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You will generally see a little of both M&A and International in either group. I am a partner in M&A and tend to feel like we have a slightly deeper understanding of international tax than our international tax groups have of M&A. That will differ based on team and focus.
At PwC, our M&A tax teams tend to be more multi-disciplinary than other big 4 in my experience because, outside of select markets, “M&A tax” generally isn’t split into smaller specialized groups that focus around each of internal restructuring and planning, deals and project work (e.g., bankruptcy, consol return reg stuff, basis/E&P, 382, etc). You see a little bit of it all.
That said, every group needs recurring revenue. In ITS, that tends to come from compliance, provision and audit support; in M&A that tends to come from deals clients and due diligence. As a result, M&A tends to be much less predictable; the utilization peaks can be very high.
Familiarity with accounting principles and general business acumen is where both ITS and M&A see some LLMs struggle (same as CPAs often struggling with deep tax law research and writing). That said, both groups will try to put you on projects early on that leverage your strengths (you just have to make sure you don’t get pigeon holed). We have a good mix of CPAs and LLMs
I debated both when I switched from core tax (I’m a CPA) and landed on M&A because of my own perception of more diverse work and a deeper and broader tax technical base. I think that has played out as expected. I also greatly enjoy my interactions and discussions with clients at the CFO, deal team and corp dev team level rather than the tax lead/function at clients.
Hope that helps.
Came from compliance and was debating between ITS and M&A. Went with the latter for the same reasons as P1 mentioned and I’m very happy with my decision. Use to hate tax and now I’m genuinely happy
Subject Expert
I’ve done both at different big 4s and big law. I think the transactional side of both groups is probably the most fun. Some core international can be mundane (talking bout 861 allocations and stuff) and DD in m&a gets repetitive. Finding the sweet spot in the middle is the best, whether in m&a or international.
Anecdotally, I feel like international folks have a better general understanding of m&a than m&a folks with a general understanding of international.
Coach
No doubt it is a tough task to be in international and not be involved in compliance. There are some that do zero compliance. I weaseled my way into practically none at big4. Delegate to the right manager, get them to ask a compliance specialist on tough questions, and keep the managed revenue for yourself. It’s an art for sure. The deadlines suck. One busy season is generally enough to get the hang of it.
It’s tough from the law firm perspective. They need to hire someone that primarily doesn’t do compliance but has the skill sets to succeed in the law firm. Throw in the high cost of making a mistake and you can understand the apprehension.
Much easier to explain to interviewers who have spent time at big4, for sure.
That’s me! Done both, now in m&a. Have a jd/llm. 100% m&a is the way to go, unless you can guarantee No compliance in international. An understanding of Compliance is helpful for m&a. I made the switch not too long ago and likely will never go back.
Community Builder
M1, thanks for sharing. Could you please elaborate on the flexibility and broad exposure of M&A?
Like international structuring / planning / ITS M&A ?
As someone in fed M&A I’ve noticed they overlap a lot (clearly). Speaking for my own experience I want to learn a little more of the ITS stuff but fed is already complex as it is I don’t plan to rotate there.
I feel like fed M&A is usually more the “tax lead” / the face of tax on deals which I prefer.
Coach
Can refer you to both MA or Intl tax. The lead Intl tax MA partner sits in our office a few offices down. Happy to help you
Mentor
Really appreciate this offer. I’m actually in int’l now and really love it and plan stick with it, but was curious about M&A since it seems to be the other avenue for JDs it seems :)