Tax Manager France

Basic Function

This position is based in Berre and is an integral member of the global tax department that is made up of approximately 100 tax professionals in 10 countries. More specifically, this position is part of the Tax Planning and Counsel team at LyondellBasell which is a collection of 20+  individuals located in different countries working diligently to comply with our Company’s tax policy requirements and to enhance shareholder value. This Team is responsible for the Global tax restructurings, M&A and internal tax advisory to businesses. In order to achieve our goals, we work closely together with the business and other corporate functions such as Treasury, Legal, Accounting and HR.
This role reports into the Director – Global Country Tax Planning & Mgmt located in Rotterdam. The role will lead all direct tax aspects of the above transactions, working collaboratively with cross-functional teams and colleagues within Tax globally, with focus being France. This role is also a people manager role with a direct management line to a Tax Analyst.
The ideal candidate will be a qualified tax professional who has previously gained experience in and knowledge of a similarly structured global organization (e.g. Big 4 Accounting and/ or Industry). Working within a French team, the role is a part of a much larger global department and the candidate will be required to interact and liaise with colleagues around the world.

The candidate will be comfortable working on their own initiative to achieve objectives and deadlines relevant to the role requirements and business needs in a timely and accurate manner.

Roles & Responsibilities

•    Review all France tax compliance, including calculation of taxes, preparation of tax filings and processing of tax payments in connection with corporate income tax, business tax, real estate property tax, CVAE, C3S, etc.
•    Oversee the transfer pricing policy and local transfer pricing files for all French companies
•    Draft internal notes or memos in English to explain French tax issues or advise on French tax matters
•    Lead all ongoing tax audits in France: coordinate with other departments to centralize the flows of information in the context of the tax audits, review the information provided, check adequacy and reliability and provide timely replies to the tax administration’s requests for information ; attend meetings with the tax audit team
•    Draft litigation memos (replies to reassessment notices, memos to French tax Courts…) or correspondence with the tax administration
•    Prepare the tax reporting memos (FIN 48, QSTM memo, Valuation allowance memo…) and the quarterly tax reporting packages
•    Provide VAT advice on local matters and tax audits
•    Identify potential tax exposures on all French tax matters, and assist in mitigating them, especially in the context of the tax audits
•    Identify potential tax planning ideas in France and assist in implementing them, including financing, repatriation and restructuring transactions.
•    Keep up to date with French tax legislation and assist in escalating to the management (locally and outside of France) all relevant changes in tax legislation
•    Identify and implement where agreed, continuous process improvement ideas within in the Tax function and specifically France.

Min. Qualifications

Work Experience : 
•    Typically 8-10 years work experience within the Big Four or corporate multi-national environment with exposures to various tax matters in France (and cross-border tax matters)
•    Experience with managing people with functional or cross functional lines

Degree :
•    France’s master’s degree in Tax or equivalent level of education / Qualified as a Tax Lawyer is preferred
•    Fluent in spoken and written business English

Preferred Qualifications

•    Experience with Tax Accounting under US GAAP is a strong plus
•    French speaker
•    Proficient English communication skills
•    A detail oriented, hands-on and analytical tax professional with competent communication and writing skills
•    Confident, self-starter with ability to work with minimal direction and supervision
•    Strong project manager: able to initiate, plan, execute, control, and close the work of a diverse team from different departments with potentially conflicting timelines and work objectives to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria
•    Proactively assumes ownership and accountability when completing various projects
•    Competent in assisting in managing and resolving local tax matters in France
•    A team-work oriented person with good interpersonal and communication skills
 

Competencies