Sybrand Bester
Newcastle,Australia
Overview
2
2
years of professional experience
Work History
Graduate Program
The Australian Taxation Office
Newcastle, NSW
02.2024 - Current
- Actioned high value objections during the first rotation within the Middle Market Objections team.
- Was given ownership of complex objections that spanned a diverse and in depth range of tax issues.
- Assisted the team leader in preparing for the Newcastle site conference and actively participated in team display activities.
- Participated in case callovers with the overseeing assistant commissioner to discuss and explain case progress.
- Liaised directly and independently with high wealth taxpayers and their representatives over the phone. Often needing to discuss contentious issues such as penalties requiring high level communication skills and the ability to defend and maintain the ATO view on tax issues.
- Took ownership of a batch testamentary trust matters that were assigned to the team but had no precedent for processing. Developed procedure to effectively apply thorough anti avoidance checks and administer the required steps in order to exercise the commissioner's discretion to apply the individual tax rate where appropriate.
- Created detailed training material and procedures to allow other team members to action testamentary trust matters.
- Actioned penalty remission requests in rotation two of the program in Lodge and Pay Solutions.
- Excelled in decision making and procedural processing activities to the point where the team leader allowed me to act as a mentor assisting and teaching other graduates.
- Effectively mentored non-tax technical graduates into competently actioning high volumes of complex remission activities while maintaining assigned case load and continuously delivering high quality outcomes to taxpayers.
- Continuously increased systems knowledge far beyond required level to provide effective advice to the team leader.
University Partnership Employee Program
The Australian Taxation Office
Newcastle
12.2022 - 01.2024
- Worked as a casual law interpretation officer in the Foreign Investment Law and Policy team.
- The small size of the team meant often undertaking work at the APS 5 level.
- Worked directly with Treasury, SES staff and high value international investors to ensure effective administration and communication of key foreign investment legislation.
- Independently created policy position papers with minimal input required from team leaders that served as law interpretation guidance to operational teams.
- Participated and provided feedback on the framework for the Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets register.
- Exercised exceptional law interpretation and communication skills to reconcile novel investment legislation concepts and established tax law principles.
Language Assistant
The University of Newcastle
Newcastle, NSW
04.2022 - 12.2023
- Fulfilled responsibilities as both an international student admissions assistant as a part of the global partnerships business line.
- Quickly surpassed expected competence in task allocation and was informally transitioned into a complex activity and staff training role while still casual.
- Personally developed training procedures and wrote entire training manuals to ensure skill transmission and retention in high turnover teams.
- Trained staff to take on management roles leading to both increased staff retention and to effectively trained staff being placed in high skill permanent teams.
Education
Bachelor of Laws (Hons)/ Diploma of Legal Practice - Law
The University of Newcastle
Newcastle, NSW11-2023
Bachelor of Arts - History
University of Newcastle
Newcastle, NSW11-2022
Skills
- Deep understanding and practical experience with tax legislation and non-tax Acts under the the administration of the Commissioner
- Effective leader and mentor
- Highly team oriented and deeply passionate about positive work environments
- Trained in advanced legal communication to both complex and lay stakeholders
- Motivated to create effective processes and innovate on existing structures
- Ethics focused during decision making to ensure outcomes match public expectations
Timeline
Graduate Program
The Australian Taxation Office
02.2024 - Current
University Partnership Employee Program
The Australian Taxation Office
12.2022 - 01.2024
Language Assistant
The University of Newcastle
04.2022 - 12.2023
Bachelor of Laws (Hons)/ Diploma of Legal Practice - Law
The University of Newcastle
Bachelor of Arts - History
University of Newcastle
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