The future of tax talent

Rethinking the work, workforce, and workplace

As companies look beyond the pandemic, they are asking their tax functions to play a bigger advisory role. Tax leaders have been asked to provide strategic counsel on emerging issues on everything from new digital business models to sustainable transformation. They need to transform their technology infrastructures to free up team capacity, operate more efficiently, and use data more effectively. Meanwhile, all this change is happening during an unprecedented global shift to remote and hybrid working. These trends have profound implications for the future of the tax function: how the work gets done, the skills that make up the workforce, and how the workplace is defined.

A new paradigm for tax talent

Tax leaders recognize that their teams need entirely new technical skills, with data analytics (45%) and technology transformation (43%) at the top of their wish lists. However, these team members also need to flex their cross-business advisory (39%) and interfacing and education (35%) skills. This means they must upskill and diversify the roles on their teams to meet increasing business advisory demands.

Tax leaders are prioritizing these strategies to help their teams manage compliance workloads

Increased automation and reliance on shared service centers are the top choices for tax leaders looking to leverage lower-cost resource models for routine tax compliance work.

Tax is leaving the tax department. We’re being pulled much closer into areas such as government relations and sustainability—it’s changing the balance of responsibilities for our team.

Mike Munoz, VP tax and treasurer, Suncor

The adoption of advanced technologies will allow us to create better insights for the divisions that we support. When a function asks us about the tax implications of a transaction they want to make, we can say to them: ‘You know what? We can see stuff that you can’t. And here are some insights that can drive your business and your profitability.'

Global head of tax at a global bank

Key insight 2: Tax workforce

How has the talent mix changed?

Tax leaders recognize that their teams need entirely new technical skills, with data analytics (45%) and technology transformation (43%) at the top of their wish lists. However, these team members also need to flex their cross-business advisory (39%) and interfacing and education (35%) skills. This means they must upskill and diversify the roles on their teams to meet increasing business advisory demands.

The future of the tax workforce

The elusive tax unicorn

Developing more tax hybrid professionals means that tax and finance leaders need to think much differently when it comes to recruiting and professional development. The ideal professional will have a blend of these skills and will aspire to grow in areas where they need to develop.

You need to go and hire [the data and technology specialists], but it will take time for them to become productive. And the best thing to do, in my view, is to partner them with business analysts who understand banking and the business lines, because it’s when they start to talk the same language that you get the real lift.

Global head of tax at a global bank

What companies are looking for is a beautiful unicorn who knows everything about tax and everything about technology.

Tim Rupert, Professor of accounting at Northeastern University

Power pairings

Whichever route companies take to develop hybrid tax-technology professionals, it will take time. But few tax leaders can wait two or more years for this—their digital challenges are urgent. So, some are doing the next best thing: pairing technology specialists with business analysts or other specialists in the wider finance team to combine their expertise on specific projects.

Examples of pairings that work:

1. Internal technology specialists with business analysts or others in finance.
2. In-house tax specialists with tax-technology specialists from consulting firms experienced in technology transformation.
3. Junior staff with analytics and software licenses. They are digital natives who frequently have been introduced to data analytics and other technologies in university programs. They are able to bring more value when given the tools and opportunity.
   

The main challenges of remote working for the tax department

You need to ensure that you don’t end up with the remote workforce becoming a disadvantaged employee group. There needs to be clarity about how they get visibility for strong performance and how opportunities and promotions are decided upon, among other things. You need to fully address these issues directly and transparently, and not just write them into corporate policy and hope that’s enough to effectively manage such a culture change.

Mike Munoz, VP tax and treasurer, Suncor

Reimagine your team’s tax talent experience

In the first report in our three-part Deloitte tax transformation trends series, we learned that the tax department has reached a tipping point—forcing leaders to rethink their tax operating models. We learn in this second report that these changes have had a “butterfly effect” on the tax talent experience. In this report, we’ll discuss how the tax function has not been immune to these external forces of change—and give some practical advice on what to do about it.

Explore tax talent content

At the heart of every tax and finance department is its people. Learn more about how you can augment your own resources to tap diverse, hard-to-hire skill sets and expertise—and decide if it is best to build these skills and competencies in-house or look externally to leverage specialized expertise when and where it is needed most.

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	Andy Gwyther Deloitte Global Operate Leader Tax & Legal Partner, Deloitte UK agwyther@deloitte.com.uk		Emily VanVleet Tax Operate Leader Partner, Deloitte Tax LLP evanvleet@deloitte.com
	Daniel Barlow Managing Partner Regional Markets Partner, Deloitte UK dabarlow@deloitte.co.uk		Christopher Roberge Tax Operate Leader Deloitte Asia Pacific Partner, Deloitte Hong Kong chrisroberge@deloitte.com.hk