Deloitte’s 2026 Global Tax Policy Survey of 1,010 tax and finance leaders across 28 jurisdictions reveals that organisations are facing increased tax complexity, growing compliance burdens and high upfront costs to reap the benefits of digitalisation.
For Maltese businesses, these demands present an opportunity to assess and redesign their financial data and systems environment, Conrad Cassar Torregiani, Deloitte Malta tax leader, said.
“Organisations are contending with a substantial increase in the demands placed on their finance functions. The survey data shows that 84% of respondents expect more public tax disclosures and reporting in the next two to three years,” he noted.
“For Maltese organisations, this compliance trigger should prompt a broader assessment: how can we use this as an opportunity to improve our data quality, implement AI tools, automate processes, and elevate our teams to higher-value work?”
Compliance as a catalyst for financial transformation
The survey identifies compliance and administrative requirements as the single biggest operational impact across all tax policy areas. Almost 40% of respondents cite the rising compliance burden as their primary concern. 84% of respondents anticipate increased public tax disclosures and reporting requirements over the next two to three years.
“The investment will need to be made, the approach will define whether the outcome is a cost or a benefit,” Cassar Torregiani said.
“Leaders need to reframe compliance as a transformative opportunity, not as isolated projects, but as a catalyst to improve tax and finance data quality, to enable AI deployment, and identify automation opportunities. Organisations that take a more holistic approach will emerge with efficiencies and advantages that go beyond meeting reporting requirements.”
88% of respondents expect to pay more tax as a result of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) initiatives around ensuring the imposition of a global minimum tax for multinationals, suggesting that the initiative is achieving its intended policy objective.
However, although there have been moves towards simplification, such as the introduction of new safe harbours, more is needed with 41% of respondents believing that further simplification of compliance should be a priority.
Mixed news on digitalisation
Most businesses expect to benefit from simpler, more efficient tax administration through digitalisation.
Some, though, are experiencing challenges during the transition phase, citing increased costs and complexity. 85% of respondents 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.
The key to realising these benefits is avoiding a narrow compliance-focused approach. Organisations that implement e-invoicing, data management systems and artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of a coordinated financial transformation will see broader returns.
These include improved data quality for strategic analysis, enhanced process automation across finance functions, and the ability to deploy AI tools for forecasting, risk analysis and financial planning. Relieving finance function staff of repetitive manual work will also create an opportunity to elevate staff to higher-value strategic and analytical work.
E-invoicing presents a case study in this approach. Optimism about its simplification benefits has declined from 40% in 2025 to 36% in 2026, as concerns about implementation costs have increased.
However, when integrated into a broader financial data transformation, where the improved data quality needed for e-invoicing data feeds into improved financial systems, analytics, and AI applications, the possible return on investment is elevated.
The same holds true for Tax Administration 3.0, the OECD’s vision of seamless digital tax administration, which is expected to deliver positive outcomes by 80% of respondents. However, 19% expect increased costs and complexity during implementation.
Recognising these challenges, policymakers across the globe are pursuing simplification agendas. The European Commission is soon to release a tax omnibus package with the declared objective to streamline compliance and enhance competitiveness of the Single Market.
The approach adopted in the omnibus will be closely watched, as it signals how policymakers in the EU intend to tackle concerns around the growing cost and complexity of tax compliance.
Tax incentives are key for the future
As global tax frameworks stabilise, tax incentives are emerging as a primary tool for jurisdictional competition. The survey shows that 57% of respondents note that governments are increasingly using tax incentives to attract foreign talent.
The survey also shows that 38% of respondents expect new tax incentives to emerge as global minimum tax frameworks become established, while 57% expect existing incentives to remain valuable.
This trend is relevant for Malta, which has historically relied on tax incentives to provide genuine competitive advantage in attracting both investment and talent.
In an environment where governments globally are increasing their use of incentives, Malta’s proposition must be continuously innovated to remain competitive in attracting and retaining high-value-added business activity.
“Tax incentives are increasingly shaping how jurisdictions compete for investment and talent,” Cassar Torregiani said.
“Malta’s tax incentive framework can be a genuine competitive advantage. As governments globally increase their use of incentives to attract foreign talent and investment, Malta must continue to innovate to remain competitive.”
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