Business and financial adviser Grant Thornton’s Birmingham office has boosted its corporate tax team with the appointment of Michelle Perry as head of employment taxes.
With 25 years’ accounting and tax experience, Perry is a Chartered Tax Adviser who has specialised in employment taxes for 15 years, including seven at a Big 4 firm in the city. In addition to leading and growing Grant Thornton’s employment taxes team in the West Midlands, her new role will include advising companies on issues including compliance with HMRC regulations and enquiries, efficient remuneration and rewards packages and assisting clients with the increasingly complicated rules for the taxation of employees.
David Hillan, practice leader and head of corporate tax at Grant Thornton in Birmingham, said: “Michelle’s track record of providing commercially astute advice, combined with her very personable approach, are exactly the qualities we look for in our aim to build trusted client relationships. Her specialist expertise is especially relevant at the moment, in terms of both HMRC’s approach to employment taxes and market forces.
“HMRC’s focus has shifted significantly over recent years, with the emphasis placed firmly on companies having formal policies and procedures to ensure they get their employment taxes right first time. Failure to comply can result in severe financial penalties, as well as time-consuming and potentially stressful enquiries.”
Perry added: “Many organisations are currently addressing skills shortages, particularly at senior levels, and rewards packages can be used as a valuable competitive advantage, but ensuring that they are used in the most tax efficient way, together with getting compliance correct, is critical. Grant Thornton’s reputation for providing growing businesses with genuinely holistic advice appealed to me and I’m looking forward to continuing and building on that culture.”
