Graduate Tax Training Programmes, Designed Around Your Firm
Your graduates are the future of your tax practice. We design structured training programmes that turn capable graduates into confident tax professionals — building technical foundations, legislative research skills and client communication from day one.
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Trusted Tax Programmes for Trainees
Why we believe in graduate training
ExtraTax Training exists, in part, because of a graduate training programme. Our founder, Catriona Loughran, joined EY as a Law & Accounting graduate and benefitted from three years of structured learning — lectures, case studies, team exercises and role play — that built the skills behind a career spanning global accounting firms, multinational groups and HMRC.
Most firms can't resource that kind of programme internally. Partners and managers are focused on client service. Graduate cohorts arrive with mixed backgrounds and qualification pathways, and structured development too often gives way to learning on the job. We design and deliver the programme for you. Your graduates benefit from the foundation they deserve, and your senior people stay focused on clients.
Most firms can't resource that kind of programme internally. Partners and managers are focused on client service. Graduate cohorts arrive with mixed backgrounds and qualification pathways, and structured development too often gives way to learning on the job. We design and deliver the programme for you. Your graduates benefit from the foundation they deserve, and your senior people stay focused on clients.
How we work with you
We don't arrive with a fixed syllabus. Every programme starts with a conversation about your graduates and your firm, and is designed from there.
Understand
The size and background of your cohort, their qualification pathways (ACA, ATT, CTA or a combination), the work they'll be doing in their first three years, and the capability you want them to reach.
Design
A modular programme built around those needs — the right topics, in the right order, at the right depth. We agree the outline with you and refine the materials with your input.
Deliver
Interactive sessions, in person or online, scheduled around your business calendar and busy seasons. Graduates work through exercises and case studies in small groups, applying what they learn, not just listening to it.
Refine
Feedback from graduates and leadership shapes the programme as it runs, and the schedule refreshes each year as your intake and priorities evolve.
What our graduate programmes develop
Technical foundations
Core corporate tax, personal tax, VAT or transfer pricing — pitched for new joiners and built up module by module, so knowledge compounds across the programme.
Legislative research skills
People often think tax is all about numbers, but words matter more. Our programmes teach associates to find, read and apply legislation and case law for themselves, building the research habits that underpin a whole career. Sessions include legislative exercises: finding the provision, applying it to the facts, and supporting a computation with statutory references.
Communication skills
Trainees practise explaining tax in plain English, through role plays, presentations and case studies built around realistic client scenarios. Participants can take on short presentations to the group, building confidence ahead of client-facing roles.
Applied learning through case studies
Small teams work through extended exercises across the year. Preparing a computation from a set of financial statements and meeting the "client" to discuss it; researching and arguing both sides of a mock dispute with the tax authority; gathering information from a "client" and presenting advice. This is where knowledge becomes capability.
What a bespoke programme can look like
Two examples from recent client work — different firms, different needs, both designed from scratch.
Example 1: A graduate pathway for a Big 4 transfer pricing team
For three consecutive years, we have delivered a graduate development pathway for a Big 4 transfer pricing team in Ireland. New TP graduates begin with our practical Fundamentals of Transfer Pricing programme. This comprises five exercise-led modules building from the arm's length principle through to documentation.
In their second year, they progress to a bespoke ADIT Transfer Pricing course, gaining an internationally recognised qualification. The pathway has achieved 100% ADIT pass rates, and the firm's senior professionals stay focused on client work instead of classroom delivery.
In their second year, they progress to a bespoke ADIT Transfer Pricing course, gaining an internationally recognised qualification. The pathway has achieved 100% ADIT pass rates, and the firm's senior professionals stay focused on client work instead of classroom delivery.
Example 2: A first-to-third-year programme for a growing tax practice
These are examples, not a menu. Your programme might focus on one specialism, span all tax disciplines, run for a single year or follow your graduates through to qualification. The starting point is always your cohort and your firm.
Support alongside professional qualifications
Many graduate programmes run alongside professional studies — ACA, ACCA, ATT, CTA or ADIT. Our training is designed to complement, not duplicate, exam tuition: we focus on the practical application, research skills and client capability that exam courses don't teach.
For firms whose trainees are sitting CTA, we also offer targeted exam support to supplement their main course provider. And for graduates in international tax and transfer pricing roles, our ADIT courses can form the qualification stage of a graduate pathway.
For firms whose trainees are sitting CTA, we also offer targeted exam support to supplement their main course provider. And for graduates in international tax and transfer pricing roles, our ADIT courses can form the qualification stage of a graduate pathway.
Why firms choose ExtraTax Training for graduate development
Designed around your cohort
Programme content reflects your graduates' backgrounds, qualification pathways and the work they'll actually do, not a generic syllabus.
Skills, not just knowledge
Legislative research, plain-English communication and client confidence are built into every programme, because that's what makes a trainee genuinely useful on engagements.
A scalable framework
The programme grows with your intake. It is refreshed each year, with structure that new cohorts can join.
Proven with demanding firms
From Big 4 specialist teams to growing practices, firms trust us with their newest people — the strongest endorsement there is.
Others deliver courses. We develop careers.
Frequently asked questions
What does a graduate tax training programme include?
A typical programme combines technical modules (corporate tax, personal tax, VAT or transfer pricing fundamentals), legislative research exercises, and applied case studies with role plays and client presentations. The exact mix is designed around your cohort and the work they'll be doing.
How is this different from their professional exam studies?
It's complementary. Exam courses teach the syllabus; our programmes teach graduates to apply tax in practice — researching legislation, preparing real-world deliverables, and communicating with clients. We design programmes to fit around exam timetables and busy seasons.
Can a programme cover graduates across different tax teams?
Yes. We can design programmes for cohorts spanning corporate, personal and indirect tax — with shared modules on cross-cutting skills and topics where multiple taxes interact, alongside specialist content for each team.
How long does a programme run?
Anything from a single year to a structured pathway across the first three years, including progression to a professional qualification such as ADIT for specialist teams. Many clients refresh and re-run the programme annually for each new intake.
Do graduates need any prior tax knowledge?
No. Programmes are designed for graduates joining from any degree background, building from first principles. They are pitched so that those with relevant study aren't held back.
How do we get started?
Contact us to arrange a call. Tell us about your intake — how many graduates, which teams, which qualifications — and we'll come back with a proposed programme designed around them.