Optimizing Critical Business Operations and Tax Collections for a Middle East Government Agency

Discover how Sutherland transformed a Middle East Government Agency's legacy tax analytics platform into a state-of-the-art business enabler.

The Challenge

Modernizing Tax Systems for Optimal Compliance and Efficiency

Responsible for the collection of taxes and customs duties, this Middle East government agency sought to enhance taxpayer compliance. Yet they faced a significant obstacle: their inability to onboard new clients due to the instability of their current tax analytics platform.

Originally developed in-house, the legacy platform created a range of issues, from a lack of source traceability for tax calculations to the absence of report parameterization and a cumbersome troubleshooting process.

Add to that a high cost of software maintenance due to an inefficient ‘copy-paste-wash’ method and the need for reverse code engineering to solve problems when they did arise. All in all the platform was far from sustainable.

These challenges posed a critical threat to the authority’s mandate to achieve seamless tax collection and management, calling for an urgent and innovative overhaul.

The Outcome

Transforming Tax Operations Through Market-Leading Technology and Business Process Excellence

As a global leader in business and digital transformation, Sutherland was chosen as a strategic partner to bring an innovative solution to this client’s challenges.

First, we developed a strategic roadmap for their platform, utilizing the Data, Insights, Consultation, Execution (D.I.C.E.) framework. This robust assessment delineated the current health of the data systems and delivered a Red, Amber, Green (RAG) status report, highlighting areas at risk and offering clarity on where the authority stood regarding various data-focused dimensions.

A detailed assessment outlining actionable projects was produced, with each project meticulously analyzed in terms of timeline, complexity, necessary investment, and expected benefits. This provided a clear, structured path forward for the client’s digital transformation journey.

To complement the assessment, we proposed an advanced architecture for their future data analytics platform, weighing the pros and cons to guide the authority’s decision-making process. And since a large part of successful adoption depends on training, we outlined a coaching plan for driving adoption of the new interactive dashboards after the platform’s implementation.

As a result of these measures, the authority could leverage enhanced decision-making capabilities and financial reporting accuracy to improve financial integrity and increase rates of audit clearance. The newly established platform enabled effective regulatory compliance and optimized operations in revenue, risk, and cost.

With enhanced data quality and governance, and advanced financial and risk reporting, the authority can now embrace the power of advanced analytics and predictive capabilities. That’s digital performance unlocked and measurable results delivered!