Reply: Reshaping the Tax Function of the Future

The spotlight is now on tax

Never before has tax been more important to governments, taxpayers and other stakeholders. Tax forms the basis for public spending, and governments want larger budgets to achieve their specific goals. The reputation and well-being
of companies is also being impacted by external perceptions of how companies manage their tax affairs. Companies need to respond in a clear and thoughtful way to a much wider base of stakeholders than ever before, including not only tax authorities and governments, but also regulators, investors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the media and the general public.

Increased global compliance requirements combined with inefficient processes and over-reliance on spreadsheets will increase risk and drain already strained resources. The potential for unexpected costs can be high. These can occur both ‘above the line’ due to resource needs and ‘below the line’ due to increased tax, interest and penalties for incorrect or incomplete tax return filings. Reputational impact can also occur due to unforeseen or misunderstood data arising from global regulatory transparency initiatives (e.g., CbCR or CRDIV). Most tax functions will need to make significant changes to avoid potential financial statement errors, unnecessary controversy proceedings, delayed financial statements and return submissions and increased recruitment and retention costs.