Tax compliance issues hinder e-commerce growth

More than three-quarters of senior finance professionals are concerned scalability will be impeded by the complexities caused by indirect tax liability and financial process inefficiencies according to research by Vertex Inc.

The research which surveyed 730 financial decision makers working in businesses selling cross-border products and services revealed that 68% of respondents consider frictionless commerce as a strategic priority this year. As a result seven out of ten respondents report that the number of territories their organisation transacts with has increased exponentially over the past two years with many taking advantage of e-commerce to maximise growth.

However with tax authorities across the globe changing rules and regulations in response to the rise in online sales as well as the adoption of new technologies over half of the businesses are troubled by the delays caused by performing VAT/sales tax calculations and charging at the point...