For direct tax professionals, the pressure is constant — and intensifying. Regulatory complexity continues to increase, compliance demands remain unforgiving, and expectations from business leadership are higher than ever. At the same time, many tax departments are facing persistent resource constraints, making it difficult to balance day-to-day obligations with the strategic work they know they should be doing.

The result is a familiar pattern: highly skilled direct tax teams spending too much time reacting to issues as they arise and too little time shaping outcomes. Yet across the industry, there is growing recognition that this does not have to be the norm. Proactive tax department transformation — particularly through direct tax automation and AI — is emerging as a practical way for tax teams to break out of reactive mode and step into a more strategic, advisory role in 2026 and beyond.

To dig deeper, visit the original article on the Thomson Reuters blog.