Ray has always enjoyed writing and publishing – and that’s ideally where he would have worked for his full career. However, like many tax professionals from his generation, he fell into a job in tax at the then Inland Revenue.
He moved to private practice and became a tax partner at what is now Mazars, before making his move into publishing.
He worked as a Senior Technical Editor at CCH, alongside running own tax consultancy, until he decided to start Claritax Books in 2011.
He now runs Claritax Books but also does some tax work for Six Forward Capital Allowances.
Given he has essentially had multiple roles at a single time at many points in his career, I had to ask him how he managed that – and his answer wasn’t quite what I was expecting!
One thing that really stood out to me about Ray was his professional integrity – and I’m sure that’s gone a long way in getting himself to where he is today.
And also, like me, he has a strong belief that tax professionals should be able to use and interpret tax legislation and be able to communicate that clearly and simply. Take a look at The Tax Research Masterclass if you want to improve in this regard!
Listen to the episode with the podcast player at the top of this page, or by searching for The Tax Professionals Podcast in your podcast player of choice!
Guest – Ray Chidell
Claritax Books: https://www.claritaxbooks.com/
Claritax News (free tax-news source): https://claritaxnews.com/
Ray’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-chidell-ab75022/
You’ll Learn
- Overview of Ray’s tax career
- (7:00) What Ray likes about writing and publishing, and an insight into Claritax
- (12:00) Ray’s biggest career achievement
- (14:15) How Ray’s dealt with having numerous tax roles at once, and his advice
- (20:30) How Ray’s career motivators changed through his career
- (23:15) The lead-up to starting Claritax Books, the one thing that meant it may not have happened, and the plan B if it didn’t work
- (27:00) Biggest challenge in getting Claritax Books to where it is today
- (32:15) Advise for people considering making bold career decisions (particularly starting own business)
- (39:00) Career advice that stood out to Ray, and his tips to help you progress, develop and improve your tax career
Resources
Claritax Books: https://www.claritaxbooks.com/
Claritax News (free tax-news source): https://claritaxnews.com/
Tax Research Masterclass: thetaxprofessionalspodcast.com/masterclasses
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