28 May 2026 Why managing tax compliance and tax controversy should be co-sourced Tax functions are under sustained pressure from multiple directions. Businesses are reshaping supply chains, operating footprints and governance models at speed. Regulatory scrutiny is intensifying and data requirements are expanding. Tax authorities are now using technology to identify risk faster and with greater precision. Despite spending a significant portion of their tax and finance function budget on compliance activities to manage the exponential increase in pressure, businesses still spend significant amounts on tax controversy. Data collected as part of the EY Tax and Finance Operations (TFO) survey in 2025 shows that the people cost of internal time spent combined with external spending on compliance averages at 21.2% of a tax function's annual budget (excluding time spent on the income tax provision). They then spend on average almost the same amount again (20.7%) on tax controversy across internal resource and external support to manage the risk of tax adjustments, interest and penalties. Find the full article here. Document ID: 2026-1543 |
