2023 Chief Tax Officer Outlook

The fourth annual CTO survey examines the challenges and opportunities facing tax functions today and tomorrow.

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Steady at the Wheel

Tax brings strategy forward to help organizations steer trough twists and turns of disruptions

Economic uncertainty. Shifting global regulations. Geopolitical tension. Commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. Accelerating digitization. New work environments.

To varying extents, reacting to changes in the broad spheres of geopolitics and economics, supply chain and operations, corporate citizenship and ESG, talent and workforce, technology and data, and M&A and corporate development are all now part of the Chief Tax Officer (CTO) mandate. 

The 2023 CTO Survey finds tax departments facing significant risks, and CTOs expecting this to continue in the future. With changes affecting tax rapid and unrelenting, tax department transformation is essential. Staying still is not an option. But neither is racing full speed ahead, which so often leads to dead ends.


What is on the minds of Chief Tax Officers?
 

Top 3 Threats to Tax Organizations

The top three threats to tax organizations are: ESG, Regulatory Risk, Geopolitical Risk

The top three threats to tax organizations are: ESG, Regulatory Risk, Geopolitical Risk

Tax and Corporate Citizenship

56% of CTOs are more interested in being perceived as a good corporate citizen than minimizing reducing the tax burden.

56% of CTOs are more interested in being perceived as a good corporate citizen than minimizing reducing the tax burden.

U.S. and Global Tax Landscape

74% of CTOs say the OECD's BEPS initiatives are significantly affecting operating and tax planning.

74% of CTOs say the OECD's BEPS initiatives are significantly affecting operating and tax planning.

Tax Talent

56% of CTOs say hiring personnel is a significant challenge.

56% of CTOs say hiring personnel is a significant challenge.

Tax Skill Sets

59% of CTOs are shifting toward hiring professionals with a healthy mix of tax and technology skills.

59% of CTOs are shifting toward hiring professionals with a healthy mix of tax and technology skills.

Tax and Transactions

79% of CTOs have a moderate to high appetite for undertaking M&A transactions over the next 3 years

79% of CTOs have a moderate to high appetite for undertaking M&A transactions over the next 3 years

In today’s quickly evolving and increasingly complex tax environment, with a wave of tax changes potentially on the horizon, tax leaders must make their functions more efficient, accurate, and future-ready.

           Greg Engel, Vice Chair – Tax, KPMG US
 

    


Survey methodology

In fall 2022, KPMG surveyed 300 CTOs at large public and private U.S. companies about how they are leading their organizations’ tax function through a period of vast change. Ninety percent of CTOs came from companies with revenue of $2 billion or more. They represented all major industries with the biggest groups being from banking and finance (7 percent), conglomerates, engineering & industrial products, and metals (7 percent), and retail (6 percent).

    

Contact us

Greg Engel

Greg Engel

Vice Chair, Tax, KPMG US

+1 713-319-2105
Rema Serafi

Rema Serafi

National Managing Principal, Tax, KPMG US

+1 212-872-6489

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