Discover why enterprises are leaning into this scalable, tech-forward, human-led tax sourcing strategy.
Tax function operating models evolve as demands escalate.
Seize the tax managed services opportunity.
With the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the implementation of global reforms like BEPS 2.0, U.S. multinational organizations face growing complexity in tax management. Meanwhile, shifting global tariff policies present another challenge. Enactments, delays and reversals of significant tax increases on imported goods to the U.S., and the promise of retaliatory tariff rate spikes by trading partners, has triggered market volatility and raised concerns of an economic slowdown.
This uncertain environment has increased enterprise focus on cost-savings. To shore up finances, companies are seeking greater efficiency wherever they can find it—including in their tax operating model.
Now more than ever, a strategic and efficient approach is essential. Tax managed services are increasingly seen as a leading solution in this evolving landscape.
KPMG research shows tax is among the top three areas for large-scale managed services adoption.1 Why are increasing numbers of tax and finance leaders shifting to this comprehensive sourcing strategy—and should you consider it for your own organization? Let’s find out.
Source: 1 Accelerating business transformation: The power of modern managed services (KPMG and HFS Research, 2025)
Tax managed services offer scalable global solutions that enhance tax compliance and efficiency while enabling internal tax teams to focus on high-value strategic work. In today’s complex and evolving tax landscape, it offers an approach that helps organizations build a future-ready tax function—one that is more agile, risk-resilient, and equipped to navigate constant regulatory change.
By tackling both immediate and long-standing challenges—ranging from regulatory complexity and cost pressures to evolving talent needs and the rapid rise of AI-driven disruption—tax managed services have emerged as a vital solution for modern tax and finance leaders.
We examine three ways this model drives impact below.
Are disruptions across the tax landscape rendering your usual approaches to navigating risks, responding to regulatory changes, and planning for future scenarios too slow or narrow?
Enhanced risk management is a critical advantage of tax managed services. The specialized expertise from managed service providers helps ensure that your tax and finance teams stay ahead of regulatory changes and can navigate complex tax issues with confidence. Managed service providers oversee compliance reporting and tax preparation with precision, reducing the risk of costly errors while enhancing transparency and control.
By leveraging tax managed services, you can offload your routine, repeatable tasks and take a more strategic approach to tax management. This way, your tax function can focus on value-add activities, such as strategic tax planning and risk management, while ensuring compliance and reducing costs.
One of the most pressing challenges for tax and finance leaders is securing the right expertise at the scale needed to meet both business demands and regulatory expectations. Building an internal tax team with the right mix of talent, skills, and experience to ensure coverage is a significant challenge—especially when sudden regulatory changes or business events broaden your organization’s tax obligations and complexity. To fill the gaps, companies often turn to costly and inefficient solutions, such as temporary hires or overextending existing resourcing, increasing both costs and risk.
That’s where tax managed services come in. The managed services model allows you flexibility to scale resources up or down as needed, ensuring your tax function is always right-sized for evolving priorities. Even better, you get the benefit of your internal team’s historical knowledge and the technical resources of the service provider. This integration enables you to adapt to regulatory changes, business disruptions, and workforce needs simultaneously, helping ensure your tax team remains properly resourced and efficient.
Transitioning to a tax managed services model can also unlock operational efficiencies and cost savings. Managed service providers bring efficiencies, resources, and—critically—advanced technology to alleviate your operational pressures, allowing your tax and finance professionals to focus on key priorities and strategy.
While you may have trouble keeping up with the fast pace of digital advancement internally, a managed services relationship ensures access to cutting-edge technologies to make your workflows faster, lower cost, more agile and ultimately more compliant.
Consider that a recent KPMG survey found that 70 percent of Chief Financial Officers think AI and machine learning are important for strategic decision making in the tax function.2 Through your provider relationship, you can access leading technology, such as AI and data analytics, to accelerate compliance and reporting capabilities at the pace of regulatory change. For example, KPMG Tax Managed Services clients directly benefit from our Digital Gateway suite, a one-stop platform that utilizes our investments in AI, analytics and cloud, supporting and empowering the full range of tax operations.
Source: 2 CFO views on the value of tax in an AI-enabled future (KPMG, 2024)
A collaborative, compassionate and structured approach to change management is a key success factor in adopting tax managed services. Involving in-house tax professionals in the transition, providing them with opportunities for growth and development, and ensuring that they feel valued and supported throughout the process drives long-term success.
Tax managed services offer a compelling solution for tax and finance leaders navigating a complex and fast-changing landscape. By delivering scalable solutions and access to advanced technology and expert knowledge, shifting to a tax managed services model can help address your most urgent tax and finance operating challenges.
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At KPMG, we have a demonstrated track record of guiding tax functions through successful transitions to managed services. We believe in the transformative potential of this approach and are committed to helping organizations enhance their tax operations for the future. Explore our KPMG Tax Managed Services capabilities and solutions and start a conversation with the team.
Our team of tax managed services professionals are ready to work collaboratively to accelerate your tax function of tomorrow—today.
