Secondment at Baker Tilly Netherlands
Can you tell us how long you were there and from where you carried out your duties?
My experience lasted two weeks in April 2024, during which I was in the Netherlands, although I continued to perform my usual duties in the TAX department at Baker Tilly Spain. I wasn’t working directly for another country, but rather continued with my assigned tasks from Spain, just from a different location.
Why did you want to take part in this experience?
It all started at the first VAT congress in Vienna. At this congress, colleagues working in the VAT area from various Baker Tilly firms across Europe came together. What’s great about this congress is that it’s not just aimed at partners, but also at all of us who work in the field, and it gives us the chance to meet in person, since we’re in regular contact with each other day-to-day.
During the first evening’s dinner, we started discussing a specific topic, and the idea came up: “Why don’t you come to Spain so we can show you how things work there?”
Marian Mariñas, TAX partner in Spain, and Marisa Hut, VAT partner in the Netherlands, mentioned that it would be a great idea for us to do an exchange and experience working in another country and learning how it operates, considering that VAT is a harmonised tax in Europe but with small variations between countries.
From there, and with MHA also joining the initiative, it became a reality. In April 2024, I spent two weeks in the Netherlands. Then, in May, a colleague from there spent two weeks in Spain, coinciding with the visit of another colleague from the UK for one week.
How was your overall experience, both with the team that welcomed you and the places you had the chance to visit?
It was a very enjoyable experience to spend time and share experiences with my VAT colleagues in the Netherlands. Fortunately, we’re in constant contact, so being able to live and work together for a while was a fantastic idea. And not just from a professional point of view, but also on a personal level. During my stay, they took me to all (or almost all) of their offices in the Netherlands: Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven and The Hague.
I also had the chance to join them for breakfast on their official office day in Utrecht and enjoy Cake Day at the Amsterdam office. We also did several afterwork activities: we went golfing, had dinner together some evenings after work, and also went out for drinks with my colleagues there. Honestly, I’m very grateful for the time they devoted to me and for having had the opportunity to live such an experience.
What would you highlight the most from this experience? Would you encourage your colleagues to take advantage of these secondments?
The best part was being able to spend time with colleagues from other countries with whom I work more or less regularly, getting to know them a bit better and sharing some quality time together. Another interesting aspect was seeing how they work, visiting their offices, and learning about their schedules, which are quite different from ours.
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