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So far in 2017, we’ve started to witness the introduction of Standard Audit File for Tax reporting (SAF-T). SAF-T is an OECD international standard for the electronic exchange of accounting data. Its implementation allows for data to be shared at ease, internally within an organisation, with external auditors as well as with national tax authorities. This ease of data sharing allows for easier interrogation into a company’s tax position, which does raise concerns within tax departments that the authorities have the potential to know more than the actual tax team.

As seen with SAF-T, tax authorities are increasingly using technology in order to streamline government systems, making them more efficient. Throughout 2017 and into 2018 we are expecting to see the use of technology really impact the way in which governments interact with their taxpayers.

Technology will enable a more responsive tax system allowing for; automatic audits, shorter audit cycles, automatic information requests and ratio analysis. Traditional processes will be removed and replaced with automated systems, creating further efficiencies and speeding up the pace of operation. This creates a new challenge for tax teams, in particular, those working within the larger corporations, as they will need to adjust to the new pace of play and apply new processes to fit with the systems being used.