Building Modern Tax Teams: The Common Bottlenecks Holding Businesses Back

The expectations placed on tax teams have changed significantly.

Alongside compliance, reporting and risk management, businesses increasingly expect tax professionals to navigate evolving international regulations, manage complex data, embrace new technologies, and provide strategic insight. Pillar Two, AI, automation and growing cross-border complexity have accelerated this shift, fundamentally changing the skills modern tax teams need.

But while the expectations have changed, many tax teams haven't been given the structure, skills or capacity to keep up. So, what are the common bottlenecks holding modern tax functions back?

Too much time is spent on manual work

Businesses want tax teams to become more strategic, but highly skilled professionals can still spend significant amounts of time extracting data, updating spreadsheets, reconciling information, and managing repetitive processes.

Technology and automation can help, but modernisation needs to start by identifying where valuable tax expertise is being used on work that could be done more efficiently.

If your Tax Managers and Senior Managers are constantly consumed by routine tasks, where does the capacity for strategic work come from?

The data tax needs isn’t always easy to access 

Modern tax increasingly relies on information sitting outside the tax function.

Finance systems, payroll, legal entities and teams across multiple jurisdictions may all hold data needed for tax reporting and compliance. Pillar Two has made this particularly visible for multinational organisations.

The problem isn't always knowing what information is required. It's accessing accurate, consistent data at the right time. When tax professionals spend more time finding and validating information than interpreting it, data itself becomes a bottleneck.

Technology is moving faster than skills

AI, automation and tax technology have the potential to transform how tax functions operate.

But buying new technology doesn't automatically create a modern tax team. Businesses also need professionals who understand how technology can solve tax problems, improve processes, and turn data into useful insights.

That doesn't mean every tax professional needs to become a programmer. It does mean the combination of technical tax expertise and digital confidence is becoming increasingly valuable.

Tax isn’t always connected enough to the business

The strongest tax teams don't simply explain the tax implications after a commercial decision has been made. They're involved early enough to help shape it.

That requires professionals who can work effectively with finance, legal, technology, operations, and senior leadership.

Technical expertise remains essential, but communication and commercial awareness become increasingly important as professionals progress through Manager and Director levels. A modern tax team needs people who can translate complexity into something the wider business can act on.

Transformation becomes another job for an already busy team

Processes need improving. Technology needs implementing. Pillar Two needs embedding. AI needs exploring.

But compliance deadlines, audits, and reporting requirements don't disappear while transformation takes place. Often, the same people are expected to do both.

When everything is a priority, urgent business-as-usual work usually wins. If transformation genuinely matters, businesses need to create the capacity for it – whether through additional permanent hires, specialist expertise or interim support.

Hiring remains too reactive

When someone resigns, workloads increase and then recruitment begins. In specialist areas of tax, waiting until the gap becomes urgent can create significant pressure on the remaining team.

Instead, tax leaders should be looking ahead. What regulations will affect the organisation? Where is the business expanding? Which specialists are difficult to replace? Where are the succession risks? What skills will the team need next?

Workforce planning should happen before the skills gap becomes a vacancy.

Businesses replace people instead of skills

When someone leaves, it's tempting to recruit the same job title with the same responsibilities. But every vacancy creates an opportunity to reassess the team.

Perhaps you don't need exactly the same Tax Manager. Maybe you need stronger tax technology capability, international exposure, Pillar Two knowledge, data skills, or someone who can operate as a stronger business partner.

Instead of asking "How do we replace this person?", ask:

"What capability does our tax team need next?"

Building the tax team of tomorrow

The future of tax isn't about having more technology or more people. The strongest teams will combine technical expertise, technology, data, commercial understanding, and strong communication.

That means businesses need to think beyond today's workload and consider the capabilities they'll need two, three or five years from now.

Which skills can be developed internally? Where are the succession risks? What expertise needs to be hired? Because the biggest question facing tax leaders may no longer be:

"Do we have enough people?" It may be: "Do we have the right people and skills for where tax is going next?"

At Kingpin International, we work with firms to identify the specialist talent they need today while keeping an eye on the capabilities they'll need tomorrow. From Manager through to Partner, our specialist knowledge and international network help businesses find professionals with the technical expertise, commercial awareness and leadership skills to strengthen their teams.

Building or evolving your tax team? Contact Kingpin International about the talent you need to take your tax function forward.