2024 Global Tax Complexity Survey

Year: 2025

Type: Report

We are pleased to present the fifth edition of our Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey, a comprehensive exploration of the evolving and increasingly complex tax challenges faced by multinational corporations in 2024. Since our last survey in 2022 global tax systems have continued to evolve, shaped by ongoing efforts in international tax policy. While a global agreement on the global minimum tax Pillar 2 was reached in 2021 the global implementation process has since encountered delays and inconsistencies. Furthermore, several major economies have not yet adopted the minimum tax rules, resulting in additional legal and administrative uncertainty in many jurisdictions. The results of our 2024 Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey show that tax complexity remains a significant concern for MNCs worldwide. In a majority of the 98 countries surveyed, respondents report that tax complexity has increased over the past two years. This trend is especially pronounced in OECD member countries, where a larger proportion of respondents also agree that complexity has negative implications and may influence decisions to relocate business activities abroad. Digitalization continues to shape the way tax systems operate. Our survey confirms that digital technologies have had a substantial impact on legislative and administrative processes, particularly in the area of tax filing and payment. In contrast, progress in areas such as tax appeals remains limited, highlighting uneven developments across the tax framework.

In our commitment to open science, we publish the survey’s results via www.taxcomplexity.org. This platform empowers you to engage in cross country comparisons, generate customized Tax Complexity Index assessments, and track changes in complexity over time. We hope this summary provides you with valuable and informative insights. Our sincere thanks go to all participants, whose contributions are essential to this global research endeavor.

More information about the Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey on our webpage.

Publication Information

TRR 266 researchers

Kristin Gerdes LMU Munich

Simon Harst LMU Munich

Deborah Schanz LMU Munich

Deborah Schanz is Professor of Taxation and Accounting at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) of Munich. Her research interests include the influence of taxation on investment and financing decision-making, tax accounting and international taxation. She is member of the executive committee of the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB). In addition, she is head of the working group “taxes” of the Schmalenbach- Gesellschaft and member of arqus, working group quantitative business taxation. Her work is published in leading refereed and professional journals such as the Contemporary Accounting Research, European Accounting Review, Review of Managerial Science and the German Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung (ZfbF).

Caren Sureth-Sloane Paderborn University

Prof. Caren Sureth-Sloane is Professor of Business Administration, especially Business Taxation at Paderborn University and is the spokesperson of the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency. She studies the effects of taxation on corporate decisions, especially on risky investments, as well as international business taxation and tax complexity. Since 2010, she has been Guest Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and Principal Investigator of the FWF Doctoral Program in International Business Taxation (DIBT). She received offers from the University of Graz, the Humboldt University of Berlin, the Goethe University of Frankfurt, and the University of Cologne. She is a member of the working group “taxes” and “transfer prices” of the Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, of which she has been vice president since 2019. In 2013 Caren Sureth-Sloane was appointed a full member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. She is also a member of the DFG-Senate since 2021. Sureth-Sloane received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Graz in 2021 and an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics at the University of Bremen in 2022.

DOI

DOI Link

Attachment

Executive Summary

To cite this article

Gerdes, K., Harst, S., Schanz, D. & Sureth-Sloane, C. (2025). 2024 Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey. TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency. https://doi.org/10.52569/WEMV6812

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