Tax professionals voice concerns over risk tolerance

The approach to indirect tax compliance by almost three quarters of global businesses is risk prone according to Vertex Inc a global provider of tax technology solutions.

A survey of 580 indirect tax decision makers from global companies with an annual revenue of at least $50m found that 74% of respondents’ businesses were accepting compliance risks. In comparison only 16% of businesses were risk-averse with their indirect tax compliance strategy. The remaining 10% were neither tolerant nor averse to taking risks.

The survey also revealed that 62% of respondents' businesses have been found to be publicly non-compliant meaning errors were found following government investigation or audit. Additionally 84% of the tax decision makers said they feel personally exposed by the current level of indirect compliance within their business.

Regional differences in attitude to risk are stark. 90% of the survey’s US-based respondents considered their business to be...