Hi All
It has been a while since I updated my blog so I wanted to give you a taste of what has been happening in the tax department of PwC over the past few weeks.
Firstly, the Budget took place in early December. This was a great opportunity to get in touch with our clients and keep them up to date on the changes that would affect them. PwC had a large media presence on Budget night and the following days whereby we explained to clients and the public what the budget changes would mean for them. The tax department of PwC hosts a Budget Breakfast Briefing in the Four Seasons on the morning after the Budget which clients are invited to attend. This was the first year that I was involved in the Budget Briefing and it was a great way to meet clients face to face and chat informally about the Budget and how business is going for them generally.
We have had some more interesting training sessions recently including a session on Intellectual Property. Such sessions give us a good overview of an area so that we are in a position to have initial discussions with clients about a topic that may be relevant to them. We have a number of training sessions scheduled for the coming weeks also.
The run-up to Christmas is always a very enjoyable few weeks in PwC. The atmosphere is lively and the decorations around the office really add to the festive season. Our DIO Christmas party was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Our department went for a delicious lunch followed by a karaoke session! The karaoke machine didn't get a rest all night! There were many surprise performances on the night and lots of hidden talent emerged!! Next stop will be the X Factor!!
I am involved in a Corporate Social Responsibility project whereby I am part of a team that helps a wonderful school on Pearse Street called The Life Centre. This small school caters for teenagers preparing for the Junior Cert. We organise some projects for the teenagers which are fun yet challenging. This year, we are facilitating a Dragon's Den-style project whereby the students prepare a proposal for a business idea. We assist the students in preparing their pitches to potential investors. It is very encouraging to see their confidence increase over the weeks of practice. In May each year, we invite the students to our office in Spencer Dock to present their proposal for four "Dragons" who are PwC colleagues that the students have not met before. The Life Centre collaboration has been running for a number of years now and it is a very rewarding experience for both students, teachers and those of us involved from PwC.
January is quite a busy month here in the tax practice. We are currently carrying out tax reviews which involves reviewing or providing the corporation tax figure for inclusion in a company's financial statements. I have been involved in some small tax reviews carried out from the office over the past 2 weeks. Next week, I will be visiting a client in Maynooth for an all-day onsite tax review. I will be accompanied by an Assistant and a Specialist 2. We intend to spend the day analysing the information provided and continue our review from the office the following week before producing a draft corporation tax computation for audit of tax sign-off purposes. This is the first year that I will be co-ordinating this review. I will be working directly with the Director and delegating to and assisting the Junior staff-I am looking forward to the challenge.
Bye for now
Aoife
