Finance Monthly - March 2023

For example, strong collaboration between tax executives and finance decision-makers will enable the identification of potential issues and opportunities and improved risk management. It will also support the organisation to better plan and forecast its business goals, thanks to a deeper understanding of the tax impact of any decisions taken. Getting to grips with the person behind the role Typically reporting to the Head of Tax, the Tax Technologist will be tasked with getting to grips with the key frustrations and challenges confronting tax teams and ensuring that senior tax professionals can achieve some concrete goals. For example, cutting the time taken to produce a Corporate Tax return by 50%. Holding responsibility for implementing new tax technologies, enhancing key processes and procedures and assuring the security of tax and related finance data, the consultative nature of the role will also initiate frequent conversations between the Tax Technologist and InfoSec and IT management teams. With a background in IT and acquired skills in tax transformation and compliance, the Tax Technologist brings a depth of experience in a variety of fields together with a holistic vision of how to bridge the gap between business, technology and innovation. They’ll be confident about working with complex data and understand how the need to deliver the greater transparency and visibility demanded by HMRC means that real-time access to information is a strategic musthave. With this demand growing, professional bodies like the Chartered Institute of Taxation have launched specialist qualifications designed to get people up to speed with this field. A move that will enable organisations of all sizes to develop people with the skills that will be needed to usher in new ways of working. Evolving towards a digital future Tax is evolving and the future is digital. Forward-looking organisations are proactively introducing Tax Technologist roles that can take ownership over IT projects related to tax and compliance, and interface with other stakeholders across the business. Until now, the Tax Technologist role and function has been primarily the purview of only a handful of large accountancy consulting firms. But with the challenge of Pillar Two reporting and MTD on the horizon, the pressure to automate more processes means that organisations of all shapes and sizes will be looking to expand their tax technology function, achieve new efficiencies, unlock the potential of technology solutions and perform confidently and compliantly in the new digital tax environment. Finance Monthly. Bank i ng & F i nanc i a l Se r v i ce s 35

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