5. The Contemporary Corporate Tax Strategy Environment

Corporation tax is a material cost for companies. As part of their fiduciary duty to shareholders, directors need to establish corporate tax strategies (CTS) that minimise this cost. This was the traditional focus of companies’ CTS. It is now no longer the only consideration. The contemporary corporation tax environment is much more complex. Compliance requirements are more demanding with a greater risk of default, particularly where companies operate across tax jurisdictions. Simultaneously globalisation has opened up rich new tax planning opportunities, but the aggressive exploitation of such opportunities has led to an intense public scrutiny, demanding companies pay their ‘fair share’ of tax, threatening companies’ reputation and brand. This chapter examines the need for companies to adopt a CTS that not only manages their corporation tax cost, but also the compliance requirements, as well as demonstrating the company pays a ‘fair share of tax’.