Deloitte’s 2026 Global Tax Policy Survey finds rising tide of compliance and complexity is the biggest tax challenge facing global businesses

NEW YORK, NY, USA, 9 JUNE 2026 - Deloitte’s 2026 Global Tax Policy Survey of 1,010 tax and finance leaders across 28 jurisdictions reveals that organizations are facing increased tax complexity, growing compliance burdens and high upfront costs to reap the benefits of digitalization.

“The rising tide of complexity and compliance burdens is having a huge impact on global businesses,” says Amanda Tickel, Deloitte Global Tax and Trade Policy Leader. “For example, 84% of those surveyed expect more public tax disclosures and reporting in the next two to three years, while even in areas like tax digitalization—where simplification might be expected—leaders are becoming less optimistic about near-term benefits.”

Rising complexity

The survey shows that complexity is a challenge across all regions and all industry sectors.  It comes from multiple sources, including Pillar Two compliance and the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) regime.

There have been moves toward simplification, such as the additional safe harbors in the Pillar Two Side-by-Side package. But more is needed as 41% of respondents believe further simplification of Pillar Two compliance should be a priority.

“With Pillar Two now agreed and in its implementation phase, it is notable that a full 88% of respondents expect to pay more tax as a result, which suggests the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is on track to achieving one of its policy goals,” comments Tickel. “However, given the finding that tax leaders are facing a wave of complexity, and a clear contributor to that is Pillar Two, the question is whether the costs of delivering this new tax regime are proportionate.”

For almost 40% of respondents, increased compliance, administrative and reporting requirements are having the biggest impact on their business across all key areas of global tax policy surveyed.

Mixed news on digitalization

Most businesses expect to benefit from simpler, more efficient tax administration through digitalization. Some, though, are experiencing challenges during the transition phase, citing increased costs and complexity.

A majority of respondents (85%) now expect AI-based tax compliance software to deliver positive impacts ranging from improved accuracy to reduced compliance costs, while 15% remain more negative, expecting the main impact to be increased implementation costs.

A key area of concern is the waning optimism about the capacity for e-invoicing to simplify tax compliance. In 2024, 59% of respondents expected it to deliver simplified compliance and fell to 36% in 2026.

When asked about the outcomes expected to be delivered by Tax Administration 3.0—the OECD concept where “tax just happens”—80% of respondents expected to ultimately see a positive outcome. However, 19% expect the outcome to be increased costs and complexity.

“The reality is a lot has to happen before tax ‘just happens’,” says Tickel.

Tax incentives are key for the future

The introduction of substance-based tax incentives and Pillar Two Safe Harbor has been seen as positive by survey respondents, with 38% expecting to see new tax incentives emerge as a result and 57% expecting the existing incentives to remain valuable for their business.

The findings also show increased competition for talent—57% of respondents noted that governments are increasing the use or value of tax incentives to attract foreign talent.

The current take-up of sustainability-related incentives, however, is relatively limited. Only 34% of respondents said they are already making full use of available tax incentives to offset sustainability investments. However, 59% are already actively exploring them.

“Following the agreements on Pillar Two which brings in minimum levels of profits taxation in many countries, tax incentives are starting to play an increasingly important role in global tax competition,” says Tickel.