Tax Technology Professionals Introduce Belt System Certification

Technology defines and underpins the workings of the new digital tax function, making it possible to answer the mandates of the global digital economy. Managing tax big data enables efficient compliance and provides insights that facilitate strategic business decisions.

The world of tax is rapidly changing. Nowadays, the entire chain of information runs through a technology environment, and more and more information is exchanged digitally between tax authorities and taxpayers.

At the same time, businesses use technology to optimise their tax workflows, manage data, and ensure that data reporting to the tax authorities is compliant.

Reaching that level of digital transformation is one of the major objectives of Chief Financial Officers and their global Heads of Tax; but it not only requires the implementation of the right processes and technologies – it demands a whole new generation of tax professionals who can bridge the gap between tax and technology.

“Innovations and digital transformation in taxation require new skills. This includes process management and understanding the digital possibilities. Digital up-skilling for tax experts is one of the goals to make the tax processes easier and automated”, says Prof. Dr. Robert Risse, Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, WU Vienna.

He believes the Belt System introduced is a big step forward to facilitating our current and next generation of tax talent. To respond to this need, TPA’s sister company e-Bright, in collaboration with Xyto Taxology, has launched the first of its kind Tax Technology Certification, the Belt System. The program offers the necessary training and certification for tax technology teams who lead and execute tax technology transformation projects, and provides a career path for future tax technology talent.

Steef Huibregtse, Chief Executive Officer, TPA Global, said: “For tax professionals in the future, a more “tech-savvy” skillset is required besides a strong data orientation. This means they need to be able to assess the quality and meaning of data, collaborate with people outside their area and communicate tax principles in simplified business language. As a result, tax professionals will not only be assumed to deal with tax issues, but will also need to understand technology and big data from a tax perspective – and the associated range of risks in the real world.”

To address the multi-disciplinary nature of a digital transformation within tax, the certification is suitable for tax, finance and IT professionals involved in these projects.

Professionals with a background in either of these fields can gain the necessary knowledge and experience to advance their careers in tax technology, with the help of both reading materials and practical use-cases taught by “Black Belts” – the highest certified professionals in the field.

By exchanging experiences and use-cases, e-Bright and Xyto further extend the purpose of the certification to create a community of future tax technology professionals.

Geoff Peck, Founder and Europe’s first Chief Taxologist, Xyto Taxology, said: “We are creating a tax community that is at one with the digital information technologies upon which it is now entirely dependent. This accredited training system provides capability amplification within the digital domain for tax that can be gained by no other means.”

To learn more about the certification, please click here.