Finance Monthly - October 2021

18 Finance Monthly. Bank i ng & F i nanc i a l Se r v i ce s What role will tax play as we slowly prepare to step into a post-COVID-19 world? Tax has always been the mesh point between the government and the private sector. We saw this expand at the beginning of the pandemic last year with the CARES Act as policymakers used tax policy to drive economic stimulus. As the global pandemic moves into its second year, taxes will continue to play a vital role in aiding economic recovery at all governmental levels. Further coordinated action will be required to preserve economic capacity and help protect vulnerable businesses and communities in the US. Tax policy has emerged as an essential vehicle to supercharge the path towards recovery here in the US and globally. For example, the infrastructure bill proposes extending the child tax credits, providing two free years of community college and offering green-energy tax incentives. The House and Senate have both approved the $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which will facilitate passage of a human infrastructure bill on issues like health, climate, caregiving, and education, with an as-yet-to-be-determined amount of corporate, international and individual tax increases and more IRS tax enforcement. Overall, the Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis predicts that the American Families Plan could help the IRS raise $700 billion worth of additional tax revenue over the course of the next decade (which in turn can help fund our infrastructure plans). How is the EY Americas Tax department responding to these trends? With all the disruption happening in tax – from fast-changing tax policy globally, to new business operating models, to advancing technology –it is now more important than ever to deliver impactful tax advice and first-class client service through digitally enabled solutions that address our clients’ most complex business challenges. Despite all the changes, there are many things that need to stay the same: the technical expertise and quality of our Americas Tax professionals will always be at the heart of serving our clients. And our people will always be our best assets. But there are many things that need to change including the way we deliver information. This must evolve if we want to generate the capital to invest in the future and the way we show up to clients’ needs to reflect our digital-forward mindset and capabilities. As a result, innovation is in everything we do and we’re constantly disrupting ourselves and our services to be better and to be in a continuous improvement mindset. New systems won’t just clean up data for us, they’ll equip our tax professionals to reach their full potential as trusted business advisers and technicians, making it possible to offer real-time collaborations, scenario planning, cost modelling, and risk simulation tools.