Risky business: The prosopography of corporate tax planning

We trace the history of corporate tax planning from a compliance-focused activity to a profit-enhancing endeavor to a risk management center. Tax directors of U.S. multinational corporations face unprecedented global pressures from taxing jurisdictions seeking to increase their share of the enterprise's worldwide taxes. Increasingly, corporations must consider the risks that a tax strategy will impose on them, not only in terms of potential lost revenue, but also in terms of reputation and market share. We discuss the components of tax risk management in today's global environment and speculate how future corporate tax planning will change in light of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project.