How business delivers tax digitally

The long awaited consultation document on Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Corporation Tax has now been issued by HMRC. Since the original consultations, the proposals have evolved and a number of significant changes are being proposed. Read on to discover what the proposed regime currently looks like and what should be done now.

An excellent US perspective on the importance of scaling automation in the coming three years and the strategic role the Tax function has in that. Based on the responses of senior-level decision makers, this gives a fascinating insight into how business leaders rate the implementation of automation “at scale” in the future success of their organisations.

Increasingly, we are seeing tax functions look to technology to help manage and deliver tax, as domestic and global requirements get ever more complex. However, deciding what tax technology is right for your organisation can seem even more baffling. Find out how our technology-agnostic experts bring their insights and experience to work with you through each step of the tax technology process

Many businesses outsource one or more tax services without, perhaps, fully appreciating they have on-going responsibilities in relation to those services. Find out how a routine customs duty enquiry from HMRC led to an unexpected turn of events where services had been outsourced to a third party.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already upon us and all around, we’re seeing increasingly fast technological change that impacts our work and life. For Tax and Finance functions AI and machine learning, blockchain and 3D printing to name but a few technologies, are driving innovation and helping businesses deliver. In this exciting edition from The Tax Function of the Future series, we focus on how the tax function can successfully leverage AI and machine learning.

From 2007 to 2012 there were only 5 ‘data-led’ tax compliance obligations in Europe. The rate of adoption has since tripled with a further 24 requirements, including the UK’s Making Tax Digital, in the period up to 2020. So what can multinationals do to ensure their data is robust and systems able to comply with these obligations?

Bringing this series of insights on Blockchain in Tax to a close, we share some conclusions on what the future holds and just how far away “the future” really is.

As tax authorities around the world digitise their tax collection processes, businesses will increasingly be required to create and maintain many electronic interlinked tax and trade records. In this sixth insight Tom Birch and Michael Taylor consider how blockchain can help make this manageable and meaningful.

Bringing this collection of insights on tax data management to a close, Tom Birch takes a wider view of the strategic challenges and opportunities that businesses of today – and tomorrow – must confront.

Is invoicing on blockchain something you’re looking into now or are you more likely to give it a couple of years as it’s still so new? The reality is, it’s already here and with its many advantages, blockchain based invoicing is set to become more widespread, not least because it’s a technology every business can benefit from.

In the previous article, we looked at the areas in which data analytics have revolutionised best business practice and now, the tax authorities are catching up. In the BRIC nations amongst many others, there is a trend towards pre-validating transactions before they can be invoiced and in many other countries SAF-T and other similar obligations are also being employed to widen the tax base. Indeed, working in partnership with dynamic software firms, tax authorities around the world are investing in large-scale digital tax compliance programs.

Missing Trader fraud, also known as MTIC fraud, and the closely-related carousel fraud are among the biggest problems facing the VAT system. HMRC estimates that the UK public purse loses up to £500 million each year because of them. Across Europe, losses to MTIC has sometimes been reported to be more than the total sum of the EU’s annual budget.

In the third of five insights on tax data management, Tom Birch looks in more detail at specific areas where tax data analytics can bring about revolutions in how companies do business.

This third article in Blockchain in Tax, focuses on the important role blockchain has to play in tracking trade.

Major trends in the critical field of analytics and tax data management are next under the spotlight in this set of five insights from Tom Birch.

In this second Blockchain in Tax article, Tom Birch and Michael Taylor look at the potential to use blockchain to transform trade between nations in an increasingly protectionist global economy.

In the first of five insights on the critical role of analytics in tax data management, Tom Birch looks at the evolution of technologies applied to tax data problems.

This introductory article on blockchain in tax gives an overview of what blockchain is, how it differs from the traditional ledger system in accounting and who could benefit from using it. Over the next few weeks, look out for six further articles considering different aspects of blockchain in tax, some with a focus on indirect tax.

Please find our December 2018 edition of Keeping up With Tax for Insurance.

 

The latest in our series on the Tax Function of the Future, which examines the challenges that tax functions will face in the coming years, focuses on how to introduce small tax automation projects and how they can improve the tax function, support company strategy and empower tax professionals.

Technology is driving and enabling change throughout business. Whether through the improvement of data quality or the automation of processes, technology is at the forefront of transforming the Tax function into an efficient business enabler.

Unlocking actionable insight from enterprise data can be a challenging problem especially at large volumes and in complex business landscapes.

Core processes and routine activities can have a significant and lasting impact on the Tax function. As tax laws and accounting standards continue to evolve, Tax is challenged to look closely at how data and related documents are received, processed, and ultimately retained, while continuing to add value through strategic decision making.

Although data is not a new issue for Tax it’s fast turning into one of the major enablers for future state Tax functions. Tax authorities continue to move ever closer to real time data extraction and e-auditing with new legal requirements coming thick and fast. There has never been a greater need for tax departments to be data literate.

A key challenge for companies in the current environment is to consider how best to respond to a landscape which continues to evolve.

The tax function is under constant pressure to deliver more with less. Internal cost pressures and the demand for greater business insights against the backdrop of meeting increasing tax compliance demands in shorter time frames is resulting in the need for tax functions to chart a course of continuous improvement making the most of the latest technology developments.

Many companies are rethinking their approach to domestic and global compliance and reporting by taking a closer look at their technology, processes, resources, and service providers. Leading tax functions are using co-sourcing/outsourcing as a critical component of Tax function strategy, and as a means to better align Tax function investments and use of talent with organisational goals.

Changes to tax laws, new accounting standards and increased scrutiny of how much tax organisations are paying, means that it is more important than ever that your organisation is confident the tax numbers disclosed in your financial statements are accurate.

Finance transformations represent risk and opportunities for tax functions. Generally there are two types: organisational change and finance system change.

The Global tax landscape is shifting as tax authorities demand an ever increasing volume of data from taxpayers. In the UK, Making Tax Digital for Business (MTDfB) is the government’s policy to move all business-related tax reporting online.

Although data is not a new issue for tax it is fast turning into one of the major enablers for future state tax functions.

The growing automation trend promises to transform the Tax environment. Leading Tax functions are embracing this trend, leveraging new available tools to gain efficiencies and expanded capabilities in a quick time frame