As tax becomes one of the most regulated and data-driven parts of business, increasingly reliant on integrated systems, new research from Vertex, a global provider of indirect tax solutions, reveals that a growing gap between IT and Tax teams is increasing risk for UK organisations.

This disconnect is leading to slower decision-making, greater compliance risk, and weaker returns on technology investments.

The core issue
Tax is now a real-time, data-heavy and highly regulated function. However, IT is still not fully embedded in tax strategy or technology decisions.

One in four (25%) UK organisations say IT does not fully understand the tax function’s technology needs, despite rising compliance demands and growing data complexity.

While 90% of organisations expect IT, Finance and Tax to collaborate more closely by 2026, only 27% have formal cross-functional teams in place to make that collaboration work.

The impact is already visible. The data shows the disconnect is already affecting performance and risk exposure, with 36% reporting reduced agility or slower decision-making; 30% reporting increased compliance risk and 26% saying misalignment has led to wasted spend or weak ROI from tax technology investments.

Importantly, when asked what would improve collaboration, no respondent from the professionals surveyed said ‘nothing needs to change,’ showing not one single respondent believes the current ways of working is good enough.

Why this matters now
Regulatory scrutiny continues to increase, with the UK announcing the 2029 e-invoicing mandate as well as more countries introducing real-time reporting requirements.

At the same time, tax data volumes and system complexity are growing, making tech integration more critical than ever.

Vertex’s data highlights the scale of the challenge. Namely, 30% of businesses report increased compliance risk due to poor collaboration, and 26% say misalignment has led to wasted spend or weak ROI from tax technology investments.

Recommended reading

• Europe’s AI Security Controls Lag As Attack Surfaces Expand
• 92% of Enterprise Devices Unprepared for AI Security Challenges
• Over 1 in 10 Business Leaders Don’t Know if They’ve Been Hacked

Sal Visca, CTO at Vertex, commented: “When organisations report increased compliance risk and wasted technology spend, it’s a structural issue. Businesses that bring IT and Tax together early, with shared accountability, are far better positioned to manage regulatory change and unlock value from automation.

“Without early alignment between IT and Tax, organisations risk turning digital transformation initiatives into compliance challenges and underperforming technology investments.”