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A complete guide to becoming a Tax Consultant in India

Blog Date
October 21,
2024

Tax consultants refer to skilled professionals with specialized knowledge and expertise in tax-related laws. They also offer professional guidance and counseling to clients on all financial matters. They play a critical role in India’s financial landscape, enabling clients to plan strategically and make informed financial decisions. This explains the growing tax consultant scope in India, particularly in the wake of complex tax regulations. They are also demanded by businesses and individuals alike for the professional tax advice they offer.  

What is a Tax Consultant?

We touched upon the need for a Tax Consultant in India. Let us now elaborate on who they are and how they help individuals and businesses in carrying out their operations smoothly. 

Some of the primary responsibilities of tax consultants include:

  • Ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations
  • Offering advice on strategies to save taxes
  • Tax planning for individuals and organizations alike
  • Filing tax returns on behalf of clients

What does a Tax Consultant do?

We learned who a tax consultant is in the earlier section. Let us now detail some of the key responsibilities of tax consultants in India. These include, among many others:

  1. They help ensure compliance for their clients – both individuals and businesses – with tax laws in the country.
  2. They offer guided assistance and support to their clients in filing and documentation of their taxes. They also maintain appropriate records for handy future reference. 
  3. They ensure adherence of client taxes to all local, state, and national tax regulations and legal frameworks.
  4. They offer expert advice on all investments and strategies related to saving of tax for the clients.
  5. They represent their clients in all tax assessments and legal disputes, acting as their expert attorneys in all tax-related matters. 

How to Become a Tax Consultant in India?

If you feel inclined toward this highly responsible and reputed profession, here’s a step-by-step guide on what it takes to become a tax consultant in India:

  • Complete an undergraduate degree: This is the first pre-requisite to all Tax Consultant jobs in India. You would be required to have obtained a recognized and relevant Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (B.Com), Finance, Accounting, or another related domain. A BCom/MCom degree program helps lay the right foundation for the profession, equipping you with the necessary skills and expertise for the job.
  • Opt for professional certification courses: Courses such as Chartered Accountancy (CA), Cost and Management Accountancy (CMA), or a Diploma in Taxation can prove helpful in career advancement. They equip you with just the right skills and knowledge required in the industry for high-paying roles.
  • Pursue certification in taxation laws: In addition to the professional certifications above, you can also opt for specialized certification courses in taxation laws. These help enhance credibility and improve career prospects further. A few examples include a Diploma in Taxation Law, a Certificate Course in Advanced Corporate Taxation, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation Law.
  • Gain practical experience: This offers the added value and insights required into the real-world working of a tax consultant. Internships or entry-level positions in accounting firms or tax consultancy firms can help you gain the much-desired hands-on experience. They are also the first stepping stones to success in this career path. 

Skills needed to become a Tax Consultant

Possessing the required professional skills is essential for the desired career growth in tax consultancy domains. Some of the core skills that can help you progress on your career trajectory are:

  1. Problem-solving and critical analysis: Tax consultants must be able to analyze all gathered financial data carefully. Based on this thoughtful analysis, they can offer valuable solutions to clients for saving tax.
  2. Thorough knowledge of tax laws and regulations: This is imperative to survive and thrive in this domain. Make sure to keep yourself updated with the ever-changing tax laws, rules, and regulatory frameworks to avoid grave errors and loss of clients.
  3. Effective communication: For a much wider Tax Consultant scope in India, it is essential to have excellent communication skills. These include both written and verbal abilities to communicate with the concerned stakeholders. Tax consultants should be able to explain complex tax matters to their clients effectively.
  4. Attention to detail: This is generally one of the prerequisites of most Tax Consultant jobs in India. They are required to ensure 100%  accuracy in all calculations and filings of tax-related matters.
  5. Ethics and Integrity: While dealing with tax affairs, professionals must be able to uphold high standards of ethical conduct. They are dealing with their clients’ finances, and hence, honesty and integrity are supreme. 

Specializations in Tax Consultancy

If you’re aspiring for career growth in tax consultancy, it is essential to specialize in a specific area of the domain. This would help you gain the necessary expertise and advanced knowledge base to succeed. Some of the areas where you can specialize as a Tax Consultant include:

  • Corporate tax: This area focuses on corporate and business clients. Consultants offer tax-related advice and guidance to these clients to help save taxes and make optimum use of their finances.
  • Personal taxation: Tax consultants with specialization in this domain offer their services to individual taxpayers. They are generally associated with a single individual client in this case, solely responsible for handling all tax-related filing and documentation for them. They also offer guidance, support, and assistance to these clients on all financial and tax matters. 
  • GST and indirect taxation: In this case, Tax Consultants are specialists in giving information about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other indirect taxes. These specifically concern businesses and corporations.
  • International taxation: Specialists in this area offer their services to clients with matters related to cross-border taxes.

You may also like: Most in-demand MBA specializations in 2024

Job opportunities and career growth as a Tax Consultant

Continuing with the discussion on the Tax Consultant’s scope in India, let us now highlight the key job roles that they are eligible for:

  • They can work in accounting and tax consultancy firms upon graduating with a professional degree program. This includes a BCom/MCom degree program from a recognized educational institution. 
  • They can also choose to offer independent tax consultancy services as freelance consultants or entrepreneurs in the domain.
  • They are eligible to apply for roles in MNCs to handle the varied taxation requirements of large business corporations.
  • They can also work with government organizations, such as the Income Tax Department of India. 

To summarize, after graduating with a BCom or MCom course, you can start your career in public accounting work. You can then slowly work your way up to national or international clients, with higher work experience and upskilling. You have the potential to work as a senior tax advisor or start your independent consultancy practice.

The average annual salary of a Tax Consultant in India is approximately INR 6,67,500 per annum. This is only for indicative purposes and is subject to variation based on various factors.

Gain in-depth finance and accounting knowledge with MUJ’s online B.Com and M.Com degrees.

We learned that Tax Consultants play a crucial role in the working of any individual or organizational business entity. This is why they enjoy a high demand in the industry and also attractive pay packages. If you’re keen on pursuing this career path, start by deepening your knowledge in the areas of finance and accounting. 

Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ) offers online BCom/MCom degree programs to lay the perfect foundation for a career in Tax Consultancy. The online B.Com degree by MUJ is designed to offer competency in the field of commerce. Students learn the fundamentals of accounting, economic policies, and other areas affecting business and trade. After completing this course, you can move on to pursuing an online MCom from MUJ. The two-year postgraduate degree develops a thorough understanding of corporate tax laws and planning, enabling you to pursue related job roles. These include the domains of personal finance advisory, auditing and risk management, and taxation.      

Conclusion

Tax Consultants serve an important role in helping individuals and businesses navigate through the complexities of the Indian tax system. If you’re interested in finance and taxation, consider this rewarding career path. Start with signing up for an online BCom or MCom degree from Manipal University Jaipur. The university offers these undergraduate and postgraduate programs on the Online Manpal platform. It enjoys NAAC accreditation and the UGC entitles all its online courses. Take the first step to a lucrative career in Tax Consultancy with Online Manipal.   

Disclaimer

Information related to companies and external organizations is based on secondary research or the opinion of individual authors and must not be interpreted as the official information shared by the concerned organization.


Additionally, information like fee, eligibility, scholarships, finance options etc. on offerings and programs listed on Online Manipal may change as per the discretion of respective universities so please refer to the respective program page for latest information. Any information provided in blogs is not binding and cannot be taken as final.

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