Global context: Tax compliance in the data transparency period
According to the results of the 2025 Tax Policy Research Report (2025 Global Tax Policy Survey) conducted by Deloitte globally based on the results of interviews conducted with more than 1,100 leaders and experts in charge of taxes and finance of leading corporations and companies in 28 countries around the world, it can be seen that:
82% of surveyed leaders believe that the requirement for tax disclosure will increase sharply in the next 2-3 years.
More than 86% believe that digital transformation and tax automation are their top priorities in the coming time.
More than 50% emphasized that building sustainable tax governance capacity is an important foundation for sustainable development, contributing to building and protecting the brand and business value.
This shows a global trend: tax compliance is shifting from "legal obligations" to "transparent commitments and corporate social responsibility". Global businesses around the world understand that in the era of open data, compliance and transparency of tax obligations is one of the important factors affecting the value and reputation of the company, as well as building the trust of shareholders, investors, the government and the community.
As one of the world's top consulting and auditing groups, in which the tax consulting segment is one of the spearhead service groups in the world as well as in Vietnam, Deloitte observes that in leading multinational corporations, the tax governance journey is transformed through 3 levels, including:
Level 1 - Comply: Enterprises properly, fully and promptly fulfill tax obligations according to regulations and requirements of tax authorities.
Level 2 - Risk management: At this level, businesses have begun to have plans and actions in proactively identifying risks, establishing an internal control framework to contribute to effective and proactive tax risk management.
Level 3 - Strategy: This is considered a modern tax administration level, integrating future tax administration into financial and planning strategies and sustainable development, especially important and necessary for multinational corporations around the world as well as corporations operating in multiple fields.
If in the past, "tax compliance" was mainly associated with performing obligations correctly and fully according to regulations, now, in the era of transparent data, the scope and meaning of this concept have changed profoundly. Technology, data and information disclosure requirements are making tax activities more connected, smooth and transparent than ever.
Tax authorities of countries, including Vietnam, have been investing heavily in digital transformation and real-time tax data analysis. This system allows them to immediately grasp all changes in declaration, invoice processing and transaction activities, and at the same time require taxpayers to report, explain and make timely adjustments. This shows that "rectors" are no longer passive activities at the request of tax authorities but have gradually become a proactive activity in a positive direction, with important significance, contributing to improving core competence in governance and competitiveness of enterprises.
At the global level, Deloitte found that multinational corporations have long shifted from "compliance with regulations" to proactively exploiting tax data to make strategic decisions. Currently, large corporations are implementing:
Integrating tax data into the corporate governance system (ERP, BI dashboard) to estimate tax obligations, forecast cash flow and risks.
Use AI and machine Learning to identify errors, detect abnormalities in transactions and reports.
Make tax compliance index a part of the ESG criteria set - demonstrating social responsibility, transparent and sustainable governance.
Deloitte's 2025 Tax Technology Transformation Trends Report also recorded that 57% of tax leaders believe that AI and data analytics skills are mandatory for today's tax management team.
In addition, 94% believe that cooperation with in-depth consultants will help businesses reduce operating costs and improve compliance quality.
In the new context, businesses not only need to comply but also know how to manage and take advantage of tax data as a strategic asset. They need to make decisions faster, more accurately and create a long-term advantage in the market. Thereby helping to enhance business value and protect investor confidence.
Vietnam - Opportunities and pressures in the transparency era
In the context of the global digital economy and the need for domestic socio-economic development, the process of extensive reform and digitalization of the tax sector is taking place more strongly than ever.
From the implementation of electronic invoices nationwide, changing tax management methods for business households, managing electronic taxes for e-commerce platforms, to amending, supplementing and replacing a series of tax laws such as the Law on VAT effective from July 1, 2025, the Law on Corporate Income Tax effective from October 1, 2025 and many draft laws that are continuing to be implemented, it can be said that Vietnam is gradually approaching the world's modern tax management model.
However, digital transformation in tax management is not just a story of State agencies. For businesses, especially large private corporations, listed companies and FDI enterprises, this reality requires a new shift from compliance thinking to governance thinking. This requires businesses to:
Establish a comprehensive tax administration system, including processes, people and technology, ensuring unified, controlled and traceable tax data quickly.
Apply data technology to detect errors early, warn of risks and optimize legal tax costs.
Connecting tax data with the corporate governance system, helping senior leaders make investment, financial and cash flow management decisions based on real-time information.
With the above changes in thinking, businesses can shift from " coping" with compliance requirements, to proactively building internal capacity. Deloitte Vietnam believes that being proactive in compliance is proactive in risk control, reputational governance, building corporate value and building trust, as well as improving competitiveness in the current volatile world.
Action for Vietnamese enterprises in the new period
From the practice of working with hundreds of domestic and foreign enterprises, Deloitte realizes that the journey of " self-compliance" and "moderate tax administration" in Vietnam can be implemented according to three strategic pillars:
pillar 1: Building a solid tax governance framework foundation.
With pillar 1, businesses need to establish and standardize internal control processes and systems, ensuring that tax data is recorded, stored and reviewed consistently between departments: accounting, business, legal, finance, investment.
Enterprises owning this governance framework not only reduce risks in the inspection process later but also improve the ability to coordinate with tax authorities, demonstrating transparency and professionalism.
pillar 2: Technology - Digitization and exploitation of tax data.
Businesses should consider tax data as a type of strategic management asset. Through tools such as Tax dashboard, AI Analytics, businesses can be proactive in detecting deviations, analyzing trends and optimizing tax payment cash flow.
According to the report, 94% of global tax leaders believe that the application of technology and automation will help them reduce operating costs and increase data control capacity within the next 3 years.
Key 3: People
People are always a valuable asset of every business, this assessment is also very true for tax administration activities. Instead of focusing only on declaration and reporting, the tax team needs to be trained to have a deep understanding of business operations, be able to analyze data, forecast risks and advise leaders, thereby making correct and timely decisions, improving the competitiveness of businesses.
This is a "jump" to help the tax department shift from compliance role to the role of accompanying business leaders in strategic decisions.
