Tax Outsourcing is Heating Up

According to research from Deloitte, outsourcing is on the rise: 30 percent of companies surveyed "plan to increase their use of outsourcing for finance and accounting," which often includes outsourcing sales and use tax compliance. One of the primary drivers of this trend, according to the report, is the increased business flexibility that outsourcing enables.

Similar to the outsourcing of payroll processing, more and more corporate finance departments are also outsourcing the administrative aspects of sales and use tax compliance — from returns preparation and filing to payments and managing notices — so they can focus on more strategic tax work. This seems especially beneficial (and timely) in light of recent developments in corporate tax reporting requirements.

The survey’s facts and figures appear right on the mark, from our perspective as well. The growth of our Returns Outsourcing service reflects the global increase of business process outsourcing. In June, we had a record level of new sales for the Returns Outsourcing business and have experienced double-digit growth year-over-year since the launch of the service in 2007.

But the real story isn’t in the numbers; it’s in the longer-term trend underway in corporate tax departments across the country. As the workload continues to heat up and flexibility becomes even more necessary, a reliable outsourcing provider may become the newest member of the tax team.