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Risk, uncertainty and opportunity in a changing tax landscape
2014 Asia Pacific Tax Complexity Survey
How are tax policies affecting your business in Asia Pacific? In this year’s Asia Pacific Tax Complexity Survey Report, over 800 business told Deloitte how they feel about the tax regimes in 20 jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. This survey serves as a useful overview that we hope will help executives make more informed business decisions and enhance tax management practices in Asia Pacific.
The key findings of the survey include:
- Consistency – Tax is a key factor for investors in making investment decisions in Asia Pacific, and respondents believe that consistency in tax policy is more important than predictability or low complexity. According to 85 percent of respondents, tax policy is a high priority when considering investing in the Asia Pacific region.
- More than 80 percent of respondents believe that India, Mainland China and Indonesia will have the three most complex tax regimes by 2017; Hong Kong and Singapore are expected to be amongst the least complex. Additionally, current global tax policy efforts such as the OECD's BEPS project are likely to cause further complexity, confusion and change within the Asia Pacific region.
- Respondents are very focused on the effect of tax on their business. Over 50 percent of respondents indicated that their board of directors and C-suite executives are now engaged in taxation matters and a high percentage indicated that they consider reputational risk when considering tax matters.
- The growth in the Asia Pacific economies has placed an significant challenge on tax bureaus. Overall respondents believe that tax inspector training and increased speed and resolution of tax audits and public involvement is tax policy should be a priority for taxing authorities.
2014 Asia Pacific Tax Complexity Survey