Music by numbers
Having carved out a career as a tax consultant, Frances Brennan says this job option offers much scope for variety and flexibility
Thursday November 06 2008
A phone call in 1991 to tell her that professional services firm OJ Kilkenny was looking for someone to head up its tax department was the "fluke" that led Frances Brennan to specialise in providing personal tax advice to high-profile rock artists.
“OJ Kilkenny looked after really big international names at the time and I thought I’d a snowball’s chance of getting the job!” she says.
But Brennan did get it. Now, 17 years on, she has several high-profile clients in music and entertainment — along with clients such as solicitors, family businesses, company directors and medical consultants — in her current role at Kieran Ryan & Company.
One of the things Brennan has noticed, especially in the past year, is how much the music and entertainment industry has changed. Whereas artists used to record an album, then go on tour on the back of that, nowadays they have to do a lot more live performances to maintain their income.
For Brennan, this means providing a very personal service to ensure performers’ affairs are as tax efficient as possible.
“I take a holistic approach to their tax planning. With live-performance work, there are specific VAT implications in Ireland, and withholding tax issues in other countries — it’s withheld when they get paid — but I plan it, so the artist can use the credit here to reduce their Irish tax. I look at the types of expenses they are entitled to claim, assess whether there are double taxation issues and plan around the current residency rules,” she says.
“One thing I like about tax consultancy is the huge variety — you don’t know from one day to the next what might land on your desk. I really value the flexibility of the job and the chance to use my own initiative.”
Clients in the music industry often have only a small window of time to think about their finances. This prompts you to be very smart with your time, says Brennan.
“A big part of my role is to monitor the work to see if it can be done early, so we have time to review things, and to check if there is scope to plan and think of a new idea for a client that isn’t routine.”
Brennan started working in the Revenue Commissioners straight from school, where she completed a five-year apprenticeship as a tax officer. From there, she held full-time positions in different practices and also freelanced for four years.
While she didn’t go to college directly from school, studying has become an integral part of Brennan’s career progression. She is an associate of the Irish Taxation Institute, whose members have recently been renamed registered tax consultants.
So, what advice does Brennan have for anyone wishing to follow a similar career path?
“You need to look at the bigger picture and not pigeonhole yourself in one area of tax. My clients prefer to deal with somebody who can answer questions on everything from income tax, to VAT, to commercial matters.”
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- Sorcha Corcoran
