Key takeaways:

• • • Advocate for investment in technology and talent 鈥� As compliance and strategic demands grow, tax departments should use benchmark data from industry reports to build compelling business cases for automation, generative AI, and additional headcount.

    • Explore transferable tax credit opportunities 鈥� The transferable tax credit market has matured significantly, more departments should pursue these to offset tax liability, reduce estimated quarterly payments, and free up cash flow.

    • Proactively manage the OB3 transition 鈥� The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces substantial federal tax changes requiring strategic planning for 2026. Document analysis carefully as state conformity issues create future audit exposure.

The corporate tax landscape in 2025 is defined by resource constraints, regulatory complexity, and rapid technological change. And many corporate tax department leaders face mounting pressures from compliance demands, talent shortages, and evolving legislation 鈥� all while being asked to deliver more strategic value to their organizations, according to the , published by the 成人VR视频 Institute and Tax Executives Institute.

Under-resourcing and strategic gaps persist

Perhaps the most striking finding from the 2025 report is that 58% of corporate tax department professionals said their departments are under-resourced 鈥� an increase from 51% who said that the previous year. This apparent deterioration in resourcing creates cascading risks for businesses. Departments facing resource constraints report higher rates of penalties and audits, with 44% of survey respondents saying their under-resourced department experiencing penalties in the past year and 12% saying it had faced penalties exceeding $1 million.

The good news is that more departments are planning to hire rather than rely on overtime from existing staff, the report shows. However, the talent pool remains tight, making recruitment challenging. For tax department leaders, advocating for investment in both talent and technology is essential for risk management and maintaining compliance.

For tax department leaders, advocating for investment in both talent and technology is essential for risk management and maintaining compliance.

The report also showed that corporate tax departments continue to struggle with an imbalance between strategic and tactical work, with in-house tax professionals noting that they spend the majority of their time on reactive, tactical tasks while ideally wanting to reduce this to approximately 30% to 38% of their time.

What’s holding teams back? Excessive workload volume tops the list, they said, followed by complex compliance requirements, limited resources, and outdated technology. While two-thirds of respondents said their departments are still in the chaotic reactive stage of technology maturity, more than half said they expect higher-than-normal budget increases for investment in tax technology in the coming year, with many beginning to incorporate generative AI (GenAI) into their workflows.

Opportunities to create value exist

While these challenges exist, there are ways that corporate tax departments can identify and pursue value in the coming year. For example, the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3) in mid-2025 introduced substantial changes to federal tax provisions including the ability to immediately expense research and experimentation costs under Section 174, reintroduction of full bonus depreciation, and liberalized interest deduction limitations.

The new Section 904(b) rules significantly improve the foreign tax credit mechanism by eliminating the allocation of interest expense and research and experimental (R&E) expenses to foreign source income, potentially lowering effective tax rates from 18.9% to approximately 14% at the aggregate level.

Departments that invest in technology, build strong business partnerships, and track their value contributions are demonstrating that having a strategic impact is possible even in resource-constrained environments.

However, OB3’s retroactive application to tax year 2025 creates immediate compliance complexity. State conformity issues compound the challenge, as many states have not yet updated their codes, creating potential mismatches between federal and state taxable income calculations.

Further, the transferable tax credit market has matured significantly, with nearly 25% of Fortune 1000 companies now participating, which is a 60% increase over 2024. Current market conditions favor buyers, with investment tax credits and production tax credits trading at discounts of 89-cent to 91-cents on the dollar.

These credits can offset tax liability, reduce estimated quarterly payments, and free up corporate cash flow. Tax departments should explore this opportunity as another tool for creating measurable value for the business.

Planning for 2026 and beyond

Despite the challenges facing corporate tax departments in 2025, success stories abound. Departments that invest in technology, build strong business partnerships, and track their value contributions are demonstrating that having a strategic impact is possible even in resource-constrained environments. The key is making the case for investment, staying ahead of regulatory changes, and continuously communicating your added value back to the business.

You can download听a full copy of the听, from the 成人VR视频 Institute and Tax Executives Institute, here

To succeed in the future, companies have to know the critical role in organizational success and profitability that managers play. Traditional corporate learning and development (L&D) models for managers, however, are inadequate. What is needed instead is manager development programs that provide tailored, strategic, and meaningful support 鈥� rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, according to , Co-founder of Mento, a career coaching and mentorship platform.

Existence of dual challenges

In a given week, managers may have to navigate a multitude of challenges that are evolving rapidly due to various factors like technological advancements, economic shifts, and changing workplace cultures. Indeed, managers are expected to juggle multiple roles including being effective individual contributors, strategic visionaries, exceptional leaders and communicators, and culture builders. Further, this is occurring when the pressure on managers has increased, with many organizations expecting them to manage both the technological and human aspects of their roles without adequate training or support.

Companies鈥� efforts to support managers are not working well, Albers says. 鈥淢any companies invest very little in manager development 鈥� often less than $500 per manager annually,鈥� she explains. 鈥淎nd there’s also frequently a disconnect between generic training programs and the personalized, ongoing support managers actually need to apply new skills.鈥�

In addition, traditional models offering one-off trainings or videos for managers are insufficient, Albers says, adding that many L&D initiatives fail to address managers’ own well-being and burnout, focusing solely on skills without ensuring that managers have the capacity to implement them.

The 80/20 coach/mentor modality

To better invest in managers, innovative organizations are adopting new, adaptive approaches, many of which involve investing in tailored leadership development programs and fostering a culture of continuous learning and support. One emerging model that is producing positive results is the coach/mentor modality, in which an executive manager is 80% coach and 20% mentor. More specifically, this method involves managers devoting 80% of the time to coaching, in which they discuss challenges, receive tailored feedback, and workshop solutions in real-time. The other 20% of the manager鈥檚 time is spent on function-specific challenges as a mentor.

鈥淭his approach combines coaching to build self-awareness and problem-solving skills with mentorship from experienced operators who can offer practical guidance,鈥� Albers explains.

The 80/20 coach/mentor relationship also helps managers develop critical long-term well-being skills, such as identifying what’s in their control, managing stress, and aligning their work with organizational goals to reduce internal friction. In fact, according to Mento research, managers strongly agreed (9.4 out of 10) with this statement: 鈥淢entor/coaching helps improve how I solve business challenges.鈥�

By integrating learning into day-to-day work rather than relying on infrequent trainings, the coach/mentor model enables continuous growth and application of new skills, leading to more confident, motivated, and effective managers. More broadly, to take further advantage of these positive outcomes, Albers recommends these three actions:

1. 1. 1. Tailor manager development to individual needs鈥� Innovative companies are providing personalized and continuous learning experiences, often by identifying individual needs, providing ongoing support to ensure that learning is not a one-time event but a continuous process, and utilizing advanced technologies and platforms to deliver personalized coaching sessions and resources anytime, anywhere.
      2. Create a culture of partnership and collaboration 鈥� Successful implementation of a coach/mentor model requires a culture in which HR leaders and managers collaborate closely. This involves having active managers seek collaboration with HR to communicate managers鈥� needs and advocate for resources that will help them and their teams thrive.
      3. Intentionally invest in a growth-oriented and adaptive environment鈥� Companies need to cultivate an environment that supports continuous growth and adaptation. This can be achieved by encouraging experimentation in which managers and employees are encouraged to try new approaches, pilot new programs, and learn from failures.

Investing in manager excellence

Investing in manager excellence also helps to build psychological safety through a workplace culture in which employees feel comfortable sharing ideas, taking risks, and being their full selves without fear of judgment or punishment. It is also foundational to building trust with employees and other stakeholders.

In fact, trust is an essential element of . In fact, goes unreported to management, according to research from Gartner. This high rate of unreported misconduct represents a significant risk for organizations and highlights the importance of improved reporting mechanisms and a stronger speak-up culture, which does not exist without psychological safety and trust.

Companies are increasingly recognizing that managers play an outsized critical role in organizational success. And those companies that invest in manager excellence are likely to remain attractive places to work to top level talent. Further, companies can experience the multiplier effect of better managers, culture, and employee retention, all while staying resilient and competitive, better positioning the company well for long-term success in an ever-changing business landscape.

You can find out more about here.

Not surprisingly, nearly 60% of tax department leaders have identified compliance and regulatory adherence as one of their top priorities, according to the findings of the 成人VR视频 Institute鈥檚 recent .

The balancing act of resource management

One of the primary challenges for tax department leaders is managing resources effectively. The report underscored this among those department leaders surveyed, showing that more than half of them said they felt their tax departments were under-resourced 鈥� an astounding finding.

There are many negative ramifications of your department being under-resourced, from staff experiencing burnout at a higher rate to more critical consequences like increased audits and penalties. Managing this involves making strategic decisions about how work is performed 鈥� whether through in-sourcing, outsourcing, or co-sourcing. Historically and even now, most tax department leaders would prefer to keep much of their work in-house, but the growing complexity of work and the increasing volume of work is making it difficult for departments to have in-sourcing as the only choice.

While some departments may consider outsourcing to external firms, the consensus among department leaders is to maintain control internally making co-sourcing the better choice. This approach ensures that the department owns the entire process, reducing the risk of miscommunication and errors with outside providers.

For the work that remains in-house, however, department leaders then have to confront the challenge of balancing talent and technology, making sure their teams have the necessary skills and tools to manage workloads efficiently. This often involves investing in technology that supports and enhances human capabilities. However, less than a quarter of tax departments鈥� budgets are being spent on technology, according to the report, although most department leaders surveyed said they hope or anticipated that this will change over the next 12 months.

Is technology a double-edged sword?

There is no doubt that technology plays a crucial role in modern tax departments, offering both opportunities and challenges. Most tax departments (79%) have automated half or less of their work, the report showed, with technology being used to automate routine tasks, and therefore freeing up employees to focus on higher-level strategic activities. This practice not only improves efficiency but also helps the department retain talent by eliminating the least-desirable aspects of the job.

When advocating for technological investments, department leaders should not only emphasize the need for such investment to mitigate compliance risk but also highlight how it will help with retaining staff.

However, integrating new technology is not without its challenges, requiring careful planning and training to ensure that all team members are equipped to use new tools effectively. One challenge identified in the report that鈥檚 currently faced by department leaders is staff adoption. Indeed, even when companies recognized the need for technology investment in their tax departments, those departments often face the challenge of getting the technology utilized 鈥� in the way it should be and to the degree that makes the investment worth it.

Therefore, having a standardized approach to training may not always be effective, rather it may be far more beneficial to train staff on the technology in the way in which they would be working with it, based on their unique needs and workflows.

How to build & train a resilient tax team

Too often there is just one course of training that typically comes only at the beginning of a technology鈥檚 implementation; however, for success, departments must provide continuous training and development in order for staff to maintain the needed skills and cultivate an adaptable workforce environment. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important for department leaders to prioritize training as part of annual departmental goals and development plans, ensuring that their teams are equipped to handle current and future challenges.

In additional, interdepartmental training could be particularly effective, allowing team members to learn from each other’s experiences and expertise. Having a culture that encourages curiosity and continuous learning while also fostering collaboration builds a team that is resilient. This further allows for team members to feel valid and not stagnant in their jobs as they experience or expand their roles.

In the report, many tax department leaders cited hiring and retaining talent as a top priority, and part of the talent picture includes the various policies companies may have around return-to-office plans. For those tax department leaders who are part of an organization that has mandated a return to office, they have to find other ways to keep staff engaged and provide additional incentives to retain them. Tax departments that remain hybrid might fair better with retaining talent, however some team members may struggle to have the kind of engagement that comes organically with in-person office work.

Leading a corporate tax department through continuous change requires a strategic approach that balances compliance, resource management, and innovation. By focusing on in-sourcing and technology, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and implementing flexible return-to-office policies, leaders can position their departments for success, as our recent report suggests. With the right strategies in place, tax departments can not only help their companies meet regulatory requirements but also drive additional value for their organizations.

You can download a full copy of the 成人VR视频 Institute鈥檚 , here.