Broken Tax Compliance Process

Global tax compliance is a team sport, believe it or not:

– All team members have shared objectives 🎯: achieving the highest or most desirable degree of compliance, while respecting deadlines, aiming for quality, efficiency and accuracy, and mitigating risks.

– Collaboration is key 🔑: all stakeholders work together closely in a structured and standardised process. If not, you lose. Always! Mind the importance of building strong relationships.

– Every stakeholder has a specific role 🎭: data gathering, preparation of draft return, review of return, sign-off of return, process management, …. Often RACI-based split of roles and responsibilities.

– There are strategy and tactics, also in compliance: in theory, you want to go for the highest degree of quality, but obviously you need to work with the resources available. This requires striking a balance between input and desired output. And hopefully, a plan to get better year over year. Increase maturity.

– The importance of leadership: process excellence originates at the top. The same is true for cultivating proactive and cooperative behavior among all stakeholders involved.

– Compliance requires practice: your engine will become more oiled based on hands-on experience, season after season. Continuous process improvements. Efficiencies and automation.

– Competition and rivalry are part of the game 🕹️: the best compliance teams have their processes highly structured, repeatable and automated. This provides them with the headspace to focus on strategic stuff, like business support. This gives them a competitive advantage compared to peers who are behind….

The reality is however that many tax teams forgot that compliance is a team sport. Proactive tax leaders pick this up and double down on it. Now. The UEFA European Football Championship provides good momentum ⚽️🫡.

See how we help tax teams transform their tax processes using technology: