Market trends and changes increase the need for more technology; specialist indicates the requirements to work in the sector
Market trends and changes increase the need for more technology in the tax area | Disclosure
O study The most recent study carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Tax Planning (IBPT) reveals that, in the 34 years since the promulgation of the Constitution, an average of 37 tax rules were published per day, out of around 38,540 in total — just at the federal level. Can you imagine the difficulty of acting with all these rules and changes without the help of technology?
For a long time, tax professionals had to do this with few tools available and a lot of manual work. It's amazing how much effort this took. However, fortunately, there are now more practical ways to deal with complex Brazilian legislation, and more and more new developments are appearing on the horizon in the area.
According to research Tax Transformation Trends from Deloitte, from 2023, the future will be marked by the use of increasingly diverse teams integrated with technology. Among the tax and financial leaders interviewed, 44% stated that, over the next three to five years, the sector will demand professionals capable of presenting strategic insights based on data. Additionally, leaders themselves are more involved in discussions about technology adoption, especially when it comes to modernizing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise data strategy.
From these needs and advances, TaxTechs were born: startups that use technology as a basis for work in the tax and tax area. This is the case of Tax Strategy, which offers a platform to automate tax processes and routines in an intuitive way and available in the cloud. Vinícius Oliveira, the company's DPO, indicates that there are several cutting-edge services that carry out this transformation: “Concepts such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Low Code and Microservices are widely used in the IT area of these companies”.
There is, therefore, plenty of space for those looking to enter the area. However, there are skills that must be particularly worked on to meet current demands and those to come.
As reviewing rules is an aspect specific to this sector, IT professionals need to be more adaptable. “As soon as a regulation is published, all tools must be revisited so that the impacts generated by the change are implemented. Therefore, it is essential that the products developed by TaxTechs are easy to maintain, ensuring that updates can be launched in the shortest possible time”, explains Oliveira.
There are also other issues that have a profound impact on the good results of startups, such as scalability, usability and data volume. The first case is one of the main objectives of TaxTechs, especially given the seasonality in certain tax routines. This is because, during periods of delivery of certain obligations, a significant increase in demand for services is expected, so it needs to be able to scale easily.
“Usability is also a big challenge, as the mission we explore is to convert the complex tax system into a user-friendly routine. In this context, it is essential to involve professionals specialized in User Experience, Product Design, User Research, Interface Design, among other areas necessary to understand the needs and difficulties of customers”, highlights Vinícius.
The volume of data is also impressive: according to the expert, just one client is capable of producing, in a single month, text files with millions of lines that must be considered when calculating taxes. Technologies such as Machine Learning, Big Data and cloud storage come into play, in addition to the development of robust applications capable of converting data into information quickly and effectively. Concepts such as Algorithm Optimization, Parallelization and Distribution, Microservices Architecture, among others, are used in this process.
But there is one concern that professionals do not need to have: being experts in taxation. In fact, they work together with these experts to guarantee the assertiveness, performance and legality of the services. It is this union that makes these startups great allies for companies.
“TaxTechs not only respond to the demands of the present, but they anticipate future needs. The complexity of the tax system provides an environment conducive to the application of innovative solutions, and the upcoming reform, with profound changes to this system, will create even more opportunities. The IT teams involved are, therefore, essential agents in the digital transformation of the country's tax sector”, concludes Vinícius.
