Why Continuing Professional Development never leaves you empty-handed

Tax Partner Paul Banister, CTA on why he loves The Tax Institute’s events.

Paul Banister, CTA is a Partner at Grant Thornton and has been a member of a number of Institute committees.

We caught up with him at the 34th National Convention in Hobart.

“ Events like the National Convention, they're always fun,” he says.

“What’s great about these events is hearing regular speakers on what their latest insights are, but it's also really good to hear from new speakers and what they're saying about problems that I might be facing on a day-to-day basis.

“And ultimately, putting all that together, you've always got something great to come home with, whether it's just having had a good time that you can reflect on or you've got a few deliverables that you could take to your clients.”

Sailing the changing seas in tax

Events like the National Convention are becoming more and more important in the face of change in tax.

“Coping with change is something that all businesses, all people, need to endure and find their way through,” says Paul.

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“Having a system of collecting tax, reporting information on a real-time basis, delivering insights, maybe directly to a regulator, means that we've got to totally change our perspective.

“We have to realise that we're shoulder-to-shoulder with regulators, the agents, and the clients all looking at the same time and generating insights at the same time on the same data.

“And that is going to mean that we're going to have to change the way that we approach things quite significantly,” he adds.

Advice for new practitioners

Paul’s advice is to new practitioners is twofold.

“Make sure you are interested and that you are really passionate about the area of tax that you're focused on,” he advises.

“And make connections. Because ultimately, if you are dealing with like-minded people, they all have different perspectives and we all benefit from getting multiple perspectives from other professionals.”

Joining The Tax Institute has also been instrumental for his career.

“Getting involved in The Institute has been one of the key things that has helped me achieve lots in my career,” says Paul.

“Having an interest in tax, and also having a pretty good knowledge of what it means to people, that's been one level.

“But then getting involved in The Tax Institute is another; event committees, attending events, getting on committees, ultimately now being on National Council.

“It's been great and having something like The Tax Institute has been wonderful to be part of.”

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