Operational taxes

Financial services

Complying with your client related tax and reporting obligations

Operational taxes are being impacted by a range of issues, all leading to a more complex and demanding environment for our market participants.

We see clients having to adapt and change in a number of ways:

1. More compliance and reporting requirements
2. More demand for data
3. Tax authority digitisation
4. More demand, less resource
5. Tech enablement
6. Tax function effectiveness

1. More compliance and reporting requirements

Tax governance requirements are roles and responsibilities clear, with effective processes and escalation points.
AOEI, TRACE, CCO, MDR programmes and new rules in market territories.
Tax transparency e.g. uncertain tax positions, tax strategy and management reporting.
Horizon scanning, change management and transparency

2. More demand for data

Withholding tax requirements - tracking conditions data to confirm reliefs etc, holding period requirements for securities around dividend dates, capital gains threshold monitoring.
Investor reporting on tax claims/value reconciliation and cash flows on reclaims/relief at source.
Issue and action tracking, prioritisation and escalation of actions, Workflow.

3. Tax authority digitisation

Tax authorities are investing in smarter tools and analytics.
Likelihood of increased scrutiny/audit. Increasing requests for data to support filing positions.
Examples include Austria, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Mexico, Singapore.

4. More demand, less resource

Business is focussed on a reduced cost to serve, whilst adding value to products through increased after tax return.
Delivering insight, managing risk and protecting value take time and effort.
Tax automation can result in a 69% reduction in operational cost of delivering tax reporting.
Resources are being squeezed, recruitment challenges, sourcing becomes key.

5. Tech enablement

Finance and business transformation opportunities, drive for better information and user friendly information.
Opportunity to automate processes, use data analytics and shift away from manual spreadsheets.
Many new technologies are available which make a difference.

6. Tax function effectiveness

Tax functions need to develop different skill sets.
Collaboration extends beyond tax – operational, product, legal, custody.
Technology enables greater flexibility for employees and an ability to work across geographies.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has accelerated some of these changes and with the wider economic climate and need for revenue raising, operational taxes is likely to become an area of increasing scrutiny. How asset owners and managers oversee operational tax will be of increasing importance.

How can we help?

Our tax technical support is a given, we can help you understand your tax technical risks and entitlements to benefits. We cover the whole range of operational taxes across geographies.

Our team combines subject matter expertise across operational taxes and geographies with our tax reporting and strategy experts who help our clients deliver tax more effectively in their business. We will challenge you to think differently.

Our team includes individuals who have worked for custodian banks and asset managers so understand the challenges you are facing on managing issues on a daily basis.