Step 2 of 4 · The map/Two places where tax work happens, team by team
Where open source already does tax work. And where it doesn't yet.
Below are two places where tax work happens: a company's tax department, drawn from public tax-governance disclosures, and a tax authority, drawn from the functions in the OECD's Tax Administration series. Every team shows the activities it owns and what is open for each. Pick a team to see its processes and its projects. Where there is a gap, the page says so.
A company's tax department and a tax authority. Pick one, then pick a team. The people at the top of each chart are there by design: no agent selects a material tax position.
Board and CFO on top, a Head of Tax, 10 specialist teams, country teams and local Finance executing, and the functions Tax works with every week.
Govern and decide
Board / Supervisory BoardApproves the tax strategy and risk appetite. Annual review, event-driven escalation.
Audit / Audit & Risk CommitteeOversight and challenge: material risks, control deficiencies, significant disputes.
Chief Financial OfficerExecutive owner of tax strategy, risk and resources. Approves high-materiality positions.
Head of Tax / Group TaxEnd-to-end function: policy, priorities, people, budget, material technical decisions, authority relationships.Tax governance · Transformation & operating model · people only
Advise, challenge and execute: the specialist teams. Pick one.
Team
Direct & International Tax
CIT compliance, international tax, financing and repatriation, Pillar Two, legislative analysis.
Corporate income-tax complianceTaxable income, national and subnational returns, elections, loss utilisation, estimated payments, the filing calendar, return-to-accounts reconciliation.partly covered
International taxPermanent establishments, withholding taxes, treaty access, CFC regimes, interest limitations, hybrids, foreign tax credits, repatriation.gap: build it
Pillar Two / global minimum taxEntity scoping, source data, jurisdictional ETR and top-up tax, safe harbours, the GloBE Information Return, local notifications.gap: build it
Corporate income tax return2 of 5 steps have an open project
Final accounts to a filed, paid and reconciled return, per entity and jurisdiction.
05Provision-to-return reconciliationWho owns itTax AccountingControl pointDifferences explained and signed offOpen source that helpsGap
Rules-as-code frameworks exist and one French corporate model is public. The rest of the chain, from trial-balance mapping to provision-to-return reconciliation, is open territory.
Pillar Two0 of 5 steps have an open project
Scope the group, source the data, test safe harbours, compute jurisdictional ETR and top-up tax, file the GloBE Information Return.
01Entity scopingWho owns itInternational Tax, Legal Entity ManagementControl pointEntity perimeter reconciled to consolidationOpen source that helpsGap
02Source data & accounting adjustmentsWho owns itTax Accounting, ConsolidationControl pointSource lineage; completeness checksOpen source that helpsGap
03Safe-harbour analysisWho owns itInternational TaxControl pointElection registerOpen source that helpsGap
05GIR & local filingsWho owns itInternational Tax, local FinanceControl pointFiling approval; notification deadlinesOpen source that helpsGap
The GIR is a standardised, published schema and the GloBE rules are public. This is the most buildable gap on the site.
5projects · first cut
The honest readRules-as-code frameworks are mature (Catala, OpenFisca, PolicyEngine). Corporate: one French model and two filing tools, for Norway and the UK. No Pillar Two, no treaty logic.
The core of every tax department, and not one open project. A provision engine with locked templates and an evidence trail is the first thing a fiscalist-builder pair should ship.
Tax transparency report0 of 4 steps have an open project
Collect tax data, validate it, map it to GRI 207 or public CbCR, write the narrative, review, approve, publish.
01Collect tax data by jurisdictionWho owns itTax Accounting, country teamsControl pointReconciliation to audited financialsOpen source that helpsGap
02Validate & map to the standardWho owns itTax Accounting, SustainabilityControl pointConsistency across disclosuresOpen source that helpsGap
03Narrative & reviewWho owns itTax, Legal, Investor RelationsControl pointConfidentiality; consistency with strategyOpen source that helpsGap
04Approve & publishWho owns itCFO or Board-designated committeeControl pointBoard approval; publication dateOpen source that helpsGap
Every input reconciles to audited financials and every output follows a published standard. Nothing open exists, and it is one of the easier gaps to fill.
0projects · first cut
The honest readProvision, deferred tax, the ETR bridge, the tax note, the cash-tax forecast, GRI 207 and public CbCR: nothing open, at any step.
TP policy, documentation, operational TP, CbCR, APAs and TP controversy.
Transfer pricingPolicy design, value-chain analysis, intercompany pricing, benchmarking, master and local files, CbCR, APAs, year-end true-ups.gap: build it
Operational transfer pricing0 of 5 steps have an open project
From approved policy to monitored intercompany results, year-end true-ups, master and local files and CbCR.
05Master file, local files & CbCRWho owns itTransfer Pricing, country teamsControl pointDocumentation on time; reconciled to sourceOpen source that helpsGap
Nothing open, at any step. Margin monitoring against an approved policy is a reconciliation problem with public inputs. Someone will build it.
0projects · first cut
The honest readMargin monitoring, true-ups, master and local files, and a CbCR schema the OECD publishes. Zero open implementations.
The one process where open source already competes: formats, validators and authority gateways for the major e-invoicing regimes, plus VAT validation. Returns and reconciliation are still thin.
68projects · first cut
The honest readThe strongest team. Formats, validators and authority gateways for more than 15 countries, plus EU VAT validation and US sales-tax rates. Returns and GL reconciliation are thin; customs and trade have nothing.
Audit strategy, authority requests, disputes, the tax-risk register and the Tax Control Framework.
Tax controversyAudits and information requests, objections and appeals, litigation support, MAP, settlements, controversy reserves, the audit trail.partly covered
Tax risk managementThe tax-risk register, likelihood and impact, risk appetite, monitoring of major positions, escalation.gap: build it
Tax controls & assuranceKey controls, control ownership, testing, evidence, remediation, segregation of duties, monitoring of outsourced work: the Tax Control Framework.gap: build it
Tax controversy2 of 5 steps have an open project
From authority notice to resolution: triage, evidence, analysis, response, negotiation, lessons learned.
04Response & approvalWho owns itHead of Tax; CFO by materialityControl pointResponse approval; exposure updateOpen source that helpsGap
05Negotiation, appeal, resolutionWho owns itHead of Tax, LegalControl pointSettlement authority; consistency across jurisdictionsOpen source that helpsGap
Document intelligence and a few open law corpora help at the evidence and analysis steps. Response drafting, privilege handling and settlement governance stay human, and unbuilt.
Tax-risk cycle0 of 5 steps have an open project
Identify, assess, assign, mitigate, test, report, remediate, reassess. The Tax Control Framework in motion.
01Identify & assessWho owns itHead of Tax, specialist teamsControl pointRisk appetite; likelihood and impact scoredOpen source that helpsGap
02Assign owner & mitigateWho owns itNamed control ownersControl pointControl design; segregation of dutiesOpen source that helpsGap
A register, owners, controls, evidence and testing: this is a schema and a workflow, both fully specifiable. Zero open implementations. Claim it.
11projects · first cut
The honest readDocument intelligence and three open law corpora help with evidence and analysis. Case management, exposure tracking, the risk register and the Tax Control Framework itself: nothing.
Due diligence, structuring, deal modelling, integration, and business advisory before decisions are taken.
Tax planning & business advisoryBusiness models and transactions, financing and repatriation, incentives, entity rationalisation, scenario modelling, substance.gap: build it
Opportunity to integration: screening, due diligence, modelling, structure, contracts, approval, closing, Day-1 compliance.
01Screening & early involvementWho owns itM&A Tax, Corporate DevelopmentControl pointTax involved before the commercial decisionOpen source that helpsGap
Payroll withholding, employer taxes, equity compensation, expatriates and cross-border workers, with HR and Global Mobility.
Employment & payroll taxesTaxability of compensation and benefits, cross-border workers, equity compensation, payroll withholding, expatriates, employer taxes.partly covered
No end-to-end process of its ownPayroll runs in HR and Payroll systems; Tax sets the withholding and taxability rules and reviews the output. Its steps live inside the payroll process, not in a tax process of its own.
4projects · first cut
The honest readSome payroll-tax logic inside US microsimulation, an information-return e-filing API, an expat checklist. No open payroll-tax engine for a multinational.
Architecture, ERP requirements, engines, pipelines, workflow, analytics and AI governance, with IT and the Data Office.
Tax technology & dataThe tax data model, ERP requirements, tax engines, integrations, automation, workflow, data quality, reporting, AI, access controls.covered
No end-to-end process of its ownThis team enables every other process rather than owning one. Look at Indirect tax & e-invoicing and Legislative change to see where its projects appear.
32projects · first cut
The honest readThe enabler team: MCP servers, document AI, tax language models, benchmarks and datasets. Missing: a governed tax data model, and AI-control tooling (logging, review, source grounding) built for tax.
Filing calendar, workflow, provider management, standardisation, service levels, the transformation portfolio.
This team owns none of the 19 activities. It runs the cadence behind the others.
No end-to-end process of its ownThe PMO runs the calendar, the workflow tool and the providers behind every other process. Its own work is the cadence, not a chain of tax steps.
0projects · first cut
The honest readNo activity of its own on the map. The one calendar project in the list is for retail fiscal calendars, not a tax department's filing calendar. No open workflow, evidence or provider-SLA tooling.
05Training & compliance readinessWho owns itTax Ops / PMOControl pointReadiness sign-off before effective dateOpen source that helpsGap
Impact modelling is where open engines shine: score a reform in PolicyEngine or OpenFisca in an afternoon. Monitoring and readiness tracking have no open tool yet.
11projects · first cut
The honest readScoring a reform is a solved problem in the open engines. Monitoring legislation across jurisdictions and tracking readiness is not.
Regional / Country Tax teamsLocal law, filings, audits, business partnering, implementation of group policy. Report to Group Tax, often with a dotted line to the local CFO.79 country-specific open projects, mostly e-invoicing formats and VAT tools
Local Finance / Controllers · Shared services · Managed-service providersPrepare returns, gather data and run standardised processes under Group Tax policy and controls. Monitored against delivery targets.Use whatever the teams above adopt. Provider SLAs and evidence: no open tooling.
Works with, every week
Internal Audit / Enterprise RiskIndependent third line over the Tax Control Framework. Reports to the Audit Committee.
IT / Data / ERPShared architecture; production deployment of tax logic; access and change control.
External advisers / managed servicesSpecialist capacity and outsourced compliance, under Group Tax governance.
The head of the administration on top, and 9 teams that shape the law, register, serve, check and collect. Drawn from the functions in the OECD's Tax Administration series.
Head of the tax administrationCommissioner or director-general: strategy, governance and accountability, the workforce.Strategy, governance & workforce · people only
Shape, register, serve, check and collect: the teams. Pick one.
Team
Policy, Legislation & Revenue Analysis
Policy advice, drafting and costing of legislation, revenue forecasts and statistics. Often shared with the Ministry of Finance.
Reform costing & microsimulationCosting proposed changes, revenue and distributional impact, tax-benefit models of the whole population.covered
Rules as code & legislative draftingWriting legislation and guidance so it can be tested and run, next to the legal text it implements.covered
Processes not mapped yetIts activities and projects are in the other two tabs.
47projects · first cut
The honest readThe best-served team on either side: dozens of open tax-benefit models and rules-as-code frameworks, some built by governments. Missing: tax-gap estimation and revenue forecasting.
The taxpayer register: businesses, individuals and other entities, their identifiers and their details.
Taxpayer register & identifiersRegistering businesses, individuals and other entities, checking identifiers, keeping the register complete and up to date.partly covered
Processes not mapped yetIts activities and projects are in the other two tabs.
1project · first cut
The honest readIdentifier validation is open. The register itself is not.
E-filing & pre-filled returnsFiling portals, pre-filled returns, filing APIs for software, identity and sign-in.partly covered
Processes not mapped yetIts activities and projects are in the other two tabs.
11projects · first cut
The honest readCommunity tools answer questions from official guidance, and the code of one authority-built filing tool is public. Pre-filling and portal back ends: nothing open.