EMEA Recruitment is proud to welcome not one, but two Indirect Tax leaders to the podcast – eBay’s Anitha Chakravarthi and Bart Caluwé, of Expedia.

“Own who you are and bring that to the table.”

Anitha is the Global Head of Indirect Tax at eBay, while Bart is Expedia’s Indirect Tax Director.

They spoke to our Founder, Paul Toms, at an incredibly anxious time; the USA was in the midst of the 2020 election and COVID-19 continued to take its toll on people’s lives. It’s been such a turbulent time that Anitha hopes 2021 is a little less exciting! Bart, too, joked that he’ll hide under a rock and keep working until this is all over.

We kicked off the podcast by asking both Anitha and Bart about their experiences with Digital Services Tax – the new kid on the block in their industry. It’s something that both eBay and Expedia, as online marketplaces, must deal with. However, they both explain how their departments deal with the legislation differently.

Anitha is positive about changes in the Tax sector, as it keeps her role interesting. Bart agrees that professionals must remain savvy to the new platforms in the Tax ecosystem.

Due to the changing demands of the function, Bart discusses why Tax newbies should go down that route in the first place and the roles available. Anitha runs through the characteristics that she believes good Tax professionals need, especially those interested in Indirect Tax.

We also found out Bart’s golden nugget of recruitment – it’s a top tip that any professional in any discipline can apply to the interview process!

Although we tried not to focus too much on COVID-19 during the podcast, it’s difficult to have a conversation with anyone today without the coronavirus coming up. Paul asked both Anitha and Bart to explain how they’ve kept their teams motivated during the pandemic. As managers, they both have very human approaches, with positive outlooks for the future.

Inevitably, the conversation also turned to women in Finance, which has become an increasing focus of companies’ Diversity & Inclusion agendas. Anitha has some inspiring words for all Finance professionals, but also offers advice for women in the industry.

Bart echoes Anitha’s points, having worked with lots of women during his career in Tax.  

We ended by asking Anitha and Bart for their dream podcast guests – while Bart sticks with Finance, Anitha’s are at the opposite end of the spectrum… Listen to the full episode below to find out who they’d most like to interview.

We hope that you enjoy this special Indirect Tax episode of the EMEA Recruitment podcast – please share it with anyone in your network that you think would benefit from Anitha and Bart’s advice.

Use these helpful timestamps to find the section you’re most interested in:

02:20 – The new Digital Services Tax
06:32 – New taxes and technology
11:52 – Why to choose Tax
15:31 – The characteristics that Anitha looks for in Tax professionals
19:40 – Bart’s key piece of recruitment advice
21:23 – Routes into the Tax industry
28:50 – Keeping teams motivated during COVID-19
33:03 – Moving forward in your career
35:56 – Advice for women (and men) in Finance
40:02 – Women at Expedia
44:24 – Anitha’s dream podcast guests
45:27 – Bart’s dream podcast guests
46:55 – How to reach out to Anitha and Bart

You can listen to the full episode here:

Or at: https://emearecruitment.libsyn.com/emea-recruitment-podcast-73-an-indirect-tax-special-anitha-chakravarthi-bart-caluw

If you'd prefer to watch the episode, you can view it below:

This Indirect Tax special of the EMEA Recruitment podcast is brought to you in partnership with Operation Smile. Our international charity partner provides life-changing surgery to children and adults with cleft lip and palate. We’re hoping to raise vital funds and awareness for this cause, which is very close to Paul Toms’ heart. If you would like to find out more or donate, click here: https://www.emearecruitment.com/pages/operation-smile

The EMEA Recruitment podcast is hosted by Paul Toms, our Founder, and Jenny Callum, our Associate Director.

If you’d like to find out more about our services, visit our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/

You can also follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/

To connect with Paul, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/

Or Jenny, at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycallumemea/

If there are any topics you’d like to hear more about on the EMEA Recruitment podcast, please let us know through LinkedIn.