[Anonymous]

Anyone working in a SALT group for CPA firm or industry? How do you like it?

I currently work as a franchise/sales tax auditor for State gov’t and thinking about making the switch to public/private…..I took this gov’t job right after college and now 5 years later, I feel like I am pigeonholed in SALT. I mean, I like the work. It’s fun to research the gray areas. But whenever I search Monster or Indeed, I see a TON of Tax Manager and Director of Tax positions, but they all want federal tax experience. Some day I want to be a Director or VP of Tax in industry. Is it a good idea to go public and start at the staff tax level? One position I would really love is to be a “VP of Tax Audits.” It’s basically what I am doing now but on the other side. Real easy! But these are hard to find too.

Thanks!

[jaredo155]

I don't currently work in SALT, but I did in industry for about 3 1/2 years. I know a couple people that worked as state auditor's like yourself and then went to a Big 4 and then transitioned into high level positions in Industry. You are absolutely right that SALT specific positions are very few and far between, to compensate for this you might try to find either a position in public or industry which will utilize your specialized experience but also allow you to work on the income side of tax. That way you can still take a position in SALT if one arises down the road, but you become more versatile in being qualified for any tax positions that come up. I know when I worked in industry that was the nice thing about where I worked, the department was small enough that I got to do all the SALT stuff but I also got exposed to the income tax side for state, local, and federal.

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