Strategizing Multinational Tax Risks

KPMG has issued a 2019 survey benchmarking tax disputes, linked for reference.

The report is divided into four sections:

1. Tax audits and disputes-the changing environment
2. Tax dispute management today
3. Leveraging technology
4. Tax dispute management of the future

Some observations in the report:

• Tax authorities are becoming more aggressive, with less appetite to settle
• Increased penalties
• Cooperative compliance is still the highest rated tool to resolve disputes
• More focus on international transactions
• More information sharing by tax administrations
• Dedicated resources in multinationals for dispute resolution, including global head of controversy
• Hiring talent with dispute management experience
• Internal process for handling audit disputes
• Dispute management budget > 10% of tax budget
• Tax dispute technology, apart from Excel, is still in its infancy
• New trends: Global head of controversy, dedicated budget/staff/technology, escalation/communication processes and a global tax audit software platform

As audits escalate, disputes will likewise increase.  Accordingly, this issue warrants additional attention especially with respect to processes and talent.

Click to access the-global-tax-disputes-environment.pdf