One minute with Adam Eagers, Group Tax Director (Europe) at AS Watson.
What’s keeping you busy at work?
The breadth of my role means no two days are the same. I am particularly focused on finance and tax transformation, ensuring our new ERP system, processes, data strategy and supporting third party systems are flexible for the future, as we enter the age of the digital tax authority.
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
At a corporate level, agreement internationally and clarity regarding the beneficial ownership of income would be hugely helpful. I hope the EU will lead the way, enabling the OECD to set a common global approach. At a personal level, changes to taxation of pension and tax relief is needed to deal with demographic challenges and unfairness in the system.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
That being nice is essential, and being too ambitious can be self-defeating. Promotions and pay-rises sort themselves out when you help people and love learning, embracing every opportunity to accumulate knowledge and experience.
Are there any new rules that are causing a particular problem in practice?
I am sure many readers will similarly be grappling with Pillar Two: resourcing for it, managing data and assessing the intricacies of complying with QDMTTs and the GIR.
Has a recent tax case caught your eye?
I find the multitude of employment tax status cases fascinating, as each case adds to the practical difficulties for tax teams in determining when IR35 should apply. In my view, HMRC’s CEST tool needs urgently overhauling absent a new and simpler approach to this area of tax law.
What do you think can be done to elevate tax into the boardroom?
I think that tax leaders should make excellent Non-Exec Directors (NEDs), but historically have been largely absent from this community. The age of the digital tax authority means a new strategic approach to data and compliance, and a fight for the resources to deliver it is needed. We need to make the case to our Boards, being commercial and practical, and talking in simpler language about governance and controls.
What development should we look out for later this year?
EU public CbCR requirements will suddenly bring tax transparency fully to life, with Romania’s early implementation requiring many large multinationals to publish by the end of this year. I expect many tax leaders will be concerned with potential fallout from journalists writing and selling populist stories, without full understanding or explaining complex underlying facts.
Finally, you might not know this about me but…
I’m a member of a Turkish baths schmeissing team, which is a robust bath-cum-massage with a huge, foaming raffia brush, performed in a steam room. The average team member’s age is around 70, and as the youngest member I do more than my share of the work, which keeps me remarkably fit.
One minute with Adam Eagers, Group Tax Director (Europe) at AS Watson.
What’s keeping you busy at work?
The breadth of my role means no two days are the same. I am particularly focused on finance and tax transformation, ensuring our new ERP system, processes, data strategy and supporting third party systems are flexible for the future, as we enter the age of the digital tax authority.
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
At a corporate level, agreement internationally and clarity regarding the beneficial ownership of income would be hugely helpful. I hope the EU will lead the way, enabling the OECD to set a common global approach. At a personal level, changes to taxation of pension and tax relief is needed to deal with demographic challenges and unfairness in the system.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
That being nice is essential, and being too ambitious can be self-defeating. Promotions and pay-rises sort themselves out when you help people and love learning, embracing every opportunity to accumulate knowledge and experience.
Are there any new rules that are causing a particular problem in practice?
I am sure many readers will similarly be grappling with Pillar Two: resourcing for it, managing data and assessing the intricacies of complying with QDMTTs and the GIR.
Has a recent tax case caught your eye?
I find the multitude of employment tax status cases fascinating, as each case adds to the practical difficulties for tax teams in determining when IR35 should apply. In my view, HMRC’s CEST tool needs urgently overhauling absent a new and simpler approach to this area of tax law.
What do you think can be done to elevate tax into the boardroom?
I think that tax leaders should make excellent Non-Exec Directors (NEDs), but historically have been largely absent from this community. The age of the digital tax authority means a new strategic approach to data and compliance, and a fight for the resources to deliver it is needed. We need to make the case to our Boards, being commercial and practical, and talking in simpler language about governance and controls.
What development should we look out for later this year?
EU public CbCR requirements will suddenly bring tax transparency fully to life, with Romania’s early implementation requiring many large multinationals to publish by the end of this year. I expect many tax leaders will be concerned with potential fallout from journalists writing and selling populist stories, without full understanding or explaining complex underlying facts.
Finally, you might not know this about me but…
I’m a member of a Turkish baths schmeissing team, which is a robust bath-cum-massage with a huge, foaming raffia brush, performed in a steam room. The average team member’s age is around 70, and as the youngest member I do more than my share of the work, which keeps me remarkably fit.
