinational corporation, a tech start-up, or a confused expat who’s looking for someone just like you.

Universal and specific… at the same time?

Successfully adapting to a globalized world means opening your mind and broadening your horizons. There’s no question that succeeding in the global tax industry means embracing this kind of expansion. Today’s tax professionals must have a wide perspective that encompasses multiple jurisdictions, countries, and continents.

Within the scope of this global outlook, however, specialization takes on new meaning and value. If you want to set yourself apart from the rest, you’ll find a way to integrate these seemingly contradictory—but ultimately complementary—strategies. It’s a hard balance to strike, but the successful combination of a global perspective and highly specific expertise is the surest path to success in today’s complex world of international taxation.

This fall IE Law School invites you to navigate the different areas that Global Taxation offers. Learn more about our new Master in Global Taxation (LLM), a program that perfectly combines tax knowledge with the corporate and global world.